Rare brands of bourbon breeding skullduggery

Top-end hooch has found itself at center of criminal investigations in 4 states

>> Buttery, smooth, oaky. These are characteristics of the best bourbons, and a growing cult of aficionados is willing to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to get their hands on scarce American spirits — and even bend or break laws.

The first challenge is figuring out which liquor stores have these premium bottles on their shelves — and that's where inside knowledge can give bourbon hunters a leg up, and potentially get them into legal trouble.

In Oregon, several highranking officials at the state's liquor regulating agency are under criminal investigation after an internal probe found they used their influence to obtain scarce bourbons.

That included the holy grail for bourbon fanatics:

Pappy Van Winkle 23-yearold, which can sell for tens of thousands of dollars on resale markets. Top-end bourbons have found themselves at the center of criminal investigations in at least three other states, from Virginia to Pennsylvania to Kentucky.

Premium spirits were always expensive and soughtafter, but interest is surging. Distillers have upped production to try to meet increased demand, but before

the whiskey reaches stores and bars, it must age for years and even decades.

Each state gets a limited amount of Pappy Van Winkle 23-year-old, produced by Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery of Frankfort, Kentucky.

In 2022, Oregon received just 33 bottles.

“The average person cannot get good bottles,” said Cody Walding, a bourbon fan from Houston. He believes he's years away from finding Buffalo Trace Distillery's five-bottle Antique Collection, despite making connections with liquor store managers.

“Like, to be able to get Pappy Van Winkle or Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, unless you're basically best friends with a store manager, I don't even think it's possible to get those,” he said. In a Los Angeles bar that Walding visited last week, one shot of Pappy 23year cost $200.

Six officials from the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission — including then-Executive Director Steve Marks — have acknowledged they had Pappy or another hard-to-get bourbon, Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel, routed to liquor stores for their own purchase. All six denied they resold the bourbons.

Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery's suggested retail price of Pappy 23-year is $299.99. Because of its extreme scar

PHOTOS BY DAMIAN DOVARGANES — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Seven Grand Bar Manager Evan Roth, left, talks to fellow bartender Roland Gonzalez, who tastes bourbon at the whiskey bar in Los Angeles on March 1. Seven Grand offers an extensive selection of over 700different whiskies.

Cody Walding from Houston, Texas, tastes a 10-year-old bourbon by Eagle Rare at Seven Grand. “The average person cannot get good bottles,” of some brands, Walding says.