The other day, I had the pleasure of hosting Norvelle Wathen at my house. I have known Norvelle for many years. I first met him while I was working at the Filson Historical Society. He attended many of my presentations on Bourbon history. Norvelle is a member of the Louisville Civil War Round Table and a collector of books on the subject. He is also a collector of Old Grand Dad memorabilia being he is a descendent of the Wathens who owned the brand in the 19th century. It is always my pleasure to spend some time talking with Norvelle Wathen.

I have been talking to Norvelle over the telephone for many years. Recently, I was telling him about the Bourbon at Leiper’s Fork and told him I had a bottle he could have and he decided to come over and pick it up. He is an older gentleman and does not drive that much anymore, particularly at night, so he came on a Sunday afternoon. He also came with several pieces of manuscripts, photographs and pamphlets from his collection of Old Grand Dad papers. I was in heaven as he pulled out the papers and let me read them. He even agreed to copy some of them for me to add to my library.

Of the most interest to me is a letter from the late 19th century describing the mash bill for making whiskey at the Old Grand Dad Distillery in Hobbs, Kentucky. He also had an old pamphlet from pre-prohibition with each of the brands made by the AMS Company that he promised to copy for me. He had a photograph album of the Wathen Distillery at 26th and Broadway that was also pre-prohibition. The photographs were not in great shape having suffered water damage sometime in their past, but still quite good images. He also had photographs of his father with Jere Beam, and other people in the industry in the years after prohibition was repealed.

Norvelle may have trouble getting around, but he is still sharp of mind and has a great memory for details. He told me many stories about his father and how he took his father and Jere Beam out to the old Hobbs Station Distillery, where the photograph was taken. He discussed a dinner he arranged for his father at the Pendennis Club in which may of the industry people came including Jere Beam, Bill Samuels Sr. and several people from Brown-Forman.

We discussed Bourbon. He has always loved Old Grand Dad but he also loves other brands of Bourbon and was excited to try the Leiper’s Fork Bourbon. He also recently purchased upon my recommendation, a bottle of Dettling 1867 and was impressed with it. He always makes eggnog at Christmas and was very happy with the way it turned out this year when he made it with Knob Creek. It sounded good to me as well.

His visit was a short one and I promised I would visit him next and pick up the copies he is making for me. He is also wanting to show me more of his collection of Old Grand Dad papers, which include some of the papers when they sold the brand and distillery to AMS. I look forward to that visit and will take a good bottle of Bourbon with me.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller