I have had Pappy's a couple of times, including a flight of the 15/20/23 - the 20 was my favorite, man that was good. I think the hype definitely makes it taste betterI am trying to drink Bourbon, but it's hard. I found a list of the ones that supposedly taste like Pappy's (the only good tasting Bourbon I've had), and while I can tell the first "candidate" is better than jim beam, it is not all that great.
If you want Pappy-like bourbon, look for ones with high wheat content, called "wheaters". Any of the Wellers have high wheat content, but unfortunately they are really hard to find, and usually marked up to oblivion, but you may have some luck landing their Special Reserve (green bottle).