Brand History – Old Poindexter Bourbon

Old Poindexter is an historic Kentucky Bourbon brand that was abandoned for many years. The distillery was in Harrison County, Kentucky, northwest of Cynthiana, Kentucky on the south fork of the Licking River. It was founded by John Poindexter in 1856. In 1860, W.T. and H.R. Wiglesworth purchased the distillery with W.T. President and H.R. as Secretary and Manager. Their distiller was E.H. Burns. They produced a Bourbon called Old John Poindexter. It was a Bourbon made with a mash bill of corn, rye and malted Barley and copper distilled. It had a reputation of being some of the finest Bourbon being made in Kentucky in the 19th century. They purposely limited their production and refused to enlarge their distillery to keep the quality high. Their distillery had a capacity of 300 bushels per day and warehousing for 20,000 barrels. The distillery also produced the brands Old G.W. Taylor, and Wiglesworth Sweet Mash Bourbon.

The distillery closed in 1919 with the advent of Prohibition and the inventory was transferred to the James E. Pepper Distillery in Lexington, Kentucky. That distillery was owned by Joseph Wolf, who later became a board member for the Schenley Distilleries Company during Prohibition and Schenley sold the brand as medicinal spirits during Prohibition. Schenley continued to bottle the brand up to the 1950s, when they had over-produced whiskey and started shutting down distilleries and consolidating their brands.