Rittenhouse Rye BIB in KY

[cowdery]

Old Watermill Rye is the brand name. It was an Old Kentucky Distillery Co. (OKD) label that came with BF's acquistion of that distillery in 1940. OKD was a Louisville distillery, the last vestiges of which were demolished in 1960.

To give all credit where credit is due, although BF distills Rittenhouse, Heaven Hill barrels the new make and ages it.

[funknik]

Old Watermill Rye is the brand name. It was an Old Kentucky Distillery Co. (OKD) label that came with BF's acquistion of that distillery in 1940. OKD was a Louisville distillery, the last vestiges of which were demolished in 1960.

To give all credit where credit is do, although BF distills Rittenhouse, Heaven Hill barrels the new make and ages it.

Right On, Chuck -- thanks for the info!

[cowdery]

This web site has this to say about the Old Watermill trademark.

Word Mark OLD WATERMILL Goods and Services (EXPIRED) WHISKY. FIRST USE: 1895. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 1895 Filing Date March 5, 1896 Registration Date March 31, 1896 Owner (REGISTRANT) MELLWOOD DISTILLERY COMPANY CORPORATION KENTUCKY LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY

Mellwood was also a Louisville Distillery. There is a little more information about the history of both on pages 84-85 of Cecil.

[JeffRenner]

In the early 1980s (I don't know exactly when), Publicker stopped distilling but continued as a non-distiller producer, contracting with Heaven Hill to make the product.

That is at odds with a bottle I have of Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky [sic] BiB with "89" embossed on the bottom, presumably indicating that it was bottled in 1989. On the front label it states, "Bottled by Continental Distilling Corporation, Owensboro, KY."

On the back label is "Distilled by Medley Distilling Company DSP-KY-49 Owensboro Kentucky, Bottled by DSP-KY-24."

The UPC is 85676 70275. Tht UPC is not listed in the handy pocket guide that Dawn (luv2hunt) made up a few years ago.

Sadly, I have only about an ounce left in the bottle. A friend picked it up seven or eight years ago in WV at a store where his sister was manager. He said that she had a case, which I asked him to get next time he was there (it was great whiskey, and this was before there were many ryes available), but he never got back. I just sipped a half-capful, and all I can say is, damn!

Jeff

[cowdery]

You are right and, worst of all, I knew that. It was Medley, not Heaven Hill, that picked up the baton on Rittenhouse. It was Pikesville that Heaven Hill made through that period, and perhaps some others. In other words, the pattern is as I described it, I just got the player wrong.

I'm not sure exactly when Rittenhouse entered the Medley stable, but in the late 1980s Medley bought Flieschmann, then was itself bought by Glenmore, so that by 1989 both Continental and Medley were just DBAs for Glenmore. Then in 1991, what is now Diageo bought Glenmore. Subsequently, there were several big brand sell-offs and Heaven Hill acquired Rittenhouse in one of these.

The attached picture is from a Sales Pre-Planning Manual I did for Glenmore in 1990. Is that your label?

This photograph was is intended to show their preferred shelf set, their products vis a vis the competition. The manual lists Rittenhouse as their only straight rye and shows ryes in the same shelf set as blends, GNS and corn whiskey.

(The document was distributed in a 3-ring binder, hence the black hole.)

[JeffRenner]

The attached picture is from a Sales Pre-Planning Manual I did for Glenmore in 1990. Is that your label?

Yes, that is the label.

I have had a suspicion that this is the source for some of the very old rye that has been available these last few years. Is there any justification for this thought?

Jeff

[cowdery]

Yes, that was some of it although that, I believe, is all gone. The Cream of Kentucky rye was the rest of it.

[boone]

Heaven Hill made it at its Bardstown distillery, using its own rye recipe that it had made since the distillery's founding after Prohibition. That continued until that distillery was destroyed by fire in November of 1996. That's when it began to be made by Brown-Forman at its Shively distillery (DSP 354), where it continues to be made on Heaven Hill's behalf.

I've had serious doubts about a couple of issues in the discussion about Rittenhouse...

We completed major additions to our Bernheim Distillery so that we could produce more product IMO there's no way they would do all that and not produce our only straight rye...

I finally remembered to ask Craig about who produces the Rittenhouse now and did BF have a hand in it's creation...


This was his response:


We have been doing the rye Whiskey at Bernheim for the past year & BF didn't have anything to do with the creation.
Hope all is well with you.
Craig

[Josh]

I've had serious doubts about a couple of issues in the discussion about Rittenhouse...

We completed major additions to our Bernheim Distillery so that we could produce more product IMO there's no way they would do all that and not produce our only straight rye...

I finally remembered to ask Craig about who produces the Rittenhouse now and did BF have a hand in it's creation...


This was his response:


We have been doing the rye Whiskey at Bernheim for the past year & BF didn't have anything to do with the creation.
Hope all is well with you.
Craig

Craig's statement could be interpreted in a number of ways. What it makes me wonder is whether the new, Bernheim-made Ritt will be made with a different recipie than what is currently on the shelves as Rittenhouse Rye?

[boone]

Craig's statement could be interpreted in a number of ways. What it makes me wonder is whether the new, Bernheim-made Ritt will be made with a different recipie than what is currently on the shelves as Rittenhouse Rye?

I don't have to ask on that one I know Craig He's using the same recipe taught to him by his Daddy (Parker) and Parker's Daddy (Earl) taught him Handed down, three generations, from father to son to grandson