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[–]soonamiVan Winkle Family Reserve Rye 4 points5 points  (0 children)


I watched the whole episode and enjoyed it, but this kind of typifies the whole Pappy hype phenomena. Celebrity chefs like David Chang, John Brock, Tony Bourdain, etc talk up drinking Pappy and how it's the best. You've see them on many shows like Treme and the Layover talking about how good it is and which makes people who like watching these shows (often upper middle class white people with dispensible income) go out to their liquor store asking for it. When the one guy gets it, he tells his friends how cool it is and how Bourdain says you can't drink any better than this, blah blah blah.

These status-seeking people don't necessarily enjoy Pappy because it tastes good, but because of branding and the status of owning and drinking Pappy. If someone on one of these foodie shows talks about how good 4 Roses Single Barrel is and how it's the best bourbon for the money, there'd be a run on 4R1B at all the local stores because it's what the cool New York chefs drink. It's like people that rationalize wearing $500 Prada sunglasses--yes they are functional, protecting your eyes from the sun and are fashionable, but you are paying the extra $450 for the words Prada on the side of the glasses.