Pappy For Sale

Here’s Where You Can Buy a Bottle of Pappy in New York … for $1,800

A Winkle in time.
A Winkle in time. Photo: Scnapps Liquors/Instagram

It’s complicated, but if you’re reeeally determined to have a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle, Schnapps Liquors in Brooklyn has one bottle each of the 23-, 20-, and 15-year, and two bottles each of the 12- and 10-year (Old Rip Van Winkle) cult bourbon whiskey. Here’s the thing, though: The most expensive bottle is $1,800, you have to go to Midwood, and you have to get there before sundown — Schnapps closes at 3:45 today.

Schnapps Liquors also closes for Shabbat, but reopens at noon on Sunday, so there’s that. Avi Kay, owner of the six-year-old Midwood shop, last night told Grub Street that the shortage has been particularly rough, and that he wishes we could have been there last year, when he was selling bottles for $150 each. Us too.

For pretty much most drinkers, that $1,800 price tag is ridiculous, of course, but perhaps not so much considering the nebulous underworld of Pappy resellers and the fact that similar stock is selling for $2,560 a pop on sites like Liquorlist.com. (For the record, Kay says he thinks there’s a “one million percent chance” the theft of 65 cases of Pappy 20-year, which first made headlines in October and has since been unable to retract its newsy fangs, was all a hoax.)

In addition to the Pappy and a broad selection of Kosher wine, Schnapps is stacked to the rafters — literally — with a lot more bourbon, rye, and whiskey, including rare Black Maple Hill, releases from Angel’s Envy, and, behind the counter, second shelf up from the bottom, W.L. Weller 7-year, which Julian Van Winkle himself says would be his “first pick” if he couldn’t track down any Pappy himself. It goes for around $20 a bottle.

Schnapps Liquors, 404 Ave. M, nr. E. 4th St., Midwood; 718-336-7707

Earlier: Now There Are Pappy Van Winkle Conspiracy Theorists
Earlier: Reward For Missing Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon Surges to $10,000
Earlier: Pappy Van Winkle Seekers Waiting Hours for Bourbon

Here’s Where You Can Buy a Bottle of Pappy in New York … for $1,800