Pappy Van Winkle 12 Year properly titled Van Winkle Special Reserve Lot ‘B’ is the wheated bourbon at the center of the most hunted lineup in American whiskey. Buffalo Trace Distillery ages it a full twelve years, with wheat standing in for rye in the mash so the oak reads soft rather than sharp. The official notes land on dried mango and cocoa in the aroma, honey, oak, and tobacco on the palate, and a dry, gently tingling finish. Lot ‘B’ is genuinely allocated; bottles surface roughly once a year and rarely linger. Drink it neat, no ice, with somebody who has been chasing this bottle longer than you have.