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Next Auction starts Friday 29 March. Bottle Deadline: 18 March.

Greenbrier 1913 Bottled in Bond Whiskey Pint / Prohibition Era Bottling

Lot: 5009645

Greenbrier 1913 Bottled in Bond Whiskey Pint / Prohibition Era Bottling

Winning Bid: £975

Currency Estimate

Important: Currency exchange rates are constantly changing; this feature is to be used as a guide price only. All final transactions occur in British Pounds (£).
Lot:
Distillery: 
Greenbrier
Age: 
N/A
Vintage: 
1913
Region: 
Kentucky, USA
Bottler: 
Schenley
Cask Type: 
N/A
Bottled Strength: 
100 us proof
Bottle Size: 
1 pint
Distillery Status: 
Closed
product Details

Greenbrier 1913 Bottled in Bond Whiskey Pint / Prohibition Era Bottling

A medicinal bottling of American whiskey. Medicinal whiskey was a legal loophole exploited by a select number of distillers who were able to acquire a license to do so, and allowed them to continue bottling their bonded stock as a prescription medication.

This was distilled in 1913 and bottled in 1924, four years after the Prohibition Act was enforced. The whiskey is from the Greenbrier distillery, which was built in 1883 by a certain Old Grand-dad, R.B. Hayden, after whom Jim Beam's Basil Hayden's bourbon is also named. The distillery was purchased by the Schenley company during Prohibition, one of their many acquisitions as they looked for full warehouses to bottle whiskey from using their medicinal license. The original distillery was closed, however the company, one of the largest post-Prohibition producers built a new one which operated briefly. 

Schenley was organised in 1920 by Louis Rosenstiel as the Cincinnati Distributing Corp. It was one of just six companies granted a license by the US government to bottle medicinal whiskey, alongside Brown-Forman, Frankfort Distilleries, the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery, the American Medicinal Spirits Company, and James Thompson & Brother. In the same year, Rosenstiel acquired the Joseph S. Finch distillery in Pennsylvania, its stock and its Golden Wedding brand, which would go onto become one of the flagship labels of Schenley in the 20th century. In 1922, Rosenstiel met Winston Churchill while holidaying in France, and the future British Prime Minister advised him to begin preparing for the eventuality that the unpopular Prohibition act would be repealed. Rosenstiel then spent the next decade accruing assets in the whiskey industry and by the time his foresight finally paid off in 1933, Schenley were the owners of numerous distilleries including George T. Stagg, James E. Pepper, and the Squibb distillery in Indiana. They added the famous Bernheim distillery to the portfolio in 1937, and the year prior made their first play in the Scotch market by becoming the US distributor for John Dewar & Sons. Rosenstiel's spirits empire dominated much of the market share of American whiskey for the next forty years through brands like I.W. Harper and Cream of Kentucky, before he sold his controlling stake to the Glen Alden company in 1968. He passed away eight years later, and in 1987, Schenley was bought over by United Distillers, newly formed through a merger of the Distillers Company Ltd (DCL) and Arthur Bell & Sons after both were acquired by Guinness that year.

This brand is not to be confused with the similarly named Green Brier distillery in Tennessee, which was recently revived.

Important Notice

We would recommend viewing/close inspection prior to placing any bids. If this is not an option and you have questions beyond the offered description and images, please contact us for a more in-depth condition report. Otherwise lots will be sold as seen in the images.

Please note: Due to the various ages of bottles and their seals, condition of liquid is at the buyer's discretion and no claim can be lodged against failure/leakage in transit.