The Old Charter Distillery
RD #266, 5 th District
Nelson County, KY

(Est. 1874)

1874: The "Old Charter" brand was established by A B Chapeze, who was operating this distillery on the Bardstown-Springfield branch of the L&N Railroad. However, it was Ben Chapeze who traveled and pushed the brand and made it well known. Eventually sales were assigned under contract to Wright & Taylor, a Louisville wholesale house operated by John J. Wright and Marion E. Taylor. Wright & Taylor were already well-established with brands that included Pride of Louisville, Cane Spring, Ky Taylor and Old Logan.

1892: Wright & Taylor purchased the distillery and the Old Charter brand name. Insurance underwriter records from this year show that the distillery was of frame construction. The property included four warehouses, only one of which was bonded:
Warehouse No. 1 -- frame construction with a shingle roof, 100 ft west of the still. This warehouse had been vacated in 1892.
Warehouse No. 2 -- by 1892 it had been taken down.
Warehouse No. 3 -- frame construction with a shingle roof, 100 ft south of the still. In 1892 it was being used for feed storage.
Warehouse No. 6 -- the only bonded warehouse. It was of iron-clad construction and located 100 ft east of the still. The 1892 records show that A & B Chapeze still owned the distillery.

1895: At some point prior to 1895, Marion Taylor purchased John Wright's interest in the distillery, but continued operation under the Wright & Taylor name.

1913: Wright & Taylor increased the mashing capacity was from 600 to 1000 bu.

1918: Operations ceased, but the company contunes selling medicinal whiskey under the Old Charter brand name throughout Prohibition.

1933: After repeal Schenley became owner of the Old Charter brand. The property at Chapeze was rebuilt by the Kentucky Valley Distilling Co. as Reg #18 Dist. of KY., with brands Old Stave and Kentucky Valley. Later, it was taken over by Oldtyme Distillers who had obtained use of the Green River label. By 1965 the property had been abandoned.

Source: Coyte papers, cited in OASG.

Aliases that this distillery's product was sold under
Review bonded warehouse transactions for this distillery