Community Finds: Shelly’s Incredible Inheritance — A Rare 1987 Stitzel-Weller Old Rip Van Winkle 10-Year (90 Proof)
When a bottle carrying the Van Winkle name lands in our evaluation queue, it’s always an exciting day. But when it’s an intact, transition-era bottle from the 1980s that belonged to a reader’s father, it’s truly something special. Shelly reached out wondering about the history and value of this Old Rip Van Winkle 10 Year Old (90 Proof), noting it dates back to 1987.
Shelly has an absolute powerhouse of a vintage bottle here. This isn’t just modern “Pappy” hype—this is a bottle containing the legendary, original wheated bourbon distilled right at the old Stitzel-Weller plant in Shively, Kentucky.
The Stitzel-Weller Heritage & The Lawrenceburg Label
To understand the historical importance of this bottle, you have to look at where the Van Winkle family was operating in 1987. After being forced to sell the physical Stitzel-Weller distillery in 1972, Julian Van Winkle II formed a marketing company to keep his family’s remaining labels alive.
His son, Julian Van Winkle III (whose signature is printed on the back label), took over the operation in 1981. To bottle their remaining premier stocks of family-distilled wheated bourbon, he purchased an old, defunct distillery office in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky to use as a tax-paid bottling facility.
When you look at the bottom of the back label, it reads: “Bottled by Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.” Don’t let the city fool you—during this era, there was no active distillery running at that location. Every drop of the rich, soft, wheated bourbon inside this bottle was originally distilled and barrel-aged back at the historic Stitzel-Weller facility.
Reading the Glass: Bottom-Glass Dating
Shelly mentioned the bottle is from 1987, and we can definitively verify this by looking at the molded glass marks on the bottom of the bottle:
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The Year Stamp: Look closely at the bottom edge and you will see a clear, two-digit number: 87. In the glass manufacturing industry of the 20th century, bottle suppliers stamped the year of the glass run directly into the mold base. This perfectly matches Shelly’s timeline.
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The Handwritten Note: The back label features a wonderful, sentimental touch: a handwritten note in ink that reads “Bought in 1990”. It was incredibly common for these highly prized bottles to sit on independent retail shelves for two or three years before a connoisseur snapped them up.
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Immaculate Condition: Looking at all the photos, the preservation is museum-quality. The liquid line (ullage) is phenomenal—sitting high in the neck with almost zero evaporation over nearly 40 years. Furthermore, the labels are remarkably clean, without the typical water staining or cellar mold found on many old dusties.
What Is It Worth?
While the 107-proof version of Old Rip Van Winkle gets a lot of modern attention, serious vintage collectors highly prize these historic, lower-friction 90-proof iterations from the 1980s. Because they weren’t produced in massive quantities, surviving examples in pristine condition are incredibly rare.
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Specialty Auction Valuation: At specialized spirits auctions, an authenticated, intact 1987 Lawrenceburg-labeled Old Rip Van Winkle 10-Year/90-Proof consistently commands between $3,500 and $4,500 + buyer’s premium.
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High-End Vintage Retail Boutique Valuation: If you were to source this exact bottle from an elite vintage spirits archive or a high-end broker, it routinely commands between $5,500 and $6,500+.
Shelly’s dad left her an extraordinary piece of American whiskey history. It is a true liquid time capsule from the golden era of the Van Winkle family’s independent bottling days.
Did your family pass down a bottle with a legendary name or a hidden date on the glass?
Whether it’s an old bottle of Van Winkle, a dusty Old Fitzgerald, or an unread piece of Kentucky history hiding in a cabinet, we can help you decode the mold numbers and trace the liquid back to its original distillery. Send your photos over to our Whiskey Bottle Evaluation Form and let’s find out what’s on your shelves together!
