Old Charter Question

[buoy37]

I am confused as all get out......

I acquired an Old Charter 10 yr dusty handle. To the best of my knowledge, the bottle ranges from the early to mid 80's. I base this off it having a UPC 88076 and an ATF stamp.

Here is where I get confused, the label states the bourbon was distilled by the Old Charter Distillery Co in Louisville, KY & Frankfort, KY

Louisville = Bernheim Distillery?

Frankfort = Ancient Age Distillery?

What would have transpired for there to be two distillery locations on the bottle? Is my bottle a blend of straight bourbons (High West)?

Edited December 7, 2013 by buoy37

[TunnelTiger]

Guessing one would be barreled at and the other bottled at. A very uneducated guess a might add.

[squire]

Distillery in one city, company headquarters in another.

[shoshani]

During the time your Old Charter was made, both Bernheim and Ancient Age were owned by Schenley. Old Charter was a Bernheim brand when Schenley acquired Bernheim, but there's no reason they couldn't have done some production at Ancient Age if there was slack time in Frankfort.

[cowdery]

Does anyone know if any bottling was done at Bernheim? If there was, I've never seen pictures, heard it mentioned. Bottling means finished goods distribution too. When distilleries are consolidating, bottling is usually the first thing to go. I wonder if everything was being bottled in Frankfort? So much consolidation occurred during the 1980s, it's hard to keep track of who owned what when. Complicating that, even when ownership changes, production agreements are sometimes part of the deal. I have no doubt that Buffalo Trace continued to produce for Schenley after they sold the distillery to Age International.

[buoy37]

The bourbon having one name, the distillery having another and the ownership having a completely different name gets me all mixed up when I sit and try to timeline this bottle. Not to mention two different cities being listed on the label.

Is there a data base for ATF numbers? If this bourbon was bottled around 1984, that means the juice could have been distilled and barreled sometime around the millionth (spelling?) barreling in the distilleries history.

[buoy37]

Here is the bottle in question...

[bourbonv]

Old Charter was a brand owned by Schenley, but the whiskey was made at various places such as Bernheim and Ancient Age. In 1984 AA went independent, but a lot of the whiskey in their warehouses remained Schenley whiskey. With the tax stamp on the bottle, I suspect this whiskey is pre sale and the whiskey was made at Bernheim and bottled at Ancient Age. After they sold AA, Schenley bottled at their Lawrenceburg, Indiana plant until they were acquired by U D and then bottling was at Old Fitzgerald.

Mike Veach

[buoy37]

Old Charter was a brand owned by Schenley, but the whiskey was made at various places such as Bernheim and Ancient Age. In 1984 AA went independent, but a lot of the whiskey in their warehouses remained Schenley whiskey. With the tax stamp on the bottle, I suspect this whiskey is pre sale and the whiskey was made at Bernheim and bottled at Ancient Age. After they sold AA, Schenley bottled at their Lawrenceburg, Indiana plant until they were acquired by U D and then bottling was at Old Fitzgerald.

Mike Veach

Now that is a solid answer...thanks so much Mike!!

[bourbonv]

I am glad i could help you clear up the history.

Mike veach