Why Whiskey Row?

By Chris Morris Photos By Matt Johnson 

Why is downtown Louisville’s Main Street nicknamed “Whiskey Row”? 

When I first conceptualized the Old Forester Whiskey Row Series, I was operating under the illusion that everybody would know what “Whiskey Row” was. Certainly, Bourbon drinkers would know. Certainly, Louisvillians would know. As I found out, that was not the case. I quickly learned that there was very little research or documentation on what we call “Whiskey Row.” I turned to the Kentucky Encyclopedia, to the Louisville Encyclopedia and found that neither of these great works even mentioned “Whiskey Row.” Further research revealed that there was virtually no information on “Whiskey Row” anywhere to be found. The bottom line was if I wanted to learn about the history of “Whiskey Row,” I would have to conduct the research myself. 

How or why did I know about “Whiskey Row” in the first place? Growing up in Louisville as the son of two Brown-Forman employees (Dad joined the company in 1946 and Mom in 1952) I grew up with the book “Nothing Better In The Market” on the living room bookshelves. It was published in 1970 to celebrate Brown-Forman’s 100th anniversary and told the history of Old Forester and referenced its early presence on “Whiskey Row”. Many years later that fact inspired me to bring that story to life through the presentation of different expressions of Old Forester. Each to be based on a significant event that occurred while Old Forester was bottled on” Whiskey Row,” an event that had impacted how the brand was produced. 

Using various industry publications such as the Wine and Spirits Bulletin of the 19th and early 20th centuries and Mida’s Criteria as well as other industry documents, I began to piece together the story of “Whiskey Row”. And what a fascinating one it was and is again. Louisville was established in 1778, at the Falls of the Ohio because of its strategic location. The Ohio River, in its entire 981-mile length, had only one navigational barrier, the Falls. These were a major barrier to boats making their way down the Ohio, so it was inevitable that a town of some sort would rise at this location. Here most river traffic needed to stop, unload passengers and cargo, float unloaded over the Falls and then reload for the trip down river. It could be weeks or months before water levels allowed shipping to proceed. This required goods in transit, including barrels of bourbon, to be warehoused for safekeeping. 

As a result of this practice a large number of whiskey trading houses were established in Louisville. These businesses, with their barrel warehouses, concentrated along Main Street in a district that came to be known as “Whiskey Row.” This was due to the fact that Main Street stretched along the southern bank of the Ohio and fronted the Louisville Wharf where boats were loaded and unloaded. 

After the Civil War, the resurgent bourbon business saw the development of new trading houses in Louisville. These companies resumed the practice of buying whiskey in bulk from rural and city-based distillers and grouping them together for sale in bulk lots to wholesalers, jobbers, retailers, doctors, and pharmacists. 

My research revealed that before the imposition of Prohibition in 1920 there were 89 different whiskey companies that had their headquarters along Main Street in downtown Louisville. I am convinced that Louisville was the headquarters of the domestic whiskey industry prior to Prohibition in the United States. 

Now let us be clear. Despite what some may believe there were no distilleries located on Main Street in downtown. There were a few warehouses and bottling facilities, but mainly they were headquarters of distillery companies, such as Brown-Forman, J.T.S. Brown & Sons, Glenmore Distilleries and Bernheim Bros. In other words, it was the Wall Street of American whiskey. 

So, as any real estate agent will tell you, location is so important, and “Whiskey Row” was in the right location for the Kentucky Bourbon industry to flourish and expand from the mid-19th century all the way up to Prohibition. And of those 89 firms only Brown-Forman is still there with its presence at 117 and 119 W. Main on famous “Whiskey Row”, in the very buildings it bottled Old Forester in from 1881 - 1919.

In 1870, George Garvin Brown, then a pharmaceutical salesman, provided significant innovation to the city and industry. Whiskey was an important medicine in those days and was sold as such to doctors and druggists. Brown often heard complaints from his clients about the unreliable quality of the whiskey that was then on the market. Whiskey was sold in bulk by the barrel, and after it left the distillery, there was no control over its quality. Unscrupulous vendors could increase their profits by cutting their whiskey stocks with water, turpentine, and other agents that destroyed the quality of the product, as well as the reputation of the distillery of origin. The complaints of doctors about the quality of medicinal whiskey convinced Brown that there was a need to bottle and guarantee quality bourbon.

Brown established a business at 322 W. Main Street to satisfy the market demand for a medicinal bourbon whiskey that had a consistent level of quality. This level of quality could only be reached by “batching” a number of bourbon barrels together. These barrels were chosen and combined by Brown based on their complimentary maturation profiles. In this manner, he could reproduce a consistent taste profile time after time. To protect the integrity of this taste profile, Brown was the first on “Whiskey Row” to offer his bourbon to the trade exclusively in glass bottles. He wrote his guarantee of quality on what would later become the label for his Old Forester brand. I brought this history to life with the 1870 Original Batch expression.

The 19th century ended with the passage of the federally mandated Bottled in Bond Act of 1897. This act required that bourbon designated for sale to the consumer be sold packaged in a sealed bottle. By this time Brown had moved his firm to larger quarters on “Whiskey Row” at 117 W. Main Street. This event is represented by the 1897 Bottled in Bond expression.

When the 20th century began Louisville, its distilling industry and Brown would face a number of threats including World War, the growing Prohibition movement and in the case of Brown-Forman, a disastrous fire.

On October 2, 1910, Brown-Forman’s office and bottling operation were heavily damaged by a fire. Until repairs could be completed a batch of Old Forester that had not yet been bottled was required to be re-barreled. This unique batch when finally bottled was called “Old Fine Whisky” by Brown’s son and successor, Owsley. This product is represented by the 1910 Old Fine Whisky expression. 

Ten years later Prohibition would deal the bourbon industry a near death blow. During Prohibition (1920-1933), most distilleries were forced to close, many would never re-open their doors.

Brown-Forman, however, remained in business by operating under one of Kentucky’s six Federal licenses to bottle and sell existing stocks of whiskey for medicinal purposes. The 1920 Prohibition Style expression celebrates this fact.

In 1924, Brown-Forman acquired the G. Lee Redmond Company’s concentration warehouse in Louisville at 18th and Howard Streets. This had once been the site of the Lynndale and White Mills Distilleries. Brown-Forman moved its operations from “Whiskey Row” to the Redmond site in November of that year. This move ended the bourbon industry’s presence on “Whiskey Row” for nearly 100 years. But with the Kentucky Bourbon renaissance of the mid-2000’s things have changed.

Today the Bourbon industry is back on “Whiskey Row,” but this time with real working distilleries, tasting rooms, vibrant visitor experiences, history walking tours and more. “Whiskey Row” is as important to Louisville as it ever was!