What Is The Most Expensive Bourbon Whiskey On The Market?

One stroll through your local grocery store's alcohol section will tell you that liquor comes in many shapes, sizes, and, most of all, prices. For every bottle you find of Knob Creek bourbon whiskey at Costco for a good bargain, there is a bottle that'll cost you thousands of dollars to enjoy. More specifically, the most expensive bottle of bourbon whiskey on the market costs $54,398 on average and comes from the Old Rip Van Winkle family of whiskeys, produced by Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. The specific bottle with this price tag is, admittedly, a mouthful: The 750mL 'Van Winkle Special Reserve' Corti Brothers 20 Year Old Straight Bourbon Whiskey is by far the most expensive bourbon whiskey you can currently find.

Not only does Old Rip Van Winkle produce the most expensive bourbon whiskey overall, but three other bottles made by Buffalo Trace join them in the top ten. According to wine-searcher.com, two other of the distillery's offerings complete the top 3 most expensive bourbon whiskeys. The Old Rip Van Winkle 25 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey comes in at an average price of $50,915, and the 'Pappy Van Winkle's Family Selection' 23 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey with Glasses and Decanter is priced at an average of $35,998. After that, Van Winkle doesn't appear on the list again until the eighth overall most expensive bottle, known as 'Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve' 17 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, which is priced at $18,741.

Now, when a single bottle of alcohol costs this much money, it's not surprising that people are quick to ask why. Well, in the case of Old Rip Van Winkle, the reason for its price comes from understandable places, even if the asking price is generally considered to be absurd. For starters, each bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle is produced in limited quantities, making them incredibly rare and hard to find. Plus, while it's known that the quality of a bourbon whiskey is not determined by its price, the high-priced Old Rip Van Winkle whiskey bottles are generally considered very high quality and well-aged liquors.

The brand's high price is also due to resellers of the alcohol, as Buffalo Trace has long recommended liquor suppliers sell the specialty whiskeys at a lower price than what they are inevitably priced at on the secondary market. So, if you're looking for the unicorn of bourbon whiskey to join your collection, you're likely looking towards one of the many renditions of Old Rip Van Winkle. However, don't forget that not all Van Winkles are made the same, and some question the extremely high price.