2025 Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Bourbon Review: A Taste Through History
- Nick Anderson
- Dec 28, 2025
- 6 min read
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”
– Epictetus
The history of Pappy Van Winkle is remarkable. It's a phoenix-from-the-ashes story when you look back at the struggling family label that managed to weather a bourbon market collapse only to go on to become one of the most sought-after whiskeys on the planet. The story begins with Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle Senior, who started as a traveling salesman for W.L. Weller & Sons in 1893. By 1935, the original Pappy was ready to open the now-legendary Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Shively, Kentucky.
Pappy ran the distillery until 1965 when he passed away at age 91. Pappy's son, Julian Van Winkle Junior, took over the business at a time when bourbon was unfortunately going dark. Demand for aged whiskey cratered as public sentiment shifted towards clear spirits like vodka and gin through the 1960s and 1970s. By 1972, facing pressure from family shareholders, Julian Jr. was forced to sell the Stitzel-Weller Distillery along with its notoriously great brands like Old Fitzgerald and Weller. One label was spared from the sale: Old Rip Van Winkle. Julian started a side hustle, J.P. Van Winkle and Son. With the Old Rip brand in hand, he bought back his own family's old whiskey barrels from the new owners and began bottling them under the Old Rip Van Winkle label as an independent bottler. We'd call this kind of business a non-distilling producer today. Due to the lack of popularity in this era, we saw a plethora of commemorative decanters come out to make the product more appealing to a wider audience. Through sheer will, passion, and ingenuity, Julian Junior successfully kept the Van Winkle name afloat through incredibly challenging years in the bourbon business.
When Julian III took over in 1981, the new owners of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery ended the bottling agreement that was previously in place, leaving the family brand without a physical location to bottle their bourbon. To stay in business, Julian III decided to buy the Old Hoffman Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky in 1983. He would use this location much like his father did as a bottling and storage location for sourced whiskey instead of a pure-play distillery. Bourbon was still not back in full favor in the States, but Japan was buying well-aged American whiskey, keeping an entire industry alive. While operating out of this location, the name changed to Old Commonwealth Distillery. After weathering the storm, it was time for a comeback. With Diageo selling off old stocks of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery barrels for a mere $200 a pop, Julian III was stocking up. The 1994 release of the first 20 year old Pappy Van Winkle bourbon would go on to make the brand a global sensation.
In 2002, the Van Winkles went into business with Buffalo Trace Distillery, where all Pappy Van Winkle is distilled and bottled today, though the label will still give a historical nod to the Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery. While there were some transition years when the whiskey was still Stitzel-Weller distillate, these stocks have long since dried up. The bottling location today is centered in Frankfort, Kentucky, which is where Buffalo Trace is located. Demand for this release today still drastically outpaces the supply, a complete turnaround from the bust era of the 70s and 80s. It seems that the phoenix is still soaring.
The full production volume and bottling quantities for the 2025 release of Pappy Van Winkle 15 year bourbon remain undisclosed, which only adds to the mystique of the brand. Despite being a bottle that most would hoard and never open for fear of missing the perfect occasion, I open my bottles. They taste better that way, you know. Having had this pour three times now, tasted neat on a sober palate each time, I'm ready to offer you my full review.
Company on Label: Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery (Buffalo Trace), Frankfort, Kentucky
Whiskey Type: Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey
Mash Bill Percentages: Undisclosed wheated bourbon mash bill
Proof: 107°
Age: 15 years
MSRP: $240
Buy online: Frootbat
Further identification: This is the 2025 release of Pappy 15, as confirmed by the "L25" laser code on the bottom edge of the bottle
Nose: As soon as this whiskey is in the glass, a sweet cherry aroma can be found from about a foot away. Raising the rim of my glencairn to my nostrils, I discover raspberry vinaigrette dressing over a bed of iceberg lettuce. This slightly strange note reminds me a bit of rancio, but it's not too deep into the late stages of detritus here. Deep inhales normalize the profile to cherry skins, allspice, and plenty of peppery oak. The salad dressing vibe returns but quickly splits off into just the raspberry component. Classic bourbon caramel is here in spades. Nuances of molasses and milk chocolate complement the consistent cherry aroma that has ebbed in and out of awareness since the start of the glass. After another 15 minutes of rest in the glass, this blooms into a much bigger and functionally complete whiskey experience. I find a delightful red velvet cake aroma layered with buttercream frosting and, of course, a cherry on top. Breathing this in gives off easy notes of toffee and crème fraîche before a bit of cinnamon heat begins to tingle the nostrils. After a sip, the caramel tones only get stronger and more pronounced while french toast and confectioners' sugar layer in nicely. Toasted almond and nutmeg find their mark late in the pour. The empty glencairn smells of worn leather, dry tobacco, and light anise.
Palate: My first taste is sweet and easy, offering an obviously oak-influenced bourbon full of rich ripe cherries. Another sip, and the wonderful raspberry sweetness from the nose translates well, without the aforementioned greenery accoutrements. With an incredibly easy-drinking demeanor, the fruit tones have a lot of room to play. I envision cherry, raspberry, plum, and green apple all arranged on stage, spinning around each other in a musical performance on my tongue. The linger offers more apple tones accompanied by a light chocolate layer. Picking through patiently, I find elderflower liqueur and a faint sprig of mint—and I do mean faint here—almost barely perceptible except when chewing through the linger. The milk chocolate tones that sweep through rapidly can easily make you miss some of the more nuanced subtleties here. Sipping late in the glass elevates pear tarte tatin with a nice dash of brown sugar. On the final taste of this glass, I find a neat full-circle tie-in back to the cherry and oak start before a medium finish of raisin, vanilla ice cream, and milk duds round things out.
TL;DR: Everything about this bourbon is nice, but it leaves me feeling a little sleepy
Rating: 4/5
If you're looking for the refined, smooth, well-aged sipping bourbon, then this is the glass slipper for you. It's quite enjoyable, ultimately fully embodying the word "nice" from start to finish. Thinking about the broader whiskey landscape, this bourbon lands a bit sleepy, missing a bit of the wow factor that other bourbons have achieved. While this is a solid bourbon, I have had equally memorable experiences with other bottles. I recently bought a bottle of a non-chill filtered Weller Antique 107 store pick. The Weller Antique pick is bottled at the same proof but is wildly more exciting. Expect a more viscous mouth coating and vibrant fruit to show up potent and delicious on the Antique, while you will find far more oak, leather, caramel, and subtle woodspice on the obviously older Pappy 15 year. In general, you might be surprised to discover there isn't that much daylight between the pours flavor-wise. All that said, I also compared the 2025 release to two other Pappy 15 year bottlings. Out of the 2021, the 2023, and the 2025 releases I tasted side by side, I like the 2025 the best.
I want to also take a little time to set some of the record straight from my last review, where I feel like I was a little too harsh—unduly so. Pappy is far from crappy, and the people who built the brand and continue to shepherd it to the best of their ability deserve all the credit. I still hold the opinion that there are other whiskeys out there in this same 4/5 rating range that are much easier to find, and part of my ardent perspective on the 2021 Pappy Van Winkle 15 year came from that passionate belief. I hope my honest perspective and willingness to learn through experience are something you appreciate, my dear reader. If this level of transparency is something you appreciate, consider subscribing to my newsletter or sharing this review with a friend!
