Today, when people think about distilling families, they usually think of the name “Beam”. One hundred years ago they would have also thought of the name “Dant”. It has only been in the last 50 years or so that the Dant family faded into the background of public thought about Bourbon families. The Dant family has a very long and rich history of Bourbon distilling.
It all started in the year 1836 when Joseph W. Dant fashioned a still out of a poplar tree log and started making whiskey in Nelson County, Ky., at Dant’s Station. It was a modest business on his farm. He grew the grain, grew his own yeast and made the cooperage himself. His neighbors thought he made the best sour mash whiskey in the country. His whiskey soon began to sell and he would soon be able to afford a proper copper pot still. The business remained modest in size until 1870, when J.W. Dant built a modern distillery at Dant’s Station.
J. W. Dant and his wife had seven sons and they all became involved in the distilling industry. His son George W. Dant eventually took over J.W. Dant Distillery. In 1854, J.W.’s eldest son, J.B. Dant, opened his own distillery and started making whiskey. In 1865, J. B. moved his distillery down the road to Gethsemane, Ky. and his whiskey was distributed by the firm Taylor & Williams. In 1872, one of the Taylor & Williams salesmen, Charles Townsend, witnessed the excitement of the opening of Yellowstone Park. He suggested that a whiskey brand of that name would sell well. He was correct and it soon became the flagship brand for Taylor & Williams and J.B. Dant’s distillery. J.W.’s sons, Thomas Sidney, Frank L., James R. and Wallace W., along with George W., all worked for their father at the J.W. Dant distillery. Another son of J.W. Dant, J. P. Dant distilled at the Pleasure Ridge Park distillery in Jefferson County, Ky.
Prohibition shut down the family businesses. Their brands continued to be sold as medicinal whiskey, but this was done by other companies that had the license to do so. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the Dant family returned to the distilling business. Amazingly, of J.W. Dant’s seven sons, all were still alive in 1936 except for Wallace W. Dant. They were quite elderly, but that did not prevent them from getting back into the business. Most were involved with the revival of the J.W. Dant distillery, but J.B. Dant and his six sons built the Taylor & Williams Yellowstone Distillery in Jefferson County, Ky.
Starting a distillery in the 1930s was no easy task. The Great Depression made money hard to get and distilling took a lot of money to get started. It took four years to get a bonded whiskey into the market and in the meantime, the Canadians and the Scots were flooding the market with aged spirits. Outside investors became involved and the Dant families soon were fading into the background of ownership.
By the end of World War Two, both J.W. Dant and the Yellowstone distilleries and brands had been sold to larger companies. J.W. Dant went to Arm & Hammer, who would sell it to Schenley in 1952, and Yellowstone was acquired by Glenmore. The Dant family remained working at these companies for many years, but they slowly disappeared from the public eye. Eventually, both Schenley and Glenmore would be acquired by United Distillers. United Distillers sold the J.W. Dant and the Yellowstone brand to Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill sold the Yellowstone brand to Luxco.
The 21st century has seen a revival of the Dant legacy with Steve and Paul Beam starting the Limestone Branch Distillery. These two brothers may have a Beam father, but their mother is from the Dant family. They are equally as proud of their mother’s distilling heritage as their father’s long heritage. A few years back, the Beam brothers partnered with Luxco and were able to bring the Yellowstone brand back into the family. The Dant family legacy is revived and surviving into the new century.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller
November 18, 2019 at 5:59 pm
Outstanding Dant Family Legacy recalled…cannot wait until the new and updated Dant Bourbon is launched in 2021/2022 by the next generation of Dant’s.
November 19, 2019 at 4:27 pm
I too am looking forward to seeing them rebuilding the old business.
August 1, 2020 at 3:18 pm
I descend from JW Dants brother. Our line stayed in Washington DC. I’m so glad to hear this news! My siblings and cousins thought I was full of it. 😊
I could only find JW Dant in Rehobeth beach liquor outlet.
Good luck to my 3rd cousin!
Diane
August 11, 2020 at 3:35 pm
I wish him luck and more importantly – profit in his venture. I love to see family distilling tradition brought back.
August 11, 2020 at 8:23 pm
Thank you for the liquor store reference in Rehobeth, another good reason to visit there!
Ted Kanatas (a proud acquaintance to Tim Dant)
August 11, 2020 at 3:37 pm
By the way, are you related to Mary Hite who was at one time a curator of the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History? Her father was the Bixler who was distiller at Henry McKenna when the family sold the distillery to Seagram.
November 20, 2019 at 12:02 pm
Nice little piece of history. Great read and I must get my hands on some of the upcomming expressions 🙂
November 20, 2019 at 5:08 pm
I really like the Yellowstone bottles Limestone Branch has released ad I look forward to tasting Bourbon from the soon to come Dant distillery in Gethsemane, Ky. I am sure they will have plenty of advise from Steve and Paul Beam on how to get started.
December 5, 2019 at 8:23 pm
Patiently waiting for that first barrel to be produced at Log Still Distillery.
March 11, 2020 at 6:09 am
One of the best bourbons I’ve ever tasted was a 1947 Gethsamane Dant.
March 16, 2020 at 12:34 am
That was a great bottle, I remember you sharing it on the porch at Bourbons Bistro.
March 11, 2020 at 12:53 pm
I grew up in Dant Station and we lived in one of the Dant homes, a beautiful 2-story house with a huge attic and wraparound porch. We used to go exploring in the abandoned distillery buildings and train depot. Several of the buildings burned down in the early 1960s. The house we had lived in burned down in the 1990s. Glad to hear they’re bringing the whiskey back.
March 16, 2020 at 12:33 am
The United Distillers Archive has photographs of Schenley removing the column still from the burned out distillery. I think those photographs were taken after the purchased the site in the 1950s.
October 9, 2020 at 1:24 am
I was very excited the first time I discovered a whiskey that had my (not too common) last name. Nice to read a bit of history about the family and company.
March 20, 2022 at 9:38 pm
My name is Susan Greenwell Spehar. My Mother was Sarah Ellen Smith, daughter of Leo and Emma Colsher Smith. We were always told we were relations to J.W. Dant. I would love to know how to verify that. If you have any idea, I would surely appreciate it.
April 17, 2022 at 9:18 pm
Email Steve Beam at Limestone Branch or one of the Dants at the new Log Still Distillery.
October 27, 2021 at 5:35 pm
It is also my understanding that Steve & Paul Beam, in addition to being related to the Dants, are the great grandsons of Minor Case Beam, at whose eponymous distillery (M.C. Beam) at least some of the ‘Yellowstone’ whiskey was distilled after the distillery was purchased by Taylor & Williams. Is this correct?
July 30, 2023 at 3:39 am
JW Dant was not owned by Arm & Hammer (the company), but by Armand Hammer (the man), billionaire owner of Occidental Petroleum. There’s a disturbing new documentary about his family called “House of Hammer” on HBO Max.