W.A. Gaines and Company

W.A. Gaines & Co. Established 1868. 229 West Main Street. Downtown Frankfort, Kentucky.

W.A. Gaines and Company was a liquor (distilled beverage) company that specialized in American-made whiskeys. Originally started as the partnership Gaines, Berry & Co. in 1862, it was reorganized in 1868 as W.A. Gaines and Company and later became a joint stock company in 1887.[1][2]

History

Brands included Old Crow and Old Hermitage.[3] W.A. Gaines erected the Hermitage distillery in 1868, and were the largest producers of fine "sour mash" whiskeys in the world.[1][4] Its owners were accused of being major players in the "Whiskey Trust", but that was never proved.[5]

The involvement of W.A. Gaines and Co. in the whiskey industry ended with Prohibition.[5] National Distillers, which owned the distillery and brand from the end of Prohibition until 1987, continued to use the W.A. Gaines and Company name. Jim Beam bought National in 1987.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The Hermitage Distillery". pre-pro.com.
  2. ↑ "Hiram Berry Biography". wordpress.com.
  3. ↑ "ROCK SPRING DISTILLING CO. v. W A GAINES & CO. , 246 U.S. 312 (1918)". Thomson Reuters.
  4. ↑ "W A GAINES & CO., Frankfort, KY. 1868-1919". pre-pro.com.
  5. 1 2 "Edson Bradley: Washington's Whiskey Millionaire" (PDF). The Potomac Pontil.
  6. ↑ "Old Crow Whiskey, a fine Bourbon". Whiskeywise.com.

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