Review #500 - Pappy Van Winkle's 15 Year Family Reserve

While many bourbons from the Buffalo Trace distillery are highly sought after, this is one of the hardest to find - their Pappy Van Winkle series. Today, we're looking at the 15 year old version, which has a suggested retail price of about $200 these days, but because it's nearly impossible to find, secondary market value hovers between $1,000 and $2,000.

Like the entire Pappy Van Winkle line, the 15 year version uses Buffalo Trace's wheated bourbon mashbill. The exact proportions of corn, wheat, and barley grain used are undisclosed, but this is the same mashbill used in the distillery's Weller products; after a minimum of 15 years in new charred white oak barrels, this bourbon is bottled at a solid strength of 53.5% ABV (107 proof).

It's not uncommon to hear the suggestion that the older Pappy Van Winkle bourbons - the 20 year and 23 year versions - actually have a bit too much oak influence; many who have had the chance to try them will point to the 15 year as the sweet spot in the range. How does this 'unicorn' bourbon stack up?

Pappy Van Winkle's 15 Year Family Reserve

USA - Bourbon

MSRP: USD 200 (2024)

Current Locally Available Price: USD 1,200 (2025, based on recent auction results)

Age Statement: 15 Years

Strength: 53.5% ABV

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 1 time; bottle 40% fill level at time of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Amazing - bursting with flavor. Strong sweet dark cherry, a mixture of old oak and cigar smoke - a cigar humidor. Strongly perfumed, and there's a bit of a leathery side to the oak; time brings sweeter vanilla, old leather books, and just a bit of chocolate.

Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick; very oily, with lots of focus on oak: wood spice, wood oils, leather, a mild smoky note. A little more mellow than the nose; cherry grows stronger with time, both tart cherry and a sweet dark Luxardo cherry. Good texture, which coats the palate nicely.

Finish: Leathery, old leather books; the dark sweet cherry lingers, and vanilla returns from the nose... it leans sweet overall. The oak, though strong, is perfectly integrated and balanced; it's a long finish.

Final Note: Wow - this is outstanding. The aromas on the nose are so inviting, deep and complex; there is plenty of sweetness from that wheated mashbill, but the backbone of strong oak adds great balance. We love that fruit element that a lot of Buffalo Trace bourbons exhibit, and this gave us plenty of red fruit flavor, especially cherry. Texture, due to both the bottling strength and the long maturation period (all of those wood oils that were soaked up by the spirit), was excellent, and the finish also lingered for a while.

The only thing holding this bourbon back from a perfect score for us was the strength of the flavors in the palate - it's still an excellent palate, don't get us wrong, but after the intensity that the nose teased, the flavors on the tongue were a bit more mellow. Otherwise, we can't really think of many ways this could be improved.

As for value - despite this being a very expensive bottle, at MSRP, value is a little above average because the flavors are so amazing. Once you get to secondary market pricing, however, value for money is quite poor - this bottle is generally trading at well over $1,000 according to recent auctions, and at that sort of cost, no level of flavor can live up to the price.

Our Average Rating: 9.8 / 10

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating (MSRP): 6.67

Value Rating (Available Price): 3.67

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.