Bourbon for Good Honors Pappy Van Winkle's Legacy and Julian Van Winkle II military service

Bourbon for Good™: Honoring Pappy Van Winkle's Legacy

Supporting Veterans in honor of Julian Van Winkle II's Military Service

We’ve thought a lot about our mission since we founded Pappy & Company eleven years ago. Sharing our heritage for making things the right way and our passion for entertaining and hospitality through our inspired lifestyle collection, but it is deeper than that. While our focus on doing things the right way is an obvious nod to adhering to high quality craftsmanship and dedication set forth by Pappy Van Winkle, it also means honoring sustainability and philanthropy.

Generosity and community support have always been a pillar of our family’s businesses. Starting with our great-grandfather, Pappy Van Winkle, and carried through with each generation. Bourbon for Good™is our way of honoring that tradition, and finding a way to translate the demand for a coveted bottle of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon into philanthropic support.

Bourbon for Good honors the legacy of Pappy Van Winkle

Four times a year, we offer a bottle from our personal collection through a Bourbon for Good Sweepstakes, when a portion of proceeds is donated to a non-profit organization that represents one of the pillars of our philanthropic focus. We’ve narrowed our areas of focus in an effort to align with our overall philanthropic mission and elevate our impact among a variety of organizations dedicated to causes important to us personally.

Bourbon for Good honors Pappy Van Winkle

Each spring, we have dedicated one of our four annual Bourbon for Good™ Sweepstakes to Veterans services, with a specific focus on veterans mental health. Spearheaded by our dad, Julian Van Winkle III’s, lifelong appreciation, passion and support for this cause, and in honor of our grandfather, Julian Van Winkle, Junior’s, military service. Having grown up with the stories that his dad shared of his time in the Army, he has a particular sense of just how critical the support for veteran’s mental health and military families is. We are honored to continue his efforts through Pappy & Company’s Bourbon for Good™ mission.

Learn More about our Bourbon for Good™ Mission.

Julian Van Winkle, junior, lovingly known to our family as FaFa, was a decorated military veteran. As a captain in the U.S. Army he served as commander of Company A of the 44th Tank Battalion. In October of 1944, his company landed on Leyte Island where they served a pivotal role in a crucial battle that eventually led to the collapse of the Japanese army’s naval position in the Pacific. During the intense combat he was injured by a sniper, yet he refused initial evacuation attempts as he insisted on staying with his men. After the battle, he received treatment, and when given the choice, he demanded to return to combat. He later rejoined his troops in the Philippines, where they were instrumental in freeing Allied prisoners from the Bilibad Prison during the liberation of Manila in February of 1945.

He earned the Silver Star, awarded to military members for gallantry in action, for his dedication, leadership and bravery. It was with this same level of single-minded loyalty, focus, and dedication that he returned, pivoting his passion and commitment back to the family business, and back to upholding the promises his father had set forth. This, more than anything, is the legacy we honor. Pappy and Fafa were steadfast in their allegiance, unapologetic in their devotion and, even in the face of easier options, wholeheartedly dedicated to their mission.

Through Bourbon for Good, in memory of Fafa’s military service, and in honor of his bravery, we are proud to support the Headstrong Project and their mission of providing “Triumph over Trauma” with “confidential, barrier-free, stigma-free, mental health treatment for our military community.”

Bourbon for Good™ Sweepstakes runs from 5/22/2025 - 5/29/2025