Distillery in Joplin, MO 50 years ago?

[BBQ+Bourbon]

I searched the site and found nothing that would answer this odd question.

There is a local liquor store whose owner has a half-case of bourbon he inherited from his father 40 years ago. He suspects it was 10 years old at his father's passing so it is roughly 50 years old now. The only information he could recall is that it was made in Joplin MO and the bottles had little or no internal loss.

I had a feeling that he would part with some of this juice but didn't pursue the opportunity because I'd never heard anything about the distillery. Is there any interesting juice that came from Joplin during that era?

[OscarV]

I found out that Jolly Mill was built as a whiskey distillery in 1848 but doesn't say how long it was a distillery.

[Josh]

I found out that Jolly Mill was built as a whiskey distillery in 1848 but doesn't say how long it was a distillery.

According to this Book , the Jolly Mill/Jollification distillery was closed sometime in the 1870's but the grist mill continued. Everything I found claims that the distillery was "converted" to a grist mill, but it seems more likely that there was already a grist mill on site, and what happened was that the distilling part of the business was shut down.

I haven't been able to find anything on the internet about any distillery in the area other than Jolly Mill or McCormick. My guess is that it was something made at McCormick.

[cowdery]

First, whiskey doesn't age in the bottle, so if it was 10-year-old whiskey when bottled, it's still 10-year-old whiskey. But from what you are saying it doesn't sound like it was even that old, and it probably wasn't. But if it was bottled 50 years ago, it's credible that a distillery in Joplin would have still been producing in 1959, when American whiskey production was booming.

McCormick is in Weston, MO. I've never heard of a distillery in Joplin, but that doesn't mean there weren't any. There probably were. Any that came back after Prohibition? That I don't know.

I can, however, safely say that there is no universal longing for the legendary whiskeys of Joplin, MO. Then as now, Kentucky and Tennessee were the big whiskey-makers, along with Pennsylvania, which no longer is.

Do the bottles not have labels on them? Is there not a brand name? A picture? You might get more information back if you provided a little more.

[BBQ+Bourbon]

First, whiskey doesn't age in the bottle, so if it was 10-year-old whiskey when bottled, it's still 10-year-old whiskey. But from what you are saying it doesn't sound like it was even that old, and it probably wasn't. But if it was bottled 50 years ago, it's credible that a distillery in Joplin would have still been producing in 1959, when American whiskey production was booming.

McCormick is in Weston, MO. I've never heard of a distillery in Joplin, but that doesn't mean there weren't any. There probably were. Any that came back after Prohibition? That I don't know.

I can, however, safely say that there is no universal longing for the legendary whiskeys of Joplin, MO. Then as now, Kentucky and Tennessee were the big whiskey-makers, along with Pennsylvania, which no longer is.

Do the bottles not have labels on them? Is there not a brand name? A picture? You might get more information back if you provided a little more.

Thanks for your reply. I always enjoy reading your posts and I admire your knowledge of the history and industry of bourbon. I live just east of Weston and it's a source of shame that their products are so awful.

I have not seen these bottles and have no more information than posted above. What I was trying to determine is whether it would be worth pursuing a purchase of these bottles. Your reply suggests that it would likely not be which is what I suspected and that suspicion is why I did not inquire further. These bottles are probably worth more to their current owner than they are to me.

I have been unable to locate any information about a distillery in Joplin and in fact, a search on Google only turns up this thread

[Josh]

Thanks for your reply. I always enjoy reading your posts and I admire your knowledge of the history and industry of bourbon. I live just east of Weston and it's a source of shame that their products are so awful.

I have not seen these bottles and have no more information than posted above. What I was trying to determine is whether it would be worth pursuing a purchase of these bottles. Your reply suggests that it would likely not be which is what I suspected and that suspicion is why I did not inquire further. These bottles are probably worth more to their current owner than they are to me.

I have been unable to locate any information about a distillery in Joplin and in fact, a search on Google only turns up this thread

Chuck wrote the book (literally) but there's no reason why you couldn't write another chapter. You could take your place in whiskeydom as the guru of the Missouri wiskey industry!

It's probably just my personal neurosus but I would jump at the chance to own and/or drink a hitherto unknown whiskey (to SB.com anyway). But that's just me.

[BBQ+Bourbon]

Chuck wrote the book (literally) but there's no reason why you couldn't write another chapter. You could take your place in whiskeydom as the guru of the Missouri wiskey industry!

It's probably just my personal neurosus but I would jump at the chance to own and/or drink a hitherto unknown whiskey (to SB.com anyway). But that's just me.

Then you might be interested in the 1.75l Old Calhoun Reserve I found today! It has a faux tax strip and is 80 proof, distilled in Bardstown. It was marketed by Safeway (I think) in California. How it got to a rural MO liquor store 20 years later is a mystery!

I can't believe I didn't think to check their Weller Reserve to see if any was from L'villeScored a Lville 107 with the striped bottle!