Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year Family Reserve

Price

$2,299.90

✔ Authenticated by the house — seal, fill level, and label inspected before release
✔ Documented provenance on every bottle
✔ Climate-safe, collector-grade packaging

Age: 20 Years | Region: Frankfort, Kentucky, USA | Proof: 90.4 Proof

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Vault-to-door shipping

Adult signature (21+) at delivery

90.4

Proof

45.2%

ABV

20 Yrs

Age Statement

Wheated

Recipe

2025

Release

750 mL

Format

Twenty years in oak place Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Year between the 15- and 23-year Family Reserve bourbons in the family’s 2025 release, and it is bottled at 90.4 proof (45.2% ABV). Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery bottles the wheated Kentucky straight bourbon in Frankfort, Kentucky, from whiskey crafted, by the family’s account, at Buffalo Trace Distillery.

Nº 01

The Elemental Distinction

20 years old, 90.4 proof. “20 years old” sits above the alcohol line, “ALC 45.2%/VOL (90.4 PROOF)”, on the front label, with a 750 mL fill.

The bottler on the label. The front label closes on its legal line, “Bottled by Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery • Frankfort, Kentucky”, below the Family Reserve banner and the age.

A golf course on the back label. Pappy himself fills the reverse label, finishing his round at the 18th hole with Buck, his caddy and sometime hunting dog, beside a line likening the bourbon’s character to his.

Part of an annual collection. The 20 Year returns each year with the family’s collection. Its 2025 announcement, dated September 10, named six whiskeys, from the 10-year Old Rip Van Winkle to the 23-year Family Reserve, with a 13-year rye among them.

Nº 02

Pappy’s Family Reserve

1893 · 1935 · mid-1990s

In 1893 Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle Sr. was on the road selling for W.L. Weller & Sons, a liquor wholesaler. On Derby Day 1935, after Prohibition, he opened Stitzel-Weller, a new distillery in Shively, Kentucky, joining W.L. Weller & Sons with the A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery around a grain recipe that put wheat where rye had been. The distillery was sold in 1972. His grandson Julian Van Winkle III, in the business from 1977, added older bottlings at 12, 15, 20 and 23 years, and in the mid-1990s he moved the Old Rip range’s older products to the Pappy Van Winkle name, which today belongs to the 15-, 20- and 23-year Family Reserve bourbons; the family’s history counts the 20-year as the first of those labels.

Nº 03

Sensory Profile & Strategy

Distiller notes & position

Sensory Profile

The 2025 release notes credit this batch with adding depth to a bourbon long known for intensity and elegance. Zest of citrus and dried fruit open the nose, with plum and cherry beneath; vanilla and citrus meet ripe stone fruit and a touch of sherry on a balanced palate; and the long, fruited finish leaves plum and cherry behind it, with warm spice.

Strategic Position

Among the three Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve bourbons, the 20 Year is the middle age and the lowest strength: five years beyond the 15-year Family Reserve at 107 proof and three short of the 23-year Family Reserve at 95.6 proof. Across the Van Winkle collection, only the Special Reserve 12 Year shares its 90.4 proof.

Nº 04

Collector Note & Index

Vault provenance

→

Three generations

Buffalo Trace’s biography of Julian Van Winkle III names him president of Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery and the third generation of the family to make bourbon whiskey in Kentucky.

→

Pappy at 61

The family’s 2025 announcement puts Pappy’s age at 61 when Stitzel-Weller opened in May 1935, and its 2026 announcement lists W.L. Weller, Old Fitzgerald, Rebel Yell and Cabin Still as the distillery’s best-known brands.

Collector IndexMW VAULT

Brand: Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve
Bottler: Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, Frankfort, KY
Made at: Buffalo Trace Distillery
Class: Kentucky straight bourbon
Age: 20 years
Strength: 90.4 proof · 45.2% ABV
Release: 2025 collection
Bottle: 750 mL

The Van Winkle bottlings we carry set the 20 beside the family’s other ages.

Nº 05

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Brand	Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve
Bottled By	Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
Crafted At	Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, Kentucky
Class	Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Age Statement	20 Years
Proof	90.4 Proof
ABV	45.2% ABV
Mash Bill	Wheated
Release	2025 collection, announced September 10, 2025
Region	Kentucky
Format	750 mL

Nº 06

Records & Assurance

Production Methodology

Two decades in the barrel precede bottling at 90.4 proof (45.2% ABV) by Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery. Pappy’s own recipe, a wheated mash bill, is what Buffalo Trace Distillery has used for Van Winkle bourbon since production moved there in May 2002, according to the family.

Authentication & Vault Preservation

Every bottle sold through Midnight Whiskey is sourced as an authentic, sealed product and inspected before it ships. Orders are packed with padded, glass-rated handling and require an adult signature (21+) on delivery; we do not ship to anyone unable to verify legal drinking age. For our full sourcing and handling protocols, see our editorial and authentication standards.

Frequently Asked Questions

What proof is Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year?

Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Year carries 45.2% alcohol by volume, or 90.4 proof. Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery bottles the wheated Kentucky straight bourbon at that strength in Frankfort, Kentucky, after 20 years of aging.

How is Pappy Van Winkle 20 different from Pappy 15?

Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Year spends five more years in oak than Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 15 Year and is bottled lower, at 90.4 proof against the 15 Year’s 107. Both are wheated Kentucky straight bourbons from the Van Winkle family’s annual collection, crafted at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort.

Was Pappy 20 the first Pappy Van Winkle?

Yes, by the Van Winkle family’s own account: the 20-year Family Reserve was the first bourbon to carry the Pappy Van Winkle name, which Julian Van Winkle III began using in the mid-1990s. The name honors his grandfather, Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle Sr., who opened the Stitzel-Weller distillery in 1935.

Midnight Whiskey · The Vault Twenty Years

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Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year

The Elemental Distinction

Pappy’s Family Reserve