There's a Brand New Way to Get a Taste of Pappy Van Winkle—If You Act Fast
Pappy Van Winkle is one of the most sought after top whiskeys. It's never easy to secure a pour for yourself. But thanks to Buffalo Trace's posh new tasting room in London, you might have just found your easiest ticket to tasting Pappy, as well as Weller, George T. Stagg, and other excruciatingly allocated whiskies from the Buffalo Trace arsenal.
Buffalo Trace Distillery London opened this May, and while it’s not actually a distillery at all (because bonafide bourbon must be made within America), the visitor center represents the company’s first outpost beyond these borders. Being that the new location is right in the backyard of Scotch country, it’s an auspicious statement on the growing international appeal of American made hooch.
To commemorate the occasion, Buffalo Trace commandeered one of those iconic red British phone booths, re-painted it in its trademark fern green, and placed it in one of the city’s most touristed thoroughfares. Over one special weekend, before it opened to the public, the brand invited drinkers to enjoy a bonkers lineup of liquids that included O.F.C. Vintage, 23-year-old Pappy, and Eagle Rare 25.
Courtesy of Buffalo Trace
It was a limited activation, to be sure. But now we know that the new address does, indeed, arm itself with some of Buffalo Trace’s rarest and most coveted bottlings. Heck, it even flaunts some of the stuff in plain sight, safely ensconced in wall mounts. You simply have to be there at that magic moment to see it freed. This week happens to be one of those moments. The distillery’s legendary master blender Drew Mayville is leading two special tasting sessions open to anyone who reserves an advanced seating. We can’t say it definitively, but there’s a strong likelihood that Pappy will play a starring role in the $108 event.
Experiences such as these seem destined to occur semi-regularly, since the tasting room already busted out its best assets twice in less than a month since opening. That’s a pretty promising rate of retrieval.
And no matter when you arrive, you can always enjoy a well-curated tasting from the store’s polished 10-seat backroom speakeasy. It includes a pour of flagship Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare 10-Year-Old, and E.H. Taylor Small Batch, along with a brief history on the distillery and its lasting legacy. The hour-long session will set you back $38.
It’s a charming affair, even if you’re taunted by those top shelf tipples beset beside you on the wall. A couple of universal pointers on their procurement: it never hurts to ask and it always pays to befriend the folks pouring your whiskey. With bottles like Pappy, they could become your best friend by the end of the night.
Related: The Man Behind Pappy Van Winkle Just Shared the Whiskey Brand's Next Move