Recently, a thread was started on Straightbourbon.com about the possibility of lead leeching from the glaze of whiskey decanters into the whiskey over time. While it does seem like a stretch, after the a sample was sent to the lab, it turns out it's not. The sample registered over ONE THOUSAND times the acceptable limit of lead! So there is certainly an issue here. I do not know what the glaze is on Michter's decanters, but I would assume it would be the same. Most decanters were glazed with leaded glazing through the 80's. So this is a warning- be careful about consuming too much whiskey out of old decanters! Try to find full, sealed glass bottles instead as the whiskey should have a lower amount of lead, oxidation, and contaminants. For further reading, here is the link to the thread on Straightbourbon:
Lead In Decanters
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The "new" Michter's gets a new home.
Just a few days ago, the current Michter's Distillery made the big announcement that they were going to renovate a historic building in downtown Louisville, KY. This once again gives the Michter's brand name a place to call home. It also means that within a few years, the Michter's we buy off the shelf may not just be bulk whiskey bought from another distiller, but actual whiskey fermented, distilled, and aged by Michter's. This is bittersweet to me because I believe the ONLY Michter's Distillery is in Schaefferstown. I am also very upset by the lies that the "new" Michter's keeps spewing. They claim they "hail from the oldest distilling company" in the United States. This is a lie. Michter's was created in the early 1950's by Louis Forman- making the Michter's name one of the newer names in American whiskey. The DISTILLERY which Michter's was made at was and is the oldest intact distillery site in the USA. The "new" Michter's also goes on to state as fact that their product was drank by George Washington's troops at Valley Forge. Again, a lie. No link has ever been found between the distillery (Let alone a brand created in the 1950's!) and George Washington. Michter's in Schaefferstown used "The Whiskey That Warmed The Revolution" but only speculated at a visit from Washington. It was the Lebanon Valley Coin Club that made a Michter's coin that probably started the rumor by depicting George Washington and some troops outside the distillery. Lastly, the "new" Michter's claims they have a Master Distiller- Mr. Willie Pratt. This is an impossibility. A Master Distiller is just that- the man that oversees the distillation of his company's product. Since the "new" Michter's does not distill, but buys already-distilled bulk whiskey from other distillers, there is no way they can have a Master Distiller. Willie Pratt simply selects the aged barrels then has them dumped for bottling. Once Michter's gets their new micro distillery up and running and Mr. Pratt is running the stills, only then will he be a real Master Distiller. But I digress.....
Anyway, John Hansell of Malt Advocate was on top of the story and officially broke the news on his blog. Read it here:
Michter's Makes A Move
Anyway, John Hansell of Malt Advocate was on top of the story and officially broke the news on his blog. Read it here:
Michter's Makes A Move
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Michter's is sold to new owners.
Lebanon Farms Disposal family members purchased Michter's Distillery this week. Here is a link to the Lebanon Daily News article written by Steve Snyder:
ARTICLE
Here is the text of the article exactly how it appears on the website (In the event the story is removed.)
"A Lebanon County landmark has been sold, and the new owners say their goal is to make it safe.
Michter's Distillery, also known as Bomberger's Distillery, has been in a state of disrepair for decades and has become both an eyesore and a public-safety hazard.
"Our number-one priority is to clean it up and get it safe," new owner John Barry of JJC Investments said Tuesday.
Barry and his family own the adjoining Lebanon Farms Disposal property in Heidelberg Township. They bought the Michter's property from Dwight L. Hostetter of Cleona for $250,000 at a settlement on Friday. Hostetter had owned the property since he bought it in April 1999 for $185,000, according to the Lebanon County Assessment Office.
A total of $23,892 in taxes dating back to 2009 is owed on the property, not counting Elco School District property tax, which has yet to be set for this year. The property was listed for a tax sale in September.
Many of the roughly 10 buildings on the 21-acre site are falling down, Barry said. Those that can be salvaged will be used for warehousing.
"We will utilize the silos for grain storage," he said.
After a warehouse at the corner of Distillery and Michter roads collapsed on Sept. 22, the Heidelberg Township supervisors sought and subsequently obtained a court order from county Judge Samuel Kline to force Hostetter either to clean up or sell the property.
A township resident told supervisors that rats were living in the abandoned buildings
on the grounds of the distillery, which ceased business operations in 1989.
The property has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since June 1975 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980. It closed when Michter's filed for bankruptcy.
Whiskey production at the site began in 1753. It was purchased by the Abe Bomberger family in 1861, was sold shortly after Prohibition went into effect in the 1920s and was reopened by Ephraim Sechrist in 1934.
Three large, cement-block warehouses were built between 1933 and 1950.
Karen Arnold of the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission said a 20 percent tax credit is available for properties used as income-producing but added, "demolition costs would never be allowed."
Lancaster County has been a heavy user of those tax credits, but only four properties in Lebanon County have benefited, all in the 1980s: two former railroad stations in Lebanon, the Landis Shoe Co. building at Chestnut and Broad streets in Palmyra, and Rescue Fire Hall in Annville.
Arnold said Michter's "remoteness" is a problem. Although it is not far from Route 501, there is no direct line of sight from that state highway to 215 Michter's Road.
She last saw the property about 20 years ago.
"It wasn't good then," she recalled.
Michter's, identified as Bomberger's Distillery, was listed on Preservation Pennsylvania's At Risk list in 1994.
Only 2,500 properties are listed as National Historic Landmarks, Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz noted.
"I agree that there are severe deterioration issues there, and some of the (circa) 1940s cement block buildings may be able to be removed," Litz wrote in an email. "If a prospective developer needs federal funds, licenses or permits for a project that involves an adverse effect (demolition) to the buildings, there are federal regulations that need to be complied with."
Again, this is not my writing, but Steve Snyder of Lebanon Daily News. A big thank you to him for writing this article!
So what's next? Who knows. Guess I have some phone calls to make!
ARTICLE
Here is the text of the article exactly how it appears on the website (In the event the story is removed.)
"A Lebanon County landmark has been sold, and the new owners say their goal is to make it safe.
Michter's Distillery, also known as Bomberger's Distillery, has been in a state of disrepair for decades and has become both an eyesore and a public-safety hazard.
"Our number-one priority is to clean it up and get it safe," new owner John Barry of JJC Investments said Tuesday.
Barry and his family own the adjoining Lebanon Farms Disposal property in Heidelberg Township. They bought the Michter's property from Dwight L. Hostetter of Cleona for $250,000 at a settlement on Friday. Hostetter had owned the property since he bought it in April 1999 for $185,000, according to the Lebanon County Assessment Office.
A total of $23,892 in taxes dating back to 2009 is owed on the property, not counting Elco School District property tax, which has yet to be set for this year. The property was listed for a tax sale in September.
Many of the roughly 10 buildings on the 21-acre site are falling down, Barry said. Those that can be salvaged will be used for warehousing.
"We will utilize the silos for grain storage," he said.
After a warehouse at the corner of Distillery and Michter roads collapsed on Sept. 22, the Heidelberg Township supervisors sought and subsequently obtained a court order from county Judge Samuel Kline to force Hostetter either to clean up or sell the property.
A township resident told supervisors that rats were living in the abandoned buildings
on the grounds of the distillery, which ceased business operations in 1989.
The property has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since June 1975 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980. It closed when Michter's filed for bankruptcy.
Whiskey production at the site began in 1753. It was purchased by the Abe Bomberger family in 1861, was sold shortly after Prohibition went into effect in the 1920s and was reopened by Ephraim Sechrist in 1934.
Three large, cement-block warehouses were built between 1933 and 1950.
Karen Arnold of the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission said a 20 percent tax credit is available for properties used as income-producing but added, "demolition costs would never be allowed."
Lancaster County has been a heavy user of those tax credits, but only four properties in Lebanon County have benefited, all in the 1980s: two former railroad stations in Lebanon, the Landis Shoe Co. building at Chestnut and Broad streets in Palmyra, and Rescue Fire Hall in Annville.
Arnold said Michter's "remoteness" is a problem. Although it is not far from Route 501, there is no direct line of sight from that state highway to 215 Michter's Road.
She last saw the property about 20 years ago.
"It wasn't good then," she recalled.
Michter's, identified as Bomberger's Distillery, was listed on Preservation Pennsylvania's At Risk list in 1994.
Only 2,500 properties are listed as National Historic Landmarks, Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz noted.
"I agree that there are severe deterioration issues there, and some of the (circa) 1940s cement block buildings may be able to be removed," Litz wrote in an email. "If a prospective developer needs federal funds, licenses or permits for a project that involves an adverse effect (demolition) to the buildings, there are federal regulations that need to be complied with."
Again, this is not my writing, but Steve Snyder of Lebanon Daily News. A big thank you to him for writing this article!
So what's next? Who knows. Guess I have some phone calls to make!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
I'm still here.
Well, apparently I wasn't one of the lucky 144,000 to fly through a crack in the sky today. Ha!
But anyway, it seems like people did all sorts of stuff to prepare for the impending rapture or chaos that was to ensue on earth. People tried converting people to see their way, they prayed, some stockpiled food while others sold off possessions. My preparation for today? I bought 2 bottles of Rittenhouse Rye! After all, if lava comes spewing from the earth's core and fire comes down from the heavens, that could potentially disrupt the production of my favorite (And hard-to-get!) rye whiskey. So I'm set for a few more months. And since it's now 7PM and I haven't seen cars crashing, people taking to the streets screaming, and any heavenly beings looking through my window, it would appear I can savor some of my newly-bought whiskey this evening.
But anyway, it seems like people did all sorts of stuff to prepare for the impending rapture or chaos that was to ensue on earth. People tried converting people to see their way, they prayed, some stockpiled food while others sold off possessions. My preparation for today? I bought 2 bottles of Rittenhouse Rye! After all, if lava comes spewing from the earth's core and fire comes down from the heavens, that could potentially disrupt the production of my favorite (And hard-to-get!) rye whiskey. So I'm set for a few more months. And since it's now 7PM and I haven't seen cars crashing, people taking to the streets screaming, and any heavenly beings looking through my window, it would appear I can savor some of my newly-bought whiskey this evening.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
The OTHER abandoned Pennsylvania distillery.
Today I had the great fortune to tour the abandoned Continental Distillery in Linfield,PA with Dave Ziegler, who was an employee there. Like Michter's, the site is in general ruin and heavily vandalized- having closed about the same time as Michter's (1986). Majority of the buildings are closed and locked, but a few were opened up for us. Here are a few shots from today's explorations. Enjoy and a HUGE thank you to Dave!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
When it comes to Michter's, you never know what to expect!!
So I thought I had not only the decanter list pretty well nailed down, but also a basic list of legally-obtained Michter's items. What I had forgotten was the fact that:
A. I was not alive in the 70's and 80's to see what was actually offered for sale.
B. There was a public sale in 1997 of hundreds of items from the distillery.
C. Michter's collectors are still out there and have boatloads of stuff squirreled away.
That being said, in the the past 2 weeks, a whole new world has begun to open up to me. A fellow Michter's collector that's about the same age as I came upon 2 large-scale Michter's collectors. Both men have amassed mind-numbing size collections. One has already produced a USC football decanter and some half-gallon glass jug lamps! Unbelievable! The other claims to have bought out several dozen collections over the past 2 decades and has shown a few items off. I bought a few things from him, as has my fellow collector friend. In the coming weeks, I plan on meeting with both people to share stories and document their collections- and maybe make a few more purchases myself.
Lastly, as for the counterfeit Michter's pieces, everything just got turned upside down. While there are still obvious fakes, I'm finding more and more anomalies each week. So I guess I can't be too accusatory of anyone at this point. Once I get access to these newly discovered collections, I will edit my posts accordingly to reflect accurate decanter and memorabilia findings.
Oh, and for those of you that like Michter's photos, here's another:
Gotta' love the pot still decanters!
A. I was not alive in the 70's and 80's to see what was actually offered for sale.
B. There was a public sale in 1997 of hundreds of items from the distillery.
C. Michter's collectors are still out there and have boatloads of stuff squirreled away.
That being said, in the the past 2 weeks, a whole new world has begun to open up to me. A fellow Michter's collector that's about the same age as I came upon 2 large-scale Michter's collectors. Both men have amassed mind-numbing size collections. One has already produced a USC football decanter and some half-gallon glass jug lamps! Unbelievable! The other claims to have bought out several dozen collections over the past 2 decades and has shown a few items off. I bought a few things from him, as has my fellow collector friend. In the coming weeks, I plan on meeting with both people to share stories and document their collections- and maybe make a few more purchases myself.
Lastly, as for the counterfeit Michter's pieces, everything just got turned upside down. While there are still obvious fakes, I'm finding more and more anomalies each week. So I guess I can't be too accusatory of anyone at this point. Once I get access to these newly discovered collections, I will edit my posts accordingly to reflect accurate decanter and memorabilia findings.
Oh, and for those of you that like Michter's photos, here's another:
Gotta' love the pot still decanters!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Before Michter's was "The Whiskey That Warmed The Revolution," it was the whiskey that "Sips Softly."
I'm sure most of my devout readers will notice I've made a few updates and changes, cleaned up a few things, and added some features to the blog. If you know me, you know I don't let things stay the same for long. Anyway, on to the next blog post.
I'm going to drop a bombshell here.
Ready?
Michter's wasn't always Michter's. I mean the whiskey. And the distillery. And pretty much everything Michter's.
Huh?
Yes, Michter's has a real interesting formation. See, at face value, it would seem that back in the 50's, Lou Forman bought a small distillery in Schaefferstown and distilled and bottled his Michter's there. Wrong. This is where it all gets interesting.
Michter's started way before Michter's.
Confused?
So was I for a long time. Then the ball of twine unraveled. There were 2 Michter's!!
How could this be? Well, first there was Michter's Pot Still Whiskey, which was bottled by a company called Michter's Jug House which was owned by Lou Forman. During this early period of Michter's Whiskey, there was no Michter's Distillery- The distillery in Schaefferstown was called Pennco and was owned by Samuel Glass and was affiliated with Continental Distilling in Philadelphia. Lou Forman was also very involved with the Pennco operations, but did not own a distillery.
This is where it gets weird.
The Michter's Whiskey name first appeared in 1955. It was sold in a 4/5qt crock and marketed as a fine Pennsylvania whiskey. But since Mr. Forman did not own a distillery and was involved with Pennco/Continental, he had to find some whiskey to fill his crocks from those operations. Pennco had just been created and had taken control of the remaining stock of Kirk's Pure Rye. Continental was sitting on mass quantities of all sorts of whiskey. So in the Michter's jugs it went! Yes, that's right. Michter's started off life as being a way for Pennco and Continental to get rid of whiskey that was sitting around! And not to say it was bad whiskey, it wasn't. It was good whiskey that had no other place to go. Dick Stoll once told me he remembers seeing Pennco and Kirk's Pure Rye barrels being dumped and put in Michter's jugs. Dave Ziegler, who worked on the bottling line at Continental recalls bottling Michter's Liberty Bells there many years ago.
Then Lou Forman had a problem. His nitfy little jugs weren't getting drank. They were being bought and used as decoration! Something had to be done. So Michter's got a quick re-invention into a suave, upscale businessman's whiskey. Soon, Michter's had billboards and ads trumpeting "If you're not 40, forget it!" and then "Michter's Sips Softly." The jugs were still made, but took a back seat to a new Jack Daniel's-esque square glass bottle with a black label. Very suave indeed. Sales expanded and more product began to be bottled in Schaefferstown because Pennco was losing its bulk whiskey contracts. Plus, Lou Forman was more involved with the Pennco side of things anyway. Then came 1975. Pennco files bankruptcy and fearing a cut off of his source of whiskey, Lou Forman and a group of local businessmen create Michter's Distillery, Inc.
And then there were 2!
As the whiskey matured, Michter's Whiskey was still Pennco stock for a few years, but new Michter's Whiskey was being distilled by Michter's Distillery, Inc. So during this period, Michter's Distillery was distilling the whiskey to be bottled and sold by Michter's Jug House. This explains the mystery of why all the Michter's products from 1955 to about 1980 say "Decanted and Jugged" or "Bottled by Michter's Jug House." That's the truth. It was bottled, but not distilled by Michter's. It was distilled by Pennco, Kirk's Pure Rye, or Continental!
And back to 1.
Around the time the distillery was sold to Ted Veru, the Michter's Jug House name disappeared and decanters and bottled began to say "Distilled and Bottled by Michter's Distillery." This again would be true- indicating that all the Pennco, Kirk's, and Continental whiskey had been used up and Michter's was actually being filled with, well, Michter's!
Confusing?
Absolutely! That's about as easily as I could explain it without going into extreme detail. And to wrap this up, here are 2 scans of a brouchure I bought off EBay from 1964 proclaiming Michter's sipping softly. Enjoy!
I'm going to drop a bombshell here.
Ready?
Michter's wasn't always Michter's. I mean the whiskey. And the distillery. And pretty much everything Michter's.
Huh?
Yes, Michter's has a real interesting formation. See, at face value, it would seem that back in the 50's, Lou Forman bought a small distillery in Schaefferstown and distilled and bottled his Michter's there. Wrong. This is where it all gets interesting.
Michter's started way before Michter's.
Confused?
So was I for a long time. Then the ball of twine unraveled. There were 2 Michter's!!
How could this be? Well, first there was Michter's Pot Still Whiskey, which was bottled by a company called Michter's Jug House which was owned by Lou Forman. During this early period of Michter's Whiskey, there was no Michter's Distillery- The distillery in Schaefferstown was called Pennco and was owned by Samuel Glass and was affiliated with Continental Distilling in Philadelphia. Lou Forman was also very involved with the Pennco operations, but did not own a distillery.
This is where it gets weird.
The Michter's Whiskey name first appeared in 1955. It was sold in a 4/5qt crock and marketed as a fine Pennsylvania whiskey. But since Mr. Forman did not own a distillery and was involved with Pennco/Continental, he had to find some whiskey to fill his crocks from those operations. Pennco had just been created and had taken control of the remaining stock of Kirk's Pure Rye. Continental was sitting on mass quantities of all sorts of whiskey. So in the Michter's jugs it went! Yes, that's right. Michter's started off life as being a way for Pennco and Continental to get rid of whiskey that was sitting around! And not to say it was bad whiskey, it wasn't. It was good whiskey that had no other place to go. Dick Stoll once told me he remembers seeing Pennco and Kirk's Pure Rye barrels being dumped and put in Michter's jugs. Dave Ziegler, who worked on the bottling line at Continental recalls bottling Michter's Liberty Bells there many years ago.
Then Lou Forman had a problem. His nitfy little jugs weren't getting drank. They were being bought and used as decoration! Something had to be done. So Michter's got a quick re-invention into a suave, upscale businessman's whiskey. Soon, Michter's had billboards and ads trumpeting "If you're not 40, forget it!" and then "Michter's Sips Softly." The jugs were still made, but took a back seat to a new Jack Daniel's-esque square glass bottle with a black label. Very suave indeed. Sales expanded and more product began to be bottled in Schaefferstown because Pennco was losing its bulk whiskey contracts. Plus, Lou Forman was more involved with the Pennco side of things anyway. Then came 1975. Pennco files bankruptcy and fearing a cut off of his source of whiskey, Lou Forman and a group of local businessmen create Michter's Distillery, Inc.
And then there were 2!
As the whiskey matured, Michter's Whiskey was still Pennco stock for a few years, but new Michter's Whiskey was being distilled by Michter's Distillery, Inc. So during this period, Michter's Distillery was distilling the whiskey to be bottled and sold by Michter's Jug House. This explains the mystery of why all the Michter's products from 1955 to about 1980 say "Decanted and Jugged" or "Bottled by Michter's Jug House." That's the truth. It was bottled, but not distilled by Michter's. It was distilled by Pennco, Kirk's Pure Rye, or Continental!
And back to 1.
Around the time the distillery was sold to Ted Veru, the Michter's Jug House name disappeared and decanters and bottled began to say "Distilled and Bottled by Michter's Distillery." This again would be true- indicating that all the Pennco, Kirk's, and Continental whiskey had been used up and Michter's was actually being filled with, well, Michter's!
Confusing?
Absolutely! That's about as easily as I could explain it without going into extreme detail. And to wrap this up, here are 2 scans of a brouchure I bought off EBay from 1964 proclaiming Michter's sipping softly. Enjoy!
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