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North American Whiskey History

Pappygate: The 2013 Bourbon Theft

Oak bourbon barrels beneath a canvas tarp
Oak bourbon barrels beneath a canvas tarp

Pappygate began with a report of missing Pappy Van Winkle bottles at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, in October 2013. The investigation later exposed wider bourbon thefts and led to guilty pleas, but those outcomes did not establish who took the bottles reported missing in 2013. [3][4][7]

Why this whiskey drew attention

The Van Winkle name had a history long before the theft, within the wider history of bourbon and Kentucky whiskey. According to the producer’s account, Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle Sr. began as a travelling salesman for W.L. Weller and Sons in 1893. After Prohibition, he ran the combined Weller and A. Ph. Stitzel businesses and opened the new Stitzel Weller Distillery in Shively, Kentucky, on Derby Day in 1935. [1]

That history should not be confused with where the whiskey involved in this story was made. The producer dates its partnership with Buffalo Trace to 2002 and says Buffalo Trace began producing Van Winkle bourbons that May using Pappy’s mash bill, the recipe of grains used to make the whiskey. [1]

The family’s explanation of scarcity is straightforward: “We only produced so much whiskey 20 plus years ago, so our quantities are limited.” Its website also describes sales through raffles and lotteries at many retailers and in many states. This is the producer’s account of availability, not an independent measure of demand. [2]

What happened in the 2013 bourbon theft?

Bloomberg Businessweek dates Buffalo Trace’s report to 15 October 2013 and describes about 200 missing bottles. Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton suspected an inside job from the beginning, according to WhiskyCast’s subsequent reporting. Melton called the stolen product “The Mac Daddy” of bourbon. [3][4][5]

The reported quantity needs care. Calcaterra’s full article describes “a little over 200 bottles”, while WhiskyCast describes 65 cases taken from a secured warehouse. Those accounts cannot safely be presented as interchangeable measurements of one established total. Verdict: Disputed. [3][5]

Reports of the Pappy recovered during the wider investigation also differ. The Northern Kentucky Tribune reported “20 cases of Pappy varieties”, while WhiskyCast reported 25 bottles of different vintages. The sources do not establish a reconciled total. Verdict: Disputed. [5][6]

The discrepancies matter because the missing stock, recovered whiskey and bottles covered by a later plea are different parts of the story. Combining them creates an apparently complete explanation that the reporting does not support. In particular, the 28 Pappy Van Winkle bottles described in the Associated Press account of Curtsinger’s plea should not be treated as an identification of the missing 2013 stock. [3][5][6][7]

The tip that changed the investigation

Almost a year and a half after the initial report, no thief had been found, Bloomberg reported. Then, on 11 March 2015, Melton received an anonymous tip naming Gilbert “Toby” Curtsinger, who had worked at the distillery since 1989, when it was the Ancient Age distillery. [3][4]

The tip concerned Wild Turkey barrels at Curtsinger’s home, rather than a discovery of the missing Pappy bottles. Paste’s later review of the Netflix account says the tip followed a reward offer and that officers found the barrels “in plain sight”. [11]

Verdict: Documented. The tip about barrels helped break the case, but the discovery did not identify who took the missing 2013 Pappy bottles. The breakthrough opened up a wider theft investigation, not a simple recovery of the original missing stock. [4][11]

A wider ring, not one warehouse raid

On 21 April 2015, nine people were indicted over thefts involving Buffalo Trace in Franklin County and Wild Turkey in Anderson County. The charges included theft, trafficking in anabolic steroids and engaging in organised crime. These were allegations at that stage, not findings of guilt against everyone named. [5][6]

Reporting described connections through community softball leagues and a family relationship. Mark Searcy was identified as a Wild Turkey employee, while the sheriff’s office described the group as an “organized crime syndicate”. The softball connection was part of the authorities’ account of how the group formed, not evidence that playing together itself established criminal involvement. [6]

Nor was Pappy the only whiskey involved. The Northern Kentucky Tribune reported recovery of between 50 and 70 cases of Eagle Rare and 18 barrels from Buffalo Trace and Wild Turkey, including five barrels of Russell’s Reserve. Those figures describe the reported wider recovery, not the size of the original Pappy loss. [6]

Melton described bourbon as “the money maker of the organization” and said the discoveries were likely “the tip of the iceberg”. Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey and the Van Winkle family issued a joint statement through the sheriff saying: “We take this matter very seriously.” [5][6]

The authorities’ account also described a method for moving barrels: Curtsinger loaded them into a pickup truck, covered them with a tarp and took them to buyers. That account concerned the wider thefts, rather than establishing a single raid that explained the 2013 Pappy report. [8]

What the plea and sentence established

In September 2017, Curtsinger pleaded guilty in Franklin County Circuit Court to charges including theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, alongside misdemeanour steroid charges. The Associated Press reported that his plea included theft and distribution of 28 bottles of Pappy Van Winkle family bourbons, among other stolen whiskey. [7]

Prosecutor Zachary Becker said eight people had pleaded guilty. Melton declared: “I said that we would solve this case, and we have.” That was the sheriff’s assessment of the outcome; it should not be substituted for evidence connecting the plea’s bottles to the October 2013 disappearance. [7]

On 1 June 2018, Curtsinger was sentenced in Frankfort to 15 years in prison. About 30 days later, Judge Thomas Wingate granted shock probation and ordered his release. Becker did not object, saying Curtsinger had been “appropriately shocked by this experience, so as not to reoffend”. [3][8][9]

Verdict: Documented. A 15 year sentence does not mean that Curtsinger spent 15 years in prison. The reported period before release was about 30 days; the exact release date is not reliably established. [8][9]

Who took the missing Pappy?

Curtsinger admitted wrongdoing while denying the central accusation attached to his name. He told Bloomberg’s Craig Calcaterra, “I ain’t totally innocent on a lot of this stuff”, acknowledging that he stole and sold bourbon from about 2003, but denying that he took the missing Pappy bottles. [3]

He also said stock shortfalls of that kind had historically been written off as breakage. That is Curtsinger’s explanation, not an independently established account of what happened to the missing bottles. Calcaterra’s assessment was that “there is nothing to suggest that any one person did” take them. [3]

Verdict: Disputed. The sheriff said the case was solved, and Curtsinger pleaded guilty to whiskey theft offences, including offences involving Pappy bottles. Curtsinger nevertheless denied responsibility for the 2013 loss, and the reporting does not establish that the bottles in his plea were the bottles reported missing that October. [3][7][9]

The distinction does not erase the offences to which Curtsinger pleaded guilty. It limits what can be concluded about the original report. The wider prosecution and the question of who took the 2013 bottles are related, but the available record does not make them the same question. [3][7][9]

How television retold Pappygate

Netflix devoted two episodes of its 2021 series Heist to the story: “The Bourbon King, Part 1” and “Part 2”. Paste’s review observes that the episodes are told largely through Curtsinger’s own account. That makes the speaker’s perspective worth keeping in view, especially where his explanation differs from the authorities’ interpretation. [10][11]

Even the starting date changes between accounts. Netflix’s episode description places Curtsinger’s scheme in 1999; Curtsinger told Calcaterra he began stealing bourbon about 2003; Paste refers to thefts “as early as 2008”. These are competing accounts, not milestones that can be assembled into a verified chronology. Verdict: Disputed. [3][10][11]

The television description promises a twist behind the missing bottles. The historical task is less tidy: keep the admitted thefts, the prosecution’s claims and the unresolved 2013 disappearance separate. Pappygate is a documented bourbon theft prosecution with a disputed answer to the question that first brought it attention. [3][7][9][10]

Verdict: Legend. Pappygate is sometimes treated as an official name for the case. The name appears in media reporting, but the sources checked do not establish an official designation or who coined it. [6]

Where to go next

Sources

  1. Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery. Heritage. Undated producer’s account, checked November 2026. https://oldripvanwinkle.com/heritage/
  2. Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery. Finding Pappy. Undated producer’s account, checked November 2026. https://oldripvanwinkle.com/finding-pappy/
  3. Craig Calcaterra. The Pappy Van Winkle Heist That Wasn’t. Full text of his Bloomberg Businessweek article, posted 14 September 2018. https://craigcalcaterra.com/blog/the-pappy-van-winkle-heist-that-wasnt
  4. Bloomberg Businessweek. Craig Calcaterra, The Pappy Van Winkle Bandit Speaks, and Says He Didn’t Do It. 29 June 2018. https://brp-prod-bcc.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-06-29/the-pappy-van-winkle-bandit-speaks-and-says-he-didn-t-do-it
  5. WhiskyCast. 9 Indicted in Pappy Van Winkle and Wild Turkey Thefts. 21 April 2015. Trade reporting. https://whiskycast.com/?p=24497
  6. Northern Kentucky Tribune. Wayne Stacy, After two years of investigation, ‘Pappy-Gate’ indictments handed down; nine are charged. 22 April 2015. https://nkytribune.com/2015/04/after-two-years-of-investigation-pappy-gate-indictments-handed-down-nine-are-charged/
  7. Associated Press, via NBC Los Angeles. Report on Curtsinger’s guilty plea. 21 September 2017. https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/pappy-van-winkle-bourbon-heist-guilty-plea/2031642/
  8. Associated Press, via WCPO Cincinnati. Bourbon theft ringleader sentenced to 15 years in prison. 2018 report. https://www.wcpo.com/news/crime/bourbon-theft-ringleader-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison
  9. WhiskyCast. Pappygate Ringleader Released From Prison. 2 July 2018. Trade reporting. https://whiskycast.com/pappygate-ringleader-released-from-prison/
  10. Netflix. Heist. 2021 series, episode descriptions for episodes 5 and 6. https://www.netflix.com/title/81153326
  11. Paste Magazine. Netflix’s Heist Episodes on “Pappygate” Are a Tale of Cartoonish Bourbon Incompetence. Undated in the supplied record, checked November 2026. https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/whiskey/netflix-pappygate-heist-bourbon-king-review-toby-curtsinger-buffalo-trace/

This desk research article uses the site’s verified fact sheet, separating producer history, reported allegations, guilty pleas and retrospective accounts.

Last checked: November 2026