Tom Bulleit at the Stitzel-Weller distillery; his bourbon isn’t made there—no whiskey is anymore—but it has become the “home” of Bulleit bourbon.

Who Made My Bourbon? Many of America’s most sought-after are sold by non-distiller producers. Just where your favorite bottling originated isn’t always easy to determine. By Charles K. Cowdery

hen blues harmonica virtu- What’s in a name? Even Shakespeare can’t quired whiskey, they just want to know who oso John Lee Williamson, give us a straight answer. On the one hand, he really made it. Others won’t buy any whiskey best known as Sonny Boy says names don’t matter. A rose still has all the that doesn’t have a bulletproof pedigree. Most Williamson, died in 1948, characteristics of a rose even if you call it some- people fall somewhere in between. anotherW Mississippi bluesman named Alex ‘Rice’ thing else. Yet he also says that a man’s good Miller decided he liked the name and started to name is worth more than gold. Which is it? Where is the Source? use it. He never tried to pretend he was the other The provenance of a name—and the thing Enthusiasts often feel compelled to visit the guy (well, maybe a little, at first), he just liked the itself—may be important as well. Some people ground from which their favorite whiskey name, and was known professionally as Sonny don’t care where their whiskey comes from so springs. Scotland’s distilleries receive more

f red minnick Boy Williamson until his own death in 1965. long as it tastes good. Others don’t mind ac- than a million visitors a year. Most of them trav-

advocate FALL 2012 69 “What’s in that Bottle of Van Winkle Anyway?”

withdrawn from the tanks and bottled. With the Van Winkle bourbons it’s a bit more complicated. It’s all wheated bourbon, made at either Buffalo Trace, new Bernheim, or Stitzel-Weller, but the proportions have varied as availability of the different stocks has changed. They create a flavor profile prior to each bottling based on what they have available and how much they need, then withdraw whiskey accordingly. Every bottle is the same and contains whiskey from each distillery. For Fall 2012, Old Rip Van Winkle 10 year old will be wheated bourbon made entirely at the in Frankfort. Van Winkle Family Reserve 12 year old (‘Lot B’) will be a mixture of wheated bour- bons made at the Buffalo Trace distillery The Van Winkle Family of whiskeys come from five different distilleries. in Frankfort and the Bernheim distillery in Louisville. ecause the Van Winkle family has 1999, and in earnest after 1999. When Sazer- Pappy Van Winkle 15 year old will be a such a long and distinguished his- ac acquired the W. L. Weller brand in 1999, it mixture of wheated bourbons made at Buf- Btory, and because their product line received stocks of wheated bourbon made falo Trace, Bernheim, and Stitzel-Weller. is so expensive and hard to find, there is at the new Bernheim distillery between 1992 Pappy Van Winkle 20 year old will be a always great interest in the provenance of and 1999, and at Stitzel-Weller before 1992. mixture of wheated bourbons made at Buf- Van Winkle whiskeys. It may also be that Here, specifically, is the makeup for the falo Trace and Stitzel-Weller. because Van Winkle whiskeys have such an Fall 2012 Van Winkle release. This informa- The Fall 2012 allocation of Pappy 23 year outsize reputation they are often purchased tion comes directly from Julian Van Winkle. old was bottled years ago and is all Stitzel- by people who are new to the subject and Van Winkle Family Reserve rye has long Weller, but the next time they bottle Pappy know very little about who makes whiskey been a 50/50 combination of Medley (Ow- 23 it will contain Buffalo Trace wheated or how they do it. They just know Pappy Van ensboro) and Cream of (old Bern- bourbon. (Buffalo Trace bourbon made in Winkle is “The Best!” heim in Louisville) . It was all with- 1991 will turn 23 in 2014.) It’s no secret that the Old Rip Van Winkle drawn from barrels and entered into stainless Eventually, as current stocks are depleted, distillery is a marketing company, and a brand, steel tanks years ago. Each fall, some of it is everything will be from Buffalo Trace. run by Julian Van Winkle III and his son, Pres- ton, with partners the . Julian’s grandfather, known as ‘Pappy,’ formed the Stitzel-Weller distillery during Prohibition by merging his company, W. L. Weller and Sons, a wholesaler, with A. Ph. Stitzel, a distiller. When Julian’s father was forced to sell Stitzel-Weller in 1972, he re- tained all rights to the Van Winkle name. He became a non-distiller producer, mostly sell- ing wheated bourbon made at Stitzel-Weller. Julian III took over when his father died. Stitzel-Weller, today owned by Diageo, stopped distilling in 1992. About ten years ago, with whiskey from Stitzel-Weller running low, the Van Winkles entered into a joint venture with the Sazerac Company to secure a future supply. Saz- erac’s Buffalo Trace distillery made wheated

bourbon sporadically between 1991 and Van Winkle whiskey’s current and future home: Buffalo Trace. in a krug kri st

70 FALL 2012 whisky advocate Top left: The original Michter’s distillery in Pennsylvania. Top right: The old Fort Nelson Building in Louisville will be the new Michter’s distillery. Bottom left: Michter’s Willie Pratt (left) and co- president Joseph J. Magliocco.

el thousands of miles to get there. Jack Daniel’s, son’s, Ezra Brooks, Harrison’s, Pure Kentucky, distillers have a portfolio of products they sell in not-on-the-way-to-anywhere Lynchburg, Johnny Drum, Yellowstone, , Mich- under assumed business names. There is, for ex- Tenn., welcomes 250,000 visitors annually. ter’s, Templeton, Noah’s Mill, and many others. ample, no Knob Creek distillery. Knob Creek is Whiskey tourism is growing at a smart clip just Several craft distilleries, such as High West made by Beam Inc. So are Old Crow, Old Grand- about everywhere whiskey is made. in Utah and Smooth Ambler in West Virginia, Dad, Booker’s, Baker’s, and Basil Hayden’s. So let’s say you are a huge fan of Bulleit sell some (usually very young) whiskey they It depends on what ‘made’ means. bourbon and Bulleit rye, and also of the rare make, and also aged whiskey made by others Templeton rye is partially aged and entirely and expensive bourbon and rye from the that they merely bottle and sell. bottled in Templeton, Iowa, and that’s where Old Rip Van Winkle distillery. You’re ready Diageo, of course, is the world’s largest they have parties for their many fans. But ev- to make your once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage. drinks company and owns many active whiskey ery drop of Templeton rye whiskey is distilled Where should you tell Expedia to send you? distilleries, including George Dickel in Tennes- in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, at the same distill- Not to the Bulleit or Van Winkle distilleries. see, but when it comes to Bulleit and its other ery that makes Bulleit rye for Diageo using the

: f red minnick They don’t exist, except on paper. bourbons, Diageo is a non-distiller producer. same 95 percent rye recipe. It’s a popular reci- Bulleit, owned by Diageo, and Old Rip pe. Redemption rye, from Dynamic Beverages, Van Winkle, a joint venture between the Van Made vs. Made-up uses it too. The distillery is a recent acquisi- Winkle family and Sazerac, are both what There is nothing wrong with non-distiller pro- tion of MGP Ingredients, one of the country’s are called non-distiller producers. They are ducers. They have always been part of the in- major distillers. not alone. Many popular dustry and most distillers are also part of the There are scads of new small brands coming brands come from non-distiller producers. non-distiller business. They make the whiskey out these days. One reason is an emerging trend

m l e ft rig ht a nd botto They include Jefferson’s, WhistlePig, Master- non-distiller producers sell, and virtually all of establishments that want an exclusively

whisky advocate FALL 2012 71 craft-produced back bar. The first thing they do Sazerac is the same. There is a Buffalo Trace Maybe it doesn’t depend on the name so is banish all of the major international brands; bourbon made at their Buffalo Trace distillery, much as what you do with it. Templeton rye the Jacks, Jims, Johnnies, and Glens. Do they a Very Old Barton bourbon made at their Bar- has built its brand around the story of an il- know or care that, in many cases, it’s the same ton 1792 distillery, and a Sazerac rye made at legally-produced Prohibition-era rye whiskey macro spirits behind those new micro labels? Buffalo Trace. They also make, between the for which tiny Templeton, Iowa, became infa- It’s not limited to whiskey either. Despite two distilleries, dozens of other whiskeys such mous. They claim it was Al Capone’s favorite. all of their fancy TV commercials about ‘craft,’ as Old Charter, Eagle Rare, W. L. Weller, George They position modern Templeton as a small, Blue Moon is made by the same craftsmen T. Stagg, E.H. Taylor, 1792 Ridgemont Reserve, upstart company from a puny but proud town, who make Coors Light. All of this is know- Kentucky Tavern, Kentucky Gentleman, Ten and avoid talking about the fact that their able, and anyone who doesn’t know it has only High, and Benchmark. They also make many product is made at one of the largest distill- themselves to blame. Caveat Emptor! different brands of American blended whiskey. eries in the country, 650 miles away. In addition to the Van Winkle relationship, Naming Names Sazerac has another joint venture with a com- Pedigree Producers rarely lie to you outright, but they pany called Age International, for whom they Some people have suggested that what we can spin like dervishes. You have to ask the make Blanton’s, Ancient Age, Elmer T. Lee, and need are new laws that require full disclo- right questions and listen very carefully to other bourbons. sure of where every whiskey is distilled. That the answers. Sometimes you just have to use would be nice, and some producers provide your head. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out It’s in the Details that information voluntarily, but it’s hard that a brand new ‘distillery’ selling 14 year old Last year, a company called Michter’s acquired to imagine a good rationale for requiring it. whiskey didn’t make the stuff. a building on Louisville’s historic Whiskey Whiskey and other distilled spirits are already Jefferson’s is a small, upmarket American Row (i.e., Main Street) and promised to install among the most heavily regulated and heavily whiskey brand that has been around for sever- a small distillery there. They’re talking about taxed consumer products on the market. Who al years. Its McLain & Kyne distillery is entire- a larger distillery and bottling plant in Shively, wants more government in their whiskey? ly fictional. The producer is Castle Brands, a the Louisville suburb that was once a hub of There is one category of spirits products for New York wholesaler, in conjunction with the brand’s creators, Trey Zoeller and his father, Chet, both of Louisville. Their whiskey usu- Some people have suggested that what we need are ally comes from but they recently created a one-off, called Jefferson’s Presiden- new laws that require full disclosure of where every tial Select, using some Stitzel-Weller whiskey they acquired from Diageo. whiskey is distilled. That would be nice, but it’s hard Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), in Bardstown, is a non-distiller producer, but it to imagine a good rationale for requiring it. also provides brokering, maturation, and bot- tling services to other non-distiller produc- ers, such as Jefferson’s. KBD is located at the whiskey manufacturing. They hope to join the which greater disclosure is already required. old in Bardstown and run by Kentucky Distillers Association and the Ken- Any spirit that is bottled-in-bond (BIB) must Willett family descendants. Although KBD tucky Bourbon Trail. identify on the label where it was distilled and recently began distilling on a micro-distillery They have a master distiller, Willie Pratt, where it was bottled, and it must do so using scale, it will be years before any KBD product who is retired from Brown-Forman. What the plant’s government-issued Distilled Spir- contains KBD-made whiskey. they do not have is a distillery. Michter’s is a its Producer (DSP) number. Until the 1980s, Consider also Heaven Hill, which has long non-distiller producer. BIB labels also had to say when the product been a supplier to KBD and other non-distill- If you know the name, you probably asso- was distilled and bottled. er producers. They are a distiller, no doubt, ciate it with a distillery in Pennsylvania that While the pedigree of some brands is cloudy, one of the biggest in the state, but when they closed for good in 1990. This Michter’s is not others are crystal clear. You can be sure that ev- needed more distillate than their own distill- that Michter’s. It’s great that they have revived ery drop of Jack Daniel’s is made at the distillery ery could produce, they commissioned some the Michter’s name, but the whiskey they sell in Lynchburg, Tenn. George Dickel is entirely from Brown-Forman and others while they is not from the closed Michter’s distillery. made in nearby Tullahoma. is made expanded their plant. Every producer buys The historic Pennsylvania distillery briefly at the two Jim Beam plants near Bardstown. and sells bulk whiskey and other spirits within known as Michter’s failed in 1990. Its own- is made at the Brown-Forman the industry. The only difference is that some ers fled and its trademark was abandoned. In plants in Shively and Versailles. Maker’s Mark do it occasionally while others do it routinely. 1997, a Philadelphia company called Chatham is made at the Maker’s Mark distillery in Lo- Heaven Hill sells its whiskey under dozens Imports re-registered the abandoned mark and retto. is made at the Wild Turkey of different brand names. is the created a new Michter’s line from acquired distillery in Lawrenceburg. is made flagship. The Heaven Hill name rarely appears whiskey. They have no connection to the origi- nearby, at the Four Roses distillery. but they’re not hiding anything. The Heaven nal Michter’s company nor to the distillery in You can go there and watch them make it, if Hill web site shows all of the brands they make. Schaefferstown where Michter’s was made. you want to. n

72 FALL 2012 whisky advocate