History
of distilled 19th century spirits still consumed today
Old Overholt Straight
Rye Whiskey
Old Overholt -
Originated by Abraham Overholt Abraham
Lincoln's favorite whiskey!
Kessler Whiskey
Kessler Whiskey - Originated
by Julius Kessler
Born in
Budapest, Julius Kessler was selling whiskey in Colorado when the silver
boom started at Leadville in the late 1870's By coaxing pack mules over
the hills from Denver, he got his whiskey to Leadville, where it retailed
at $2 for three fingers. Later, when he got his own distilleries, he beat
out his rivals by selling direct to retailers. A tall, beaming sales man
with a sleek, well-fed look, Julius Kessler managed to pump the hands of
at least 40,000 U. S. liquor dealers. That gave him such a runaway advantage
that Distillers Securities Corp. ("The Whiskey Trust") put itself and its
surplus stocks in his hands. Under President Kessler the "Whiskey Trust"
had a brief period of profits before Prohibition reduced it to messing
around with yeast, vinegar, denatured alcohol.
In
1921, at 65, Julius Kessler retired to Vienna with several million dollars
and 38.000 cigars. In a lifetime of selling liquor Mr. Kessler had to sample
many a whiskey. He estimates that the droplets thus consumed add up to
five gallons, his total consumption. To make up for such abstinence, he
used to buy 10,000 cigars whenever he went to Havana for molasses.
Kessler
Whiskey is a American blended whiskey best known for it's slogan, "Smooth
as Silk, Kessler". To get his product out, Julius Kessler went from saloon
to saloon selling the whisky. Julius himself, retired from his business
in 1921
Old Grand Dad Whiskey
Old Grand Dad Whiskey
- Originated by Raymond B. Hayden
Basil
Hayden, Sr. left Maryland in 1785 and made his way to Kentucky. He
settled in Nelson County, just outside of Bardstown. One of the first
things he did after getting his homestead setup was to build a distillery.
It was well known that Hayden had come from a long line of "whiskey people."
This distillery was set up probably in 1796. Of course in the years
to come Bardstown was to become famous for its many distilleries and the
area is still known as the Bourbon Capital of America. Raymond B.
Hayden was the Son of Lewis Hayden and Mary Dant, and was the grandson
of Basil Hayden, Sr.
Old Crow Whiskey
Old Crow Whiskey - Dr.
James Crow
In 1823,
a gentleman physician, Dr. James Crow, arrived in the area. A man apparently
trying to escape from a less-than-completely-responsible past (involving
bankruptcy and abandonment), Crow was beginning to get his new life in
order when he went to work for Colonel Willis Field, a distiller on Grier's
Creek near Woodford County. Crow brought his scientific and medical training
to what had been a very rough-and-tumble process and the results were astounding.
He was able to achieve a consistency of quality never before imagined,
one which would give a distiller the ability to make production commitments
that could actually be met. Dr. Crow soon moved to the town of Millville
on Glenn's Creek and for the next twenty years he was in charge of the
Oscar Pepper Distillery (later to become Labrot & Graham) on McCracken
Pike. Later he went to work for the Johnson Distillery a couple miles north
on Glenn's Creek Road. That distillery later became Old Taylor. He worked
there until his death in 1856. Because of his development of methods that
would ensure continuity and consistent quality (including the use of measuring
devices and the knowledge of how the sour-mash process actually works)
many consider Dr. James Crow to be the true father of Bourbon. The man
who became the new master distiller, William Mitchell, had worked directly
with Crow and knew all his methods. His continuation of Old Crow whiskey
was identical to the original. He in turn taught this to his own successor,
Van Johnson.
Dr.
Crow never actually owned a distillery, though. The enormous Old Crow distillery
which sits on Glenn's Creek today was built around 1872, 16 years after
he died. Old Crow whiskey was made here, in essentially the exact same
way, until Prohibition, and then again after Repeal. National Distillers
owned it then, but they had made no changes in the way the bourbon was
made. Then, sometime during the 1960's, the plant was refurbished and formula
was changed. The new version was different, and there was some public outcry,
but National continued to use it until they were purchased by Jim Beam
Brands in 1987
Old Taylor Whiskey
Old Taylor Whiskey -
Colonel Edmund H. Taylor
Two decades
after James Crow's death, the second "father" of Bourbon began his work,
also here along Glenn's Creek. Colonel Edmund H. Taylor began his distillery-owner's
career at the O.F.C. distillery in Leestown (which later became Ancient
Age). After turning over ownership to his partner George T. Stagg, Taylor
built a new distillery on Glenn's Creek. It has been called one of the
most remarkable sights in the bourbon industry. The main distillery building
is made entirely of limestone blocks, in the form of a medieval castle,
complete with turrets. A drawing of the castle appears on the label of
Old Taylor Bourbon. The castle wasn't just a facade, either; inside were
gardens and ornate rooms where Colonel Taylor used to entertain important
government officials and politicians. Taylor's contribution was the guarantee
of quality in an industry that had lost nearly all credibility. Very few
distillers were selling quality product, and virtually none of what good
bourbon was being made ever got to the public without being diluted, polluted,
and rectified. Edmund Taylor crusaded tirelessly to have laws passed that
would ensure quality product, and he was successful. He was the originator
of what became known as the Bottled-in-Bond act of 1897. This was essentially
a federal subsidy by tax deferral for product made to strict government
standards and stored under government supervision. In the process, he was
responsible for documenting what those standards would be. And therefore,
Edmund H. Taylor, Jr. was given the task of defining Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
As a result of the success of this act, other federally enforced standards
for food products were enacted, and we can say we owe much of our current
standards in many consumable products to this gentleman with a distillery
on Glenn's Creek.
Well,
maybe a couple of distilleries. Actually, Col. Taylor owned or had an interest
in several plants, including the Pepper distillery and Frankfort distillery,
and even the Stagg distillery in Leestown was actually known as the E.H.Taylor
Jr. Company. Edmund Taylor remained a very powerful figure in the bourbon
industry well into the twentieth century. He died, at the age of 90, in
1922.
Cowboy Poetry
"Rye Whiskey" by Terry
Ike Clanton
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