![](data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1" height="1600px" width="2400px"></svg>)
The Complete Collector’s Guide to Prohibition-Era Whiskey
While whiskey production has evolved drastically over the last 100 years, dusty time capsules from before and during the Prohibition Era still command a premium in the spirits market.
T he history of American whiskey is as old as the settling of this great nation. For better or worse, the short 13 years that marked National Prohibition (1920-1933) continues to be the lynchpin of that story, and some of the best whiskeys I’ve ever tasted have come from this illustrious epoch.
The United States was a country divided by Temperance when the Volstead Act gave teeth to the 18th Amendment banning liquor on January 17, 1920. With an obvious voting majority, 65% of citizens were in favor of going dry in the years leading up to Prohibition. By the time the 21st Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933, a laundry list of evidence had emerged to show that it was a misguided effort.
The people living through this period rejoiced, just as a small group of some of the most ardent vintage whiskey enthusiasts I know still gather today to properly celebrate Repeal Day every 5th of December… with at least one bottle of Prohibition-era whiskey for sipping, of course.
Highlights from the Whisky & Whiskey Sale
The Best Prohibition Whiskeys
You’ve probably heard a majority of the most famous names of Prohibition: Al Capone, George “Bugs” Moran, Dutch Schultz, George Remus and Arnold Rothstein, to mention some. While modern film adaptations and hit TV shows tend to romanticize the organized crime that sprang from the seeds of opportunity, the genuine chaos of the era was more astutely captured in the shocking newspaper headlines of the time.
Despite all this pandemonium, quite a bit more than paper and lore managed to escape – and many bottles of Prohibition-era whiskey continue to survive to this day. It is through careful and proper storage that you are able to enjoy the same whiskey that The Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald might have sipped in his day. You also might be surprised to see that a number of the now-popular whiskey brands of this century were also prominent names during prohibition: George T. Stagg (now bottled by Buffalo Trace), Old Forester, Old Grand-Dad, I.W. Harper and Old Taylor, just to name a few. These foundational whiskey names are woven into the fabric of American whiskey history, and they’re not going away any time soon.
Several examples of these legendary names have passed through the hallowed halls of Replica Shoes ’s Whiskey & Spirits Department. A 1916-25 pint of O.F.C. Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, distilled by Albert B. Blanton at the Carlisle Distillery and bottled at the Geo. T. Stagg Company, sold for a whopping $7,500. And a 1916-29 Dowling Bros. pint: $3,250 as part of the America’s Finest Bourbon and Rye Through the Decades auction. Wondering if the whiskey within is worth splurging for? I’m lucky enough to have tasted both of these expressions, and I’ll share my tasting notes on the Dowling Bros. later on.
Like any collectible, Prohibition-era whiskeys have their nuances on the market. Bottles with perfectly preserved packaging, high fill levels and good closures often fetch the highest values at auction. Some savvy drinkers might sometimes opt for “scratch and dents” in order to get more bang for their buck.
While a few of the whiskey barons of old reached fame and glory, multitudes of distillers left without an operating license were distraught during this disorder. Where thousands of whiskey production houses once stood across many states, only six licenses for the sale and production of medicinal whiskey remained.
Precious Liquid, Artful Packaging
How to Read a Prohibition-Era Whiskey Label
The great centralization of whiskey was both a blessing and a curse. While it shuttered countless operations producing some of the most sought-after and delicious whiskeys of the day, it did leave us with one unifying grace: immortalized information. Nearly every medicinal whiskey label became standardized. Instead of the disarray of thousands of ragtag makers coming up with new labels, the remaining six license holders were free to use any of their historically successful brand names alongside strict labeling requirements that Prohibition put in place. This standardization that provided clear documentation of distillery names, locations and the people behind the brands that might have otherwise been washed away in the sands of time.
“We’re actually lucky that Prohibition forced the labels to be so consistent with these details, or much of this history could have been lost to time.”
- Zev Glesta, Whiskey Specialist, Replica Shoes ’s
There are three main labels to look for on Prohibition bottlings: the front label (typically adorned by whichever brand name the license holders decided to use for that medicinal product), the back label (which features distilled-by statements, bottling statements and the standard caution notice) and, finally, the green tax strip that runs over the top of the cork (which highlights the distillation and bottling season as well as the year).
On one of the front or back labels, you will find the statement “For medicinal purposes only,” which was a requirement of the time. Between these three labels, you have a full-fledged treasure map to comb through in order to glean the history that resides within that perfect time capsule.
“When you’ve got a bottle in your hand, it’s just like holding Peter Pan’s map of Neverland,” Replica Shoes ’s whiskey specialist Zev Glesta explains. “If you know your dusty labels, you’ll know what to look for as you go along the dotted lines, looking for X marks the spot: DSP numbers, who distilled it and who bottled it. If you know the geography of a label, you can sort all of this out – and more sometimes.”
Glesta has seen his fair share of Prohibition labels, as have I. Regardless of whether the bottle is up for sale, sitting in a bunkered collection or, most excitingly, open for tasting, combing through intricate label details is a shared passion of ours. With some time and research, you’ll find all the juicy bits you can ask for.
Now let me show you how to find them.
The recently auctioned pint of Dowling Bros. bears a label that reads: “Produced by Dowling Bro., Inc., distillery no. 148 – 8th District, KY., bottled at distillery bonded warehouse no. 17, district of Kentucky. License holder: A. PH. Stitzel, permit no. KY P-15. The Dowling Bros.”
There’s a lot of useful information for a collector who knows what they’re reading.
The first line is most important to the final flavor in the bottle: it tells who made this whiskey. The 8th distilling district was centered in Anderson County, which you may recognize as the modernday home to many distilleries to this day, including Wild Turkey. Distillery number 148 from this district specifically was reserved for Dowling Bros. Distillery, which also operated under the name “Waterfill & Frazier” prior to Prohibition. Mary Dowling would have held the keys to the distillery at this time, a name that continues to hold gravitas today given her fiery spirit and unwillingness to give up, even in the face of Prohibition.
The tax strip is a great place to look next. Specifically, you’re looking for confirmation of the production location listed on the neck of the bottle. The Replica Shoes ’s strip is intact and easy to read, but, as one might expect of a 100-year-old slip of paper, many tax strips have been degraded over time. Don’t fret. I own one bottle, for example, whose slip is torn. However, you can still read “Dowling Bros” and a confirmation of distillery number 148 – that’s a good sign of authenticity.
Tasting Prohibiton-Era Whiskeys
While not every bottle is destined to be opened, the ones that do get their tops peeled off are my personal favorites. With modern limited release prices steadily creeping up, Prohibition bottlings today remain relatively accessible to collectors new and established. Many modern limited releases are attempts to reproduce distilleries’ historic releases, yet the real thing is often only the cost of a few modern bottlings.
Still, the generosity of friends is something to be cherished – and my friends at the Vintage Whiskey Society have been especially generous with quarterly tasting opportunities that offer samples of some of the world’s best whiskeys. As always, when tasting Prohibition whiskeys you want to sip patiently and thoughtfully, careful to leave enough for the next taster to have their chance to expand their whiskey horizon – doubly important given the finite supply of these bottles.
“Savoring Prohibition-era whiskey is a double-edged sword,” says Glesta. “On one hand, it would be easy to hoard the knowledge of which bottles are still worth drinking 100 years later, when there are such finite quantities to go around. On the other hand, the information is so important to our history that it really should be shared. It’s hard to put it out into the open when you know that might mean missing out on the next bottle that comes available, but once you’ve had your fill, your moment… you’d better share it.”
I had the opportunity to taste that same pint of Dowling Bros. we talked about above, and as I whiskey writer I feel a profound sense of duty to share my experience of the legendary spirits of yesteryear. Readers of Amongst the Whiskey will be familiar with my editorial policy for whiskey reviews: I sampled this whiskey three times neat in a glencairn on a fresh palate in order to thoroughly plumb its depths and offer you the rare insight of what a whiskey distilled over 100 years ago tastes like.
Review: 1916-29 Dowling Bros. Kentucky Whiskey
Nose: Creamy, full-fat vanilla yogurt enters the nose on first inhale, with raspberries assorted throughout. Old butterscotch candy presents beautifully easy on long inhales, with not a hint of sharp proof. With great depth of character, this isn’t the whiskey that needs to throw itself in your face. It’s a simple array of fragrance, but it has such a depth to it.
I can see in my mind the parfait adorned with fruit and a lovely buttermilk pancake on the side, drizzled in browned butter and caramel sauce. Deep inhales produce an intoxicating cherry-cola aroma.
Late in the glass, the depth remains consistent with strong parfait and graham-cracker tones that fill me with joy. The empty glass smells of lovely, sticky baklava.
Palate: On first sip, I find vibrancy with a thick, viscous, coating mouthfeel. It leads with lovely raspberry sweetness that translates perfectly from nose to tongue. It’s a wave of emotion that comes with the linger, as shimmering sweet effervescence creates a rising feeling in the chest.
An exhale: rainbow sherbet and a crunchy waffle cone in perfect, nostalgic harmony. Subsequent sips reveal cherry cordial, oloroso sherry and pear juice before settling into an infinite linger of fig syrup.
Final thoughts: This is a superb whiskey that simply cannot be replicated today. Sipping through a well-preserved example of this whiskey will leave you exalted in palate development and bliss.
Whether it was the old cedar and cypress fermentation tanks, the yeast of the time, old-growth oak, long open-air seasoning durations, low barrel entry proof or the nonchalant hyper-age statements, after one taste, you too will be certain: Prohibition-era whiskey just tastes better.
Why Prohibition Is Still Important Today
As the whiskey world, in some ways, begins to resemble the landscape of pre-Prohibition, I dream of modern distillers returning to the old ways. We can still benefit from the bottles that were preserved from Prohibition. By tasting, learning and educating, we can steer the conversation of 21st-century whiskey towards quality and reverence. The old, low-and-slow methods may not have been the most efficient, but it is clear to me that they produced a more refined and delicious whiskey – one where quality was naturally paramount.
“The barrel starts with the tree. The tree starts with the acorn. The whiskey we are drinking from Prohibition came from the labor of 1800s farmers, the very same people who built our land. This is history in a bottle.”
- Zev Glesta, Whiskey Specialist, Replica Shoes ’s
Although they’re intended to be enjoyed, with every bottle sipped fewer of these whiskey time capsules remain in existence. As scarcity climbs, it is likely that prices for these vintage bottlings will go up. There is no time like the present to get your hands on a piece of liquid history. I won’t give away all the secrets, though – there are still plenty left for you to discover for yourself.
