1987 Van Winkle Special Reserve 19 Year Old "Corti Brothers" Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

It is impossible to overstate the historical significance of this 20-Year-Old Van Winkle Reserve Bourbon (Wait! 20 years? Doesn't the label clearly say, "19 Years Old"? Yes, it does, but read on!); it could well be argued that this bottling is the "origin story" behind the modern Pappy Van Winkle line. Darrell Corti of Corti Brothers is considered by many to be the father of fine food in America. Alice Waters, Ruth Reichl, and Thomas Keller speak of him in reverent terms. Whether it is white truffles, balsamic vinegar, or rare wine and spirits, Darrell is renowned for his ability to understand the finest foods first, and then popularize them across the country. It was Corti who insisted that Julian Van Winkle bottle this bourbon in a Cognac bottle, in which the Van Winkle Family Reserves have been bottled ever since. Even the red wax on this bottle is an anomaly: Maker's Mark considered it a violation of their 1985 trademark of a "wax-like coating covering the cap of the bottle and trickling down the neck of the bottle in a freeform irregular pattern." Julian took heed: a subsequent 19-year bottling for Corti Brothers was neatly dipped in black wax. In the bottle is 100% Stitzel-Weller juice, distilled on October 30, 1967, and bottled on November 18th, 1987 (making this actually a 20-year-old bottling) at Commonwealth Dist. Co. 51 cases produced, 48 delivered to Corti Bros. with 3 cases kept and consumed "in-house" by the bottlers.