My Amazon Review of Wright Thompson's "Pappyland: A Story of.........................."

 

Good Whiskey, Fast Horses and Family

 

ESPN writer Wright Thompson tells the story of the rise, fall and resurrection of bourbon in America through the eyes of Kentucky’s Van Winkle family, particularly through the life of Julian Van Winkle III. Because Thompson is also a son of the South, he brings many of his own life events into the story, including the role of race, his wife’s pregnancy and the birth of his daughter. In that sense the book is partially autobiographical.

 

Pappy Van Winkle opened the Stitzel-Weller distillery on Derby Day 1935. His innovation was to add wheat, instead of rye, to the bourbon mix which is what we drink today. Wheat was local, while rye had to imported from the Dakotas. His business booms, but with the coming of the 1960s, brown liquor gave way to white liquor in the form of gin and vodka. As a result, that by 1972 the family had to sell the distillery to Norton Simon, and it is now owned by Diagio. The family continued to make bourbon using other distilleries.

 

In 1981 Julian Van Winkle III inherited the business and he struggled with it for many years. But make no mistake, the Van Winkle family came from money and he still retained a residue of stock from the sale of the business. Through it all Thompson offers an intimate history of the family and the role of fatherhood and friendship. Thompson and Van Winkle become the best of friends and Van Winkle even writes an afterward for the book.

 

Van Winkle’s big break occurs when bourbon comes back into style in the late 1990s and in 2002, he establishes a joint venture with the Buffalo Trace distillery to manufacturer different variants of Pappyland bourbon. Distilling bourbon is an act of faith. The raw materials enter the barrel anywhere from 10-23 years before it is bottled. A lot can happen during those time periods. But, by the early teens, the bourbon became a bit hit, with bottles selling for over $300 and some for as much as $5,000. Artisanal bourbon has become very “in.”

 

Whether it lasts, who knows. But remember bourbon is about nostalgia for a past that was never as good as we remember it. Meantime “Pappyland,” is a wonderful book to learn about the origins of the bourbon business and more importantly, the importance of family.

For the full Amazon URL see: Good Whiskey, Fast Horses and Family (amazon.com)