S. S. Brumbaugh's Pure Rye

[Enoch]

Stopped by an estate sale and bought this bottle for $3. It has cut into the glass:

S. S. Brunbaugh's

Pure Rye

Bedford Co. Pa.

The guy said it belonged to his grandfather and had been in the family for a long time. His grandfather dripped wax over the cork to keep it sealed though some seems to have evaporated. The juice is dark but very clear except for bits of cork. The only thing I can find on the internet is a reference for a doctor with that name who had a distillery and small store in Bedford Co. PA around 1900.

1. Does anyone know anything about this?

2. Do you think it is drinkable? and

3. Would you drink it or just save it as a display piece?

[cowdery]

A couple of things.

If you haven't yet, check pre-pro.com. That's the best source for information about pre-Prohibition brands and producers.

That shows a lot of evaporation. I'd be very concerned about that.

You also have what appears to be a serving bottle, not a bottle that would have been sold with whiskey in it. Before the advent of cheap bottles at the very end of the 19th century, very little whiskey was sold in bottles. Most of it was sold in barrels. But if you bought a barrel for your saloon, you got a couple of very nice, blown glass bottles with the name of the brand or distillery on them. Might have had a nice glass stopper too. The idea was that you would decant the whiskey from the barrel into the appropriate bottle and then serve your customers from that bottle.

That's what you appear to have.

So, basically, who knows what the hell is in there. Proceed with caution.

[Enoch]

It might be best to just keep it as a nice conversation piece.

[Enoch]

Thanks for the info. It's funny how this guy had a distillery, a store and was a doctor.