Who stole the Pappy: Mystery continues

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Pappy Van Winkle's namesake grandson was abroad last year when he received a phone call from the Buffalo Trace Distillery where his much sought-after bourbon is produced in Frankfort.

A distillery official told Julian Van Winkle III that a large quantity of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve had been stolen.

"I was actually in Paris at the time, so I know I didn't do it," Van Winkle joked.

But just who did do it remains a mystery a year later — despite being possibly the most talked about crime to hit the state capital since Gov. William Goebel was assassinated in 1900. Social media dubbed the case "Pappygate."

Van Winkle said earlier this week that the theft from a secure facility surprised him, but he concedes the furor afterward about the bourbon heist at least speaks to Pappy's popularity.

"I don't go anywhere (where) people don't say, 'by the way did you ever find that whiskey?" he said.

The theft of 65 cases of the sought-after 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve from the Buffalo Trace Distillery, where its made in Frankfort, was reported Oct. 14, 2013. While suspected to be an inside job, the case remains unsolved despite a $10,000 reward and more than 100 people interviewed by the Franklin County sheriff's office.

The missing cases of the 20-year Pappy — one of the hardest-to-get varieties of Kentucky's signature spirit — were worth more than $25,000, not including the nine cases of 13-year-old Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye whiskey that were worth almost $700, according to the police report.

Sheriff Pat Melton said at the time that the 20-year-old bourbon retails for about $130 a bottle and is worth "$300 or $400 a bottle" on the secondary market. A New York liquor store's website advertised a bottle this week for $1,500.

"We're pretty sure we know what happened," Melton said in an interview this week. "It's being able to prove that is what the issue is."

He said he couldn't elaborate.

A Buffalo Trace spokeswoman declined to comment on the case, which became a phenomenon reported by media outlets throughout the country and even in Afghanistan, Melton said.

Melton and Van Winkle said they got calls from all over about the case — and still do today.

"I just got off the phone with the lady from The Washington Post," Van Winkle said earlier this week.

"I just wouldn't have believed in a million years that this would have gotten all the national attention that it got," Melton said. "... I've never seen anything that has had the attention like some missing bourbon has."

But it's not just any missing bourbon.

Pappy is one of the nation's most sought-after bourbons — with production of only about 7,000 12-bottle cases a year for all varieties — at Buffalo Trace. The bulk of the bourbon stolen is aged 20 years and bottled at 90.4 proof. Van Winkle said the rye only has almost 300 cases a year to sell.

Fortune once described it as "the ultimate cult brand," and the Pappy Van Winkle website describes the 20-year-old as "the No. 1 rated Bourbon Whiskey in the world."

Van Winkle attributes the popularity to a good product with good ratings that caught on with chefs and word of mouth.

"That's really our best advertisement," Van Winkle said.

The bourbon is made for the Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, which is a partnership of Buffalo Trace owner Sazerac Co. and the Van Winkle family.

The missing product was insured but there was no payout because the claim didn't meet Buffalo Trace's deductible, Van Winkle said. Additionally, the owners "had to pay federal tax on the stolen whiskey on top of that. So it's just bad news all around."

Production has been increased over time, Van Winkle said, but the nature of the brand means it's a decade or more before that additional production reaches liquor stores. Van Winkle said the pent-up demand for Pappy made the heist an even bigger nightmare.

"We're so short of whiskey anyway," he said. "That's the last thing we needed."

Because of the publicity surrounding the theft, people who didn't know about the brand learned about it and looked for it, Van Winkle said — besides the people who already were looking for it.

"Nothing's changed and the brand's still hard to find," Van Winkle said. "Everybody knows it. ... It just gets people angry because they can't find it."

The only lead made public in the case turned out to be false. Clerks at a Hardin County liquor store said later in October that a man offered to sell a large quantity of Pappy 20-year. The man who appeared to be wearing a Bardstown High School pullover turned out to be the school's principal, Chris Pickett.

Pickett met with detectives, and later was cleared. He did not return a message left this week.

Pickett's attorney Doug Hubbard said at the time that Pickett is a liquor collector and was in town for one of his school's athletic events when he asked whether any Pappy was available at the store.

In December, the reward was offered — resulting from a $9,000 anonymous donor and $1,000 from Bluegrass Crime Stoppers.

Since then, not much has been said publicly by authorities about the case.

Another theory of the case, circulated by some on social media, is that the theft was just a publicity hoax — a notion Van Winkle calls "just ridiculous.

"Why would you create something to make more demand on something that you can't find, and people are upset about it?" Van Winkle said.

Despite the passage of time being the enemy of any criminal investigation, Melton said he still holds out hope of solving the case and that his detectives continue to work hard on it.

"This is not your typical case," he said. "... We're following up on leads as they come in."

Van Winkle isn't so optimistic.

"If it hasn't been found now, I don't think it's ever going to be found," he said.

As for this year's November release, Van Winkle said all the cases are there.

"As far as I know," he said. "They better be. Somebody's going to lose a head if they're not. Yeah, I think they've taken some security precautions. A little stiffer security in the warehouse now, cameras and such. I hope."

Reporter Gregory A. Hall can be reached at (502) 582-4087. Follow him on Twitter at @gregoryahall.

Missing

• Sixty-five cases (195 bottles) of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve from the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort.

• The 20-year Pappy retails for about $130 a bottle and is worth $300 or $400 a bottle on the secondary market, though a New York liquor store's website advertised a bottle this week for $1,500.

• Nine cases of 13-year-old Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye