Greenbrier Distillery

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I got an email from young lady who would like to know more about the now-abandoned Greenbrier distillery, just outside of Bardstown. She lives in the town (a tiny burg, actually) of Greenbrier, which is on Highway 49 about six miles SOUTH of Bardstown. But her research shows the Greenbrier distillery to have been located WEST of Bardstown, on Hwy 62 between there and Boston. Mike or anyone out there, can you tell us more? I don't think she's acquainted with this forum, so I've also pointed her here as a good source for an answer.

=John=
http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey

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John,
Greenbrier is an interesting history. There was a Greenbrier bourbon distillery in Kentucky and a Greenbrier Tennessee Whiskey distillery in Greenbrier, Tennessee. As far as I can tell they were distilling and marketing their products at the same time without a conflict in the courts. Schenley ended up with the Greenbrier bourbon label after prohibition and they sent some people down to research the old distillery. What nobody told them before they came was that the distillery was west of town but there was also an area known as Greenbriar that was the source of the local moonshine. These fancy city boys almost got killed before the locals figured out that they were asking about the legal distillery and not the moonshine operations. These guys were a little upset about this in their correspondence back to New York.
Mike Veach

[brendaj]

Thanks to John and Mike V. John was kind enough to be inquiring on my behalf. I currently live in Greenbrier (of moonshine fame). As a matter of fact, I own a small chunk of the hollow Mike is referring to. And yes, there's much local lore involving altercations with the 'government men' during prohibition and some of the methods used to transport the 'shine'.
That's why I've been trying to figure out why they called the distillery west of town the Greenbrier Distillery. So there actually was a Greenbrier label?
I appreciate your reply.
Bj

Wavin'atcha from Bardstown, deep in the heart of Bourbon Country.

[kitzg]

that's a great little story. So...who founded the "real" and legal Greenbrier distillery, west of town? Do we know?

Greg

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Hi Brenda! Good to see you here. I didn't realize you're the same BrendaJ we were looking all over for at the festival this year! So where were ya??

I've got some more on Greenbrier, with help from Sam Cecil's book...

There's nothing left of the Greenbrier plant. Where it used to be now stands the American Greetings Company plant. It had run into the 1960's after having been rebuilt in 1935 by Jim Conway, a local automobile dealer, and some associates. It had a number of owners, including the Wathen brothers and someone named Sid Flashman.

Before it was rebuilt, and before Prohibition, it was run by Wm. Collins & Co. and had two brands, "Greenbrier" and also "R. B. Hayden", the original brand produced there by Raymond Basil Hayden when he owned it in the late 1870's. Mr. Hayden is better known today as the inspiration for the Small Batch Brand "Basil Hayden's" and also as the creator of a rather successful brand named after his grandfather. Although his grandfather was also R. B. Hayden, it wasn't the "R. B. Hayden" brand that became famous; it was another one which he called "Old Grand Dad.", which I think was made a few years later at another site.

=John=
http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey

[brendaj]

So Hey John! Oh yes, this is too cool. Ya'll were in that party of 6 with Linn Spencer, weren't you? I am sooo sorry. My water pump chose to 'bite it' on Friday morning (along the side of I65...). I knew ya'll were checking into the General Nelson on Thursday but, it was Saturday before I made it to the Festival. We had breakfast and wandered around most of the day. @ that point, I didn't really know where to look....I realize now, it was definately my loss. From your web page, it looks like ya'll had a large time!
Thanks much for looking up the Greenbrier Dist. for me. NOW I understand, that old distillery is east of town (southeast really). No wonder I couldn't find any remains toward Boston (duh!). I believe there might be (@ least there was 6/7 years ago) what must have been part of the bottling operation...lots of windows, still standing. Geezzz, I'm soooo dim....I've been in that building.
I'd like to see a label. Think I'll trot up to the Getz Mus. and see if they have one. I also intend to pay some attention to Basil Hayden. I'm a Jim Beam black label/Maker's Mark kinda grrrrl.
Thanks again,
Bj

Wavin'atcha from Bardstown, deep in the heart of Bourbon Country.

[kitzg]

Bj, My wife, Jo, and I were in that party of 6, too, and identifying each other is one reason I suggested we get some wearable items with straightbourbon.com on them. Boone is working on that. Just thought I'd put in a plug for the idea. In addition, next year if you find Mike at the Getz Museum you can probably find the rest of us. We were in and out of there every day. Look forward to seeing you.

Greg

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The Oscar Getz Museum has more than just a label, they have several bottles of Greenbriar. Just ask Flaget or Mary to show them to you. Of course you could try to catch me on a Sunday and I would be glad to show you a bottle of Greenbriar.
Mike Veach

[brendaj]

Mike,
You wrote:
Of course you could try to catch me on a Sunday and I would be glad to show you a bottle of Greenbriar.
---
Why Thank You Kind Sir.....you have made yourself a date......) If you would give me an idea of what time you expect to be around on Sunday, I will be there.
I have to admit, I could stop and ask Flaget...years ago, I was one of the grunts painting, packing and toting when they opened the museum...(geez, now I really feel old) must have been early eighties...but, I would love to chat with you for a minute or two. I've been watching your posts about the 'press kit' and want to just listen for a few minutes )
Did you by any chance get any Knob Creek or Elijah Craig in your bag? Someone slipped me a little Knob Creek sampler but...had to buy my own Elijah Craig...)
Look forward to Sunday,
Bj


Blowin' smoke in Bardstown

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I plan to get down there at about 1:00 but I am not sure how long I will stay. I will be there for at least an hour.
Mike Veach