‘Pappygate’ coming to Netflix: Bourbon thefts profiled in new documentary, ‘Heist’

Janet Patton
·2 min read

Netflix, which used Lexington as the backdrop for “The Queen’s Gambit” last year, is bringing a different side of Kentucky to the screen.

“Heist,” a new documentary show, is taking on Pappygate, the story of the theft of tens of thousands of dollars of Pappy Van Winkle and Wild Turkey bourbons.

The six-episode series, which debuts on July 14, chronicles three of the biggest heists in modern American history, through interviews and re-enactments.

The episodes dealing with Pappygate are 5 and 6 and are called “The Bourbon King.”

The bourbon thefts, which made headlines in The Washington Post, New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, is the story of Gilbert “Toby” Curtsinger, the Kentucky father who pleaded guilty in 2018 stealing bottles of the ultra premium bourbon from Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, where he had worked for 26 years.

Curtsinger, along with former Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton, appear in the documentary.

As Melton says in the trailer for the streaming television series, “Golly, you can’t make this up.”

Buffalo Trace Distillery did not participate in the filming of the episodes and had no comment on the series.

Gilbert “Toby” Curtsinger” pleaded guilty in the theft of the Pappy Van Winkle and Wild Turkey. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but released after 30 days on shock probation. Now he appears in the new Netflix series, “Heist.”
Gilbert “Toby” Curtsinger” pleaded guilty in the theft of the Pappy Van Winkle and Wild Turkey. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but released after 30 days on shock probation. Now he appears in the new Netflix series, “Heist.”
A scene from “Heist” episode five shows bourbon barrels being loaded into the back of a pickup truck. At least 18 bourbon barrels were stolen from two Kentucky distilleries in a story that will be part of a new Netflix series, coming in July.
A scene from “Heist” episode five shows bourbon barrels being loaded into the back of a pickup truck. At least 18 bourbon barrels were stolen from two Kentucky distilleries in a story that will be part of a new Netflix series, coming in July.

According to court documents, Curtsinger worked the loading docks at Buffalo Trace and connected with other suspects (and apparently potential buyers) through a softball league. Some of the bottles were stolen during after-hours “ghost tours” at the historic Kentucky distillery.

In 2013, more than 65 cases of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon and rye whiskey were reported stolen by the distillery, at a retail value of more than $26,000. An anonymous tip eventually led the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office to Curtsinger’s home, where five full barrels of bourbon, intended to become Wild Turkey 101 an Russell’s Reserve, were found.

At least 18 barrels of bourbon from Wild Turkey and Buffalo Trace, as well as 25 bottles of Pappy Van Winkle were initially recovered. Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton said customers were paying $1,000-$1,500 for a barrel worth up to $12,000.

Some of the recovered Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 years old bourbon on display as Franklin Co. Sheriff Pat Melton talked about indictments in a whiskey theft ring during an afternoon news conference at the Franklin Co. Sheriff’s office in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, April 21, 2015.
Some of the recovered Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 years old bourbon on display as Franklin Co. Sheriff Pat Melton talked about indictments in a whiskey theft ring during an afternoon news conference at the Franklin Co. Sheriff’s office in Frankfort, Ky., Tuesday, April 21, 2015.

Ultimately, 10 people were accused of stealing more than $100,000 in Kentucky bourbon, including some of the rarest on the market.

What happened to the bourbon? Well, much of it was never recovered. And what was recovered had to be destroyed.

Curtsinger, along with his wife July and eight others, was indicted in 2015. Toby Curtsinger was sentenced to 15 years in prison but released in 2018 after 30 days under Kentucky’s “shock probation” program.

Now he will tell his story to the Netflix audience, along with the story of a heist at the Miami airport and an armored car robbery in Las Vegas.

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