Old Rip Van Winkle

Repeal of the Volstead Act in the United States in 1933 was a period of great opportunity for many. One individual who grasped this with both hands was the now legendary figure, Julian 'Pappy' Van Winkle Snr. His company, W.L. Weller & Sons had survived Prohibition through its close business relationship with A. Ph. Stitzel, a distillery company that had been granted a medicinal license to bottle medicinal whiskey. These two businesses merged in 1933 to form the Stitzel-Weller Distillery company, opening a new purpose-built distillery in Shively two years later.

One of the earliest brands marketed by the Stitzel-Weller company was Old Rip Van Winkle, named after the 1819 Washington Irving short story about Rip Van Winkle, a man who falls asleep for twenty years after imbibing a mysterious liquor in the Catskill Mountains. Clearly a play on his own name, the brand was also perfect metaphor for the whiskey it was sold as, all of which had been in cask since before 1920.

When the Stitzel-Weller distillery opened, it opted to focus of the established Old Fitzgerald and W.L. Weller brands instead, and Old Rip Van Winkle was shelved. The brand name was trademarked by the distillery again 1960, however was not used. When Julian Van Winkle Snr passed away in 1965, the business was left to his son, Julian Jnr. The board at the distillery was keen for him to sell it to sell it to Somerset Importers, and the deal was concluded in 1972.

Despite the deal, Julian Van Winkle Jnr was able to retain the Old Rip Van Winkle brand and set up a new company called J.P. Van Winkle & Son, operating out of an office he was permitted to rent at Stitzel-Weller. The company was also able to buy casks from the distillery and made its business bottling them in novelty decanters. Old Rip Van Winkle primarily featured in this form, taking the shape of collectable Rip Van Winkle figurines or commemorating historical events. Some vintage Very Special Stock releases were also produced for private parties

When Julian Jnr passed away in 1981, his son Julian III inherited the business and moved it to the site of the former Hoffman distillery in Lawrenceburg two years later, establishing a new company called Commonwealth Distillery Co in the process. The company continued to bottle the Old Rip Van Winkle brand, however moved away from decanters, preferring the long-necked squat bottle shape it had used for its private bottlings in the past. Continuing to use wheated bourbon acquired from Stitzel-Weller, Julian III initially offered a 10-year-old, introducing a 15-year-old in 1989. He also bottled 4- and 12-year-old bourbon under the name Old Rip, and a 12-year-old rye was also introduced in 1997 using whiskey bought from Medley distillery.

The Stitzel-Weller distillery closed its doors in 1992, meaning Julian III was required to find an alternative supply in order to sustain his brands. With its youngest expression in his portfolio being the Old Rip Van Winkle 10-year-old, the cut-off date was 2002 and it was in that year that he reached a supply and distribution agreement with the Sazerac Company. Production was moved to Buffalo Trace distillery and the Commonwealth Distillery Co was dissolved.

In the years preceding and following the deal, the Old Rip Van Winkle brand was streamlined significantly from the wide range it previously offered. In 1998 the rye whiskey was rebranded as the Van Winkle Family Reserve, in 2004 the 15-year-old was discontinued and replaced by a Pappy Van Winkle release of the same age, and Old Rip was not produced again after 2001. This left only the original 10-year-old as the sole representation for the brand. It was available in both 90 proof and 107 proof versions until 2013 when it was relaunched, now only available in the latter strength and presented in the cognac-style bottles that are synonymous with all Van Winkle whiskies today.