Templeton Rye

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Templeton Rye refers to rye whiskey made in Templeton, Iowa during the prohibition era as a way for farmers in the area, Carroll County, to supplement their income during the Great Depression.[1] Orangey in color, it was considered to be of particularly high quality and was popular in Chicago, Omaha, and Kansas City speakeasies. [2] Recently "Templeton Rye" has been introduced as a brand of whiskey based on a prohibition-era recipe. Distribution outside of Iowa began in August 2007.[3]

The Nadas recorded a song about rye whiskey in Templeton.

[edit] As a commercial brand

In 1965, Clifford and Rose Romey registered "Templeton Rye Whiskey" as a corporation and trademark in Iowa, which was renewed by Alice Romey in 1996.[4] It went inactive in 2001.

Shortly thereafter, Scott Bush, Keith Kerkhoff, and Ted Bauer (then the holder of the Templeton Rye trademark) formed a corporation to make rye whiskey in Templeton using a prohibition-era recipe. (Based on information on the Iowa Secretary of State website, Bush is the registered agent for "Templeton Rye Whiskey LLC."[5] and Brian Green is the registered agent for "Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC" [6] The brand's product literature lists "Templeton Rye Spirits, LLC" as the corporate name and that is the company that holds the distilling license.) Ted Bauer of Audubon, Iowa is no longer involved with the company. [7]

Scott Bush claims that his great-grandfather was involved in the making of the original Templeton rye. [8] However, the recipe used is that of Alphons Kerkhoff, [9] his son Meryl Kerkhoff provided the recipe. [10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Templeton, Iowa website, "The Story of Templeton Rye."
  2. ^ LISA L. OSSIAN. "Bandits, Mad Men, and Suicides: Fear, Anger, and Death in a Troubled Iowa Landscape, 1929-1933. " Agricultural History 80.3 (2006): 296-311 at 302. Sciences Module. ProQuest. 25 Aug. 2007 http://www.proquest.com
  3. ^ " Cheers, Chicago: Iowa rye makes its return" by Mike Kilen. The DesMoines Register, August 15, 2007. (Retrieved from website August 25, 2007.)
  4. ^ Iowa Secretary of State website corporation number 136690
  5. ^ Iowa Secretary of State website corporation number 333277
  6. ^ Iowa Secretary of State website corporation number 309385
  7. ^ Southwest Iowa Renewable Energy, LLC board of directors retrieved from http://www.sireethanol.com website August 25, 2007.
  8. ^ "Iowa made Prohibition-era rye whiskey making legal comeback" WCFCourier.com (website of Cedar Falls, IA newspaper, "The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier") Associated Press, Thursday, June 16, 2005 5:07 AM CDT.
  9. ^ "Karlin's Notebook: Prohibition-Era Whiskey Makes Comeback KCCI (Des Moines, Iowa, television station) website, posted November 15, 2006.
  10. ^ http://publications.iowa.gov/archive/00004327/01/November_10,_2006_e-News.doc "Templeton Gives Rye a New Shot" by Mike Kilen, Staff Writer – Des Moines Register, November 7, 2006" retrieved from google cache August 25, 2007.

[edit] External links