Pappyland

A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last

By: Wright Thompson

Narrated by: Chris Abernathy

An instant New York Times best seller

From the best-selling author of The Cost of These Dreams

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 $3,000 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.

©2020 Wright Thompson (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Pappyland is as invigorating as the smell of freshly cut Kentucky bluegrass, and goes down as smoothly as a glass of Pappy's beloved bourbon.” (Shelf Awareness)

“A fast-paced and colorful history of 20th-century Southern culture, told through the story of charismatic cult-bourbon maker Julian P. Van Winkle III....‘Being Southern,’ Thompson writes, ‘means carrying a responsibility to shake off the comforting blanket of myth and see ourselves clearly.’ Thompson more than fulfills that burden with insight and eloquence.” (Publishers Weekly, starred)

“An amiable journey, courtesy of ESPN sportswriter Thompson, into the arcana of American whiskey [...] If you’re a fan of the magic that is an artful bourbon, this is just the book for you.” (Kirkus)

Fascinating history

The history of the van winkle family is fascinating. This book could use less of the seemingly irrelevant personal stories and random political remarks. You will find yourself fading out in the chapters where the author talks about personal stories instead of focusing on the van winkle family.

Remembering to honor and ritualize what’s important

Pappyville is as complex as the namesake whiskey that plays one of the central characters in this book. If your looking for a book about the famous VanWinkle line of bourbon you might want to pick up “The Bourbon Hunter”. If you want a biography on Pappy you should most definitely pick up “But Always a Fine Bourbon”. If you want to understand why Pappy is what it is and means today then this is a great starting point. What Julian Van Winkle III a third generation souther gentleman, grandson, son, father, and grandfather did to redeem and persevere his family and their legacy is nothing short of a hero’s tale. But if you were to ask him I’m sure he would respond he was doing what he had to do to get to next week, that may actually be a paraphrase from the book. His pursuit of the mystic Stitzel-Weller taste that may be only still exist in his memory. Learn how a sports writer from the Alabama delta could connect with this man. To understand how the communal moments and memories of life are what should be celebrated. How giving and most importantly sharing fine cigars and whiskey are an important part of male rituals and traditions.

I’ve heard this book described as the Eat, Love, Pray for Fathers and Sons maybe it is.

Southern, at its finest.

If love Southern traditions, folklore, and culture like I do; you'll absolutely love this book.

Awesome

Awesome I really enjoyed the book Great story and history of bourbon and van winkles..

A spoonful of sugar

How can you not pour yourself your favorite cocktail and sit back and enjoy this magical ride.

great book highly recommend

Great story, great narration. really enjoyed the history and the story of Pappy and the bourbon.

Wonderful listen

This was a wonderful book which brought in the authors personal story along with the VanWinkle history of one of the most sought after bourbons in the world. I would recommend this to any whisky or bourbon fan.

Interesting American dream story

We’ll written and performed disappointed the author saw fit to through a hypocritical political shot in one of the stories after hammering the ideals of inclusion any worth the read

Loved this book!

I'll probably read this book again. A very informative book for the bourbon enthusiast and the stories of Julian's life and the authors life is heartwarming. The narrator is spot on! I kept reminding myself that this is not the voice of Julian Van Winkle.

Bourbon, and fathers and sons

this is a great tale of both a storied family and bourbon label, but also a tale of fathers and sons, a wonderful read