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Pappyland
Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last | Wright Thompson
6 posts | 7 read | 6 to read
The story of how Julian Van Winkle III, the caretaker of the most coveted cult Kentucky Bourbon whiskey in the world, fought to protect his family's heritage and preserve the taste of his forebears, in a world where authenticity, like his product, is in very short supply. As a journalist said of Pappy Van Winkle, "You could call it bourbon, or you could call it a $5,000 bottle of liquified, barrel-aged unobtanium." Julian Van Winkle, the third-generation head of his family's business, is now thought of as something like the Buddha of Bourbon - Booze Yoda, as Wright Thompson calls him. He is swarmed wherever he goes, and people stand in long lines to get him to sign their bottles of Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve, the whiskey he created to honor his grandfather, the founder of the family concern. A bottle of the 23-year-old Pappy starts at $3000 on the internet. As Julian is the first to say, things have gone completely nuts. Forty years ago, Julian would have laughed in astonishment if you'd told him what lay ahead. He'd just stepped in to try to save the business after his father had died, partly of heartbreak, having been forced to sell the old distillery in a brutal downturn in the market for whiskey. Julian's grandfather had presided over a magical kingdom of craft and connoisseurship, a genteel outfit whose family ethos generated good will throughout Kentucky and far beyond. There's always a certain amount of romance to the marketing of spirits, but Pappy's mission statement captured something real: "We make fine bourbon - at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon." But now the business had hit the wilderness years, and Julian could only hang on for dear life, stubbornly committed to preserving his namesake's legacy or going down with the ship. Then something like a miracle happened: it turned out that hundreds of very special barrels of whiskey from the Van Winkle family distillery had been saved by the multinational conglomerate that bought it. With no idea what they had, they offered to sell it to Julian, who scrambled to beg and borrow the funds. Now he could bottle a whiskey whose taste captured his family's legacy. The result would immediately be hailed as the greatest whiskey in the world - and would soon be the hardest to find. But now, those old barrels were used up, and Julian Van Winkle faced the challenge of his lifetime: how to preserve the taste of Pappy, the taste of his family's heritage, in a new age? The amazing Wright Thompson was invited to be his wingman as he set about to try. The result is an extraordinary testimony to the challenge of living up to your legacy and the rewards that come from knowing and honoring your people and your craft. Wright learned those lessons from Julian as they applied to the honest work of making a great bourbon whiskey in Kentucky, but he couldn't help applying them to his own craft, writing, and his upbringing in Mississippi, as he and his wife contemplated the birth of their first child. May we all be lucky enough to find some of ourselves, as Wright Thompson did, in Julian Van Winkle, and in Pappyland.
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Sharpeipup
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A library display sucked me into this one.

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AlexGeorge
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Pickpick

We did an event with Wright Thompson at Skylark Bookshop a while back and I have been saving this for a quiet weekend when I could dive in and immerse myself in the story and Wright‘s always-spectacular writing. I know next to nothing about bourbon but that mattered not one jot. Thompson can tell a story like few others, and this is a wonderful one, in addition to being a touching meditation on fatherhood, families, and the legacy we leave behind.

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NatalieR
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Panpan

This book is falsely advertised. It‘s not about the infamous Pappy Van Winkle as described. It‘s about Kentucky and the author‘s life (which I have no F‘s to give). I read this book to learn about the Van Winkle family and their bourbon, not for the author to pontificate about his life. He brags about his relationship with Julian and comes off as pompous. If you want to learn anything about PVW in this book, don‘t blink because you might miss it!

Megabooks Agree!!!!! 4y
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Megabooks
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Ugghhh! There are two things that ruined this #audiobook:

1. The lack of any real chronology. If you‘re not familiar with the Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon story, you have to work hard to sort it out, FYI. Some parts were overhashed, though.

2. The author felt the need to insert his own feeling about his own uncle, daughter, and friends into what should‘ve been a story about bourbon. Pure vanity run amok.

2🥃/5🥃

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SkeletonKey I have tried this whiskey and it is pretty darn good. Sad the audiobook wasn‘t though! 4y
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Megabooks @SkeletonKey it just wasn‘t to my taste! 😉😂 4y
Megabooks @TheBookHippie lol. There is a lot of sipping in the book!! (edited) 4y
Soubhiville That‘s too bad, it sounds interesting. That price though... holy *#%! 4y
Megabooks @Soubhiville it was a frustrating read for me because I find (what should have been) the subject very interesting. I wanted Ken Burns and I got two guys rambling about bourbon. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 4y
Megabooks @Soubhiville and yeah...those prices! Basically, before bourbon was cool, the family had to sell the distillery to a conglomerate due to debt. Since then, they‘ve been acquiring what they can of the old stock at auction by the barrel and bottling it. Then they sell it for fairly high prices then those people REALLY mark it up!! 4y
Cinfhen Thanks for the honest feedback!! I almost bought this the other day😅 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen you‘re welcome! I know @britt_brooke was more a fan, but it was too disorganized for my liking. And bringing in personal elements was also a reason I felt mediocre about this 4y
Cinfhen I have so many other books right now so this one is definitely going on the #BackBurner 👩‍🍳 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I get that. 👍🏻 4y
britt_brooke Yeah, I wish the author had left out his personal stuff. That was my main complaint. 4y
Megabooks @britt_brooke I can‘t believe he thought his life paralleled Julian‘s because I couldn‘t draw that many. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 4y
NatalieR I started listening to the audiobook today and am already disappointed. The author is all over the place! Eloquent writing style, but very pompous. 4y
Megabooks @NatalieR yes, unfortunately this was a disappointment. 4y
92 likes17 comments
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Megabooks
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Trying to calm down with this audiobook for here/hear #booked2021. Thanks to fellow Kentucky gal @britt_brooke for reviewing it earlier. It showed up at my library, and I snapped up the #audiobook. ❤️🥃 Night all! Hope everyone is enjoying/did enjoy their weekend.

britt_brooke Hope you enjoy! 🥃💙 4y
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britt_brooke
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Van Winkle story is fascinating! I love reading about what my home state is known for: bourbon and horses. Sports journalist Wright Thompson spent three years working with the Van Winkle family and the result is this fun examination of the brand, it‘s history, and the folks behind it. By the end, you come to really adore Julian III, who, with his son, still oversees the operations of their elusive wheated bourbon.

TheNerdyProfessor I just ord ccered this for my husband who is a big bourbon fan ... But not so much a reader (trying to convert him) 4y
britt_brooke @TheNerdyProfessor I ordered a hard copy for my husband for Christmas! He‘s become quite a little bourbon collector during covid. 😂 He‘s got me drinking it, too. It‘s a good read - hope it hooks your husband! 🤞🏻 (edited) 4y
ValerieAndBooks Love bourbon 🥃— actually only discovered it last year by accident! We dropped off our son for college in VA. After, discovered that someone had left a full bottle (750ml) of Makers Mark in our hotel room fridge. We had to try it, and I was hooked! This book has been on my radar. It‘d be cool to find a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle! 4y
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britt_brooke @ValerieAndBooks My husband started drinking it over the last year or so and has me hooked, too! I really like Larceny brand. It‘s pretty smooth and not super pricy. A friend brought us some Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Yr to try a few months ago. It was so good! Would love to try Pappy some day, if we can ever track it down! (edited) 4y
ValerieAndBooks Wow, that‘s cool you‘ve got to try Old Rip Van Winkle! Have not found it here in PA/DE. I‘ll look for Larceny next time 😊 4y
britt_brooke @ValerieAndBooks We‘ve had no luck find any Van Winkles ourselves even in TN/KY, but will reap the benefits of a friend who‘ll pay stupid prices. 😂😂 4y
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