Midmorning With Aundrea - November 12, 2020 (Part 4)

(Part 4 of 4) We meet the Van Winkle family of Louisville, Kentucky, who craft some of the best bourbon in the world.

On mid morning.

Mcdonalds has a new sandwich.

It's called mcplant and the hamburger restaurant plans to debut it in 2021.

Beyond meat - one of the pioneers of plant-based meat substitutes - says they are partially responsible for the new patty.

The mcplant line could eventually include plant- based chicken and breakfast sandwiches, too.

The company joins other fast food chains like burger king and dunkin' in getting in on the plant-based trend.

Last year, it began testing a burger in canada made with patties from beyond meat.

You may have read stories from mississippian wright thompson or heard him on espn.

Now, he's written a book about a family who have committed themselves to the family business.

Lee cowan has their story.

"...water rushing... kentucky's limestone water - it's too good not to be used in good bourbon.

Which may be why there are two barrels of bourbon for every person who lives here&although in the wake of the election - some of those are likely emptied by now& nat/sot chatter - under exterior of house... but there is one tale about one bourbon - told in the glow of an autumn evening - that is less about whiskey - and more about family and time, and not enough of either.

"amen!

Good job.... this is the home of the van winkles - an unassuming family in louisville - who are as private as they come.

"...cheers, cheers clink... if their name wasn't on the bottle, you'd never know they craft some of the most coveted bourbon in the world: pappy van winkle.

"do you remembe the first time you tasted it?"

"i do.

// 11:16:04 it ha some , but it wasn't-- it didn't taste thin and gasoline-y, i don't have the official words.

But it felt like if i poured it over a spoon, it would coat the spoon."

That's wright thompson, senior writer for espn - who like the sports heroes he usually writes about - thought that the lore of the elusive pappy --was worth a book.

"you get the sens that the bourbon is almost an accidental byproduct of these people just living their lives.

// 22:30:58 and maybe that's why people go so crazy for it."

"i think you thin you know yourself pretty well-- till someone else starts writing about you...."

The current keeper of the van winkle secret is julian van winkle iii& "the first one no so much...not bad, just different" his son preston - has spent nearly a lifetime as his dad's able apprentice.

"i was younge than the whisky i was selling when i started working for my dad.

"julian: you lear all kinds of stuff hanging out with us lee..."

Julian started young- fixing leaky barrels for his dad - who had learned the craft from his dad - pappy himself.

"that is probabl the rarest bottle in there..."

Pappy is so storied - he has his own exhibit at the frazier history museum in louisville.

"he was //11:23:44 great old guy // 11:23: he was very dapper with his little vest on // 11:23:54 and smoking his cigars.

// 11:24:15 he was a very unique individual, a real salesman."

"his sister say that, "julian i pappy made over."

"i don't see that but... " "i mean, look at th label!"

"that's true.

"you're tuning int him!

."

Pappy used wheat instead of rye in his bourbon recipe - which gave it a smoother, sweeter taste.

His vow is still bolted to the distillery that he co-founded on derby day in 1935 ; "we make fin bourbon," it reads "at a profit if w can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon."

"it's what m father and grandfather were always doing', was selling aged bourbon whiskey -- really good aged bourbon whiskey."

But by the 60's - even the finest bourbons had gone out of favor - they were dinosaurs with a cork.

"it was like an "o man's drink"-- yo know, "m grandfather used to drink bourbon, but we sure don't drink that stuff anymore."

It's on of those kind of a deals."

"yeah, i mean, if th last time you had bourbon was kentucky tavern in college, like, you know, the difference between this and that is like a hood ornament and a racehorse!"

And yet, there pappy sat...unwanted...jul ian's dad reluctantly sold the distillery in 1972.

"do you think h ever got over selling the distillery?"

"no, i don't think so no, that pretty much did him in, i think, in the end, it was just - // 11:22:09 it was his life.

I mean he brought it home every night, so it was a tough deal."

He died of prostate cancer a few years later.

"did you feel pressure to carry on the business?

Or was it a desire, really?"

"it was the onl thing i knew how to do to earn a living, basically."

So he started over - from scratch really - with a beat up truck and and a forlorn distillery that he bought in 1981- he set about honoring something old - even while the beverage world had moved onto the new.

"did you ever thin about giving' up?"

"nope.

"we didn't realiz what was happening all that time.

Carrie: and he didn't either, honestly, he just knew how to work hard."

Julian's daughters - carrie, chenault and louise - triplets in case you can't tell.

"he was alway fixing stuff, and rolling barrels // 23:35:23 he would come home with a bleeding head or a sprained ankle.

And have driven home with a bag of ice from the gas station on his ankle."

No one paid pappy much mind -- until 1997 - when the beverage testing institute in chicago got its hands on some pappy.

It gave it a 99 out of 100 - the highest rating ever given to a whiskey.

"...bottled pulle out of box..."

Ever since, pappy has become one of the most sought after and expensive bourbons anywhere.

Nat/sot news report it's so rare that it's a news event when the few bottles of pappy are released.

Customer: "i fee like i got the golden ticket."

Some stores have even resorted to using a lottery to decide who gets to buy even one bottle.

"people call the unicorns // supposedly they're out there but most people don't seem 'em."

"did you alway intend to make less you could sell?"

"not a good, smar move // 11:40:09 it would be nice to have more.

And we're making more.

But the demand keeps goin' up.

So i don't think we'll ever-- we'll ever get there."

No one knows when bourbon goes into a barrel - if it will make the trip - if angels will drink more than their share as it evaporates over the decades.

"preston: ever now and again you'll see the word "empty" a that's just a bad day."

Julian: "g punch."

But what is left - isn't just a family's loved and cared for whiskey.

What wright thompson discovered in writing his new book - was that the real spirit in a bottle of pappy - isn't its rarity, or its price, or frankly - even its taste.

A bottle of pappy is all about --- those who have gone before us.

"when you get i now, what you get is a son and a grandson's memory at work.

// 11:39:34 i find that really powerful and moving."

"for you thi really isn't a book about bourbon at all, is it?"

"it's barely a boo about bourbon.

// 11:56:27 it's a lot about what we owe our families, and how we can pass the best of them along."

We'll be right back to wrap things up.