Michter's

Michter's heritage makes it one of the oldest whiskey brands in America. The original distillery associated with the brand is widely regarded as America's first commercial distillery. But like many American distilleries, it suffered during Prohibition. But it came back before falling on hard times and closing in the late 1980s. Now the brand has been reborn yet again and offers high class small batch whiskeys covering most American styles. This includes bourbon, rye and sour mash.

Michter's is known for its sweet, fruity and earthy spirit. The rye adds an additional peppery nature. The whiskeys form two ranges - the US*1 and Limited Production. The US*1 is so named to honour the heritage as America's first whiskey company. It features the US*1 Straight Bourbon, Straight Rye, Unblended American Whiskey and Sour Mash.

The Limited Production bottlings feature whiskeys at 10, 20 and 25 years of age. Unlike with Scotch single malt whisky, these age statements are rare within the American whiskey category. Expressions include Michter's sought after 10 year old Single Barrel Bourbon, 20 year old Straight Bourbon and 25 year old Straight Rye.

Production for Michter's takes place at two distilleries in Louisville, Kentucky - Fort Nelson and Shiveley. Here they distil bourbon, rye and sour mash spirits. There are a couple of key differentiating factors from other such producers. First, they fill barrels with spirit at a lower strength than usual for the American industry. This is 103 Proof (51.5% ABV) compared to the typical 125 Proof (62.5% ABV). They also heat cycle maturing barrels. This uncommon and costly practice is used to raise and lower temperatures in warehouses. This extends maturation periods, increases interaction between spirit and oak, and extracts more flavour compounds from the wood.

The original distillery associated with Michter's was founded in 1753 by John Shenk in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. It was named Shenk Distillery and Shenk's whiskey became popular locally. It was purchased by Abraham Bomberger in the 1850s who changed the name to Bomberger Distillery. The Bomberger's brand was also very popular for the subsequent decades. Then Prohibition was introduced in 1920 and the distillery was legally forced to close.

It did not reopen for a significant time after Prohibition ended in 1933 and went through a number of changes of ownership. Eventually, Lou Forman took control and set about beginning production once more. It was Forman who renamed it as Michter's, combining the names of his sons Michael and Peter to form the brand name. However, the distillery was declared bankrupt and closed in 1989.

Fast forward 20 years or so. Plans to resurrect Michter's were submitted by whiskey fans Joseph Magliocco and Richard Newman. They filed for the abandoned trademark and brand name. They also drew up plans to rebuild Michter's reputation and relocate to America's whiskey state of Kentucky, rather than Pennsylvania.

Michter's has two distillery sites. The first is Fort Nelson Distillery, housed in a historic old building on West Main Street in Louisville. This was purchased and kitted out in 2012, although production began sometime after. This now forms part of the famous Kentucky Bourbon Trail offering tours, tastings and a bar to enjoy a cocktail or two. It was followed by the Shiveley Distillery, also in Louisville, in 2019. Michter's also owns a farm in Springfield, Kentucky. This covers 145 acres and grows much of their cereal supply.