Michter's

Michter’s claims a historical legacy tracing back to the founding of America’s first whiskey company in 1753 when Michael Shenk filed a patent for a gristmill located near Snitzel Creek, Pennsylvania. In 1827, the Shenk’s family stillhouse was passed down to Michael Shenk’s Son-In-Law, Rudolph Meyer III. From 1827 to 1860,the distillery was run by John Kratzer who expanded the distilling operations, built several more buildings to increase production and storage. Eventually, Meyer sold the distillery to a man named Abraham Bomberger in 1860 who changed the name to Abraham Bomberger & Sons Distillery. Prohibition effectively brought an end to distilling at the Bomberger Distillery until it was purchased in 1950 by Schenley Distilling who changed the name to Michters. However the Schaefferstown site was forced to apply for bankruptcy protection in 1983 and finally halted production in 1989. Although the distillery was looted in the 1990's, one item remained intact - the Vendome-made pot still which was rescued by David Beam. In 2010 he sold it to a small distiller who planned to use it to make Applejack. In the meantime, two friends happened upon the trademark of Michters which had been abandoned. For $275 they purchased the trademark and began the process of re-instituting the distillery. They found a distillery in Louisville to produce the bourbon for them and struck a deal with Julian van Winkle III to bottle it. Work began on a new distillery 2011 in Shively, Kentucky. The owners also opened a spot on Distillery Row in Louisville where, in 2015, they were able to re-purchase and install the original still from the Bomberger Distillery.