Now we take quite a hefty jump in years from 15 to 20. There is also a significant price jump between the 15 Year Old and 20 Year Old Pappy. But if you can swing it, and you appreciate more aged bourbons, you will love it. I have only had this at a friend’s wedding reception but I savored every drop and it is the next on my acquisition list for 2025.
If you try this bourbon, I am willing to bet it will be one of the few you have that were aged 20 years! In fact, it might even be your first, so you are probably wondering what to expect.
It is tough to age whiskey this long. For starters, distilleries face some logistical challenges when they do, including space considerations and evaporation. Along with those practical problems, there is often just too much oak after so much time in the barrel. For those reasons, many distilleries just do not do it.
During the introductory sections of this post, I talked briefly about the fact that wheat is the principle ingredient in Pappy bourbons, as opposed to rye or corn.
Not only is this wheat in part responsible for the distinctive flavors that make Pappy so delicious, but it also helps the bourbons to age longer in the barrels without getting over-oaked.
So, Pappy bourbons have higher odds of coming out well after 20 years. But the company carefully samples from the 15-year barrels to determine which ones are likely to make it, and which ones are not. Only those with the best shot are allowed to continue to age for 5 more years. The others are bottled and sold as 15 Year Olds.
If you find a bottle of the 20 Year for sale that is dated 2012 or before, its contents are entirely from barrels aged in the A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery.
So, what is it like? When you open the bottle, your nose will be greeted by notes of oak, chocolate, cherry and blackberry, together with caramel. Now, that might surprise you, given the age of the bourbon. You would expect the oak to completely mow over the berry notes, but it doesn’t, which is one of the things that makes the Pappy 20 Year Old truly astonishing.
The flavors, like the scents, are surprisingly fruity given the age of the bourbon. Along with berries, you’ll pick up on lots of oak and leather, together with spices. The bourbon is still sweet, though not as sweet as younger ones. Oak, spices, chocolate and some floral notes round out the finish. The mouthfeel of this bourbon is every bit as exquisite as it is for the 15 Year Old.
Choose The Pappy Family Reserve 20 Year Bourbon If:
If you have been dreaming of a well-aged bourbon that still packs a ton of delicious fruity flavors in, you will adore the Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Year Old Bourbon Whiskey.
In fact, you shouldn’t shy away from it even if you typically prefer to drink younger bourbons. It offers an experience that may be more in line with that in some respects than you would imagine, while still bringing you the smoothness and strong oak notes that you would expect from a 20-year old whiskey.
One thing to note is that this is a 90.4-proof bourbon. If you want something stronger, then you may be better served by the 15 Year Old, which is 107-proof.
