Owensboro has a rich heritage of distilling in Kentucky. They are known today for the Green River and Glenmore Distilleries, but in the 19th century, they also had the Daviess County Distillery. In 1873, Richard Monarch founded the Daviess County Distillery on land that is located just behind the modern Green River Distillery. The Monarch family also established the Glenmore Distillery in 1881. In 1901, George Medley purchased an interest in the Daviess County Distillery and in 1904, Medley joined with Dietrich Meschendorf to purchase the distillery from Richard Monarch. 

George Medley had six sons who all became involved in the distilling business. In 1910, George Medley passed away and his son Thomas A. Medley became president of Daviess County Distillery. During Prohibition in 1927, the brothers sold the distillery’s stock of whiskey to American Medicinal Spirits. The distillery started up again after the repeal of Prohibition, but the brothers sold the distillery to Fleischmann Distilling Company in 1940. Like many other established distilleries, the Second World War brought about a decline in profits because of war-time prohibition. War-time prohibition forced distilleries into making high proof alcohol to support the war effort. There was minimal profit in making this alcohol and many distilleries had huge debts from having to rebuild after Prohibition. They ended up selling out to larger companies to settle these debts and take home a bit of profit. 

Fleischmann Distilling Company operated the distillery making Daviess County and Fleischmann’s Bourbon at the distillery up to the 1980s, when declining demand for whiskey forced them to shut down the distillery. In 1989, Glenmore Distilleries Company purchased Fleischmann Distilling Company. In 1991, United Distillers purchased Glenmore Distilleries Company and the Fleischmann brands. In 1993, they sold the Fleischmann brands to Luxco Distillery. Today, the Daviess County Bourbon brand has been revived by the Luxco Distillery in Bardstown.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller