HONORING 3 CENTURIES OF LOCAL WHISKEY HISTORY

Dick Stoll was one of the greatest distillers in American history, and among the last living links to Pennsylvania’s heyday as a a whiskey powerhouse. American Rye - A Guide to the Nation’s Original Spirit

AMERICA’S WHISKEY INDUSTRY STARTED IN LANCASTER CO, PA.

National Register of Historic Places Nomination: The distillation of spirituous liquors is a major American industry, and the Bomberger Distillery, whose origins can be traced back to 1753, is both the Nation’s oldest distillery and a primary extant example of the small scale commercial distilling operations which enabled the United States to become the world’s largest producer and largest consumer of whiskey.  

“The Bomberger Distillery Complex represents the transformation of whiskey distilling from a seasonal agricultural enterprise into a large-scale industry.” -National Register Historic Places

250 Years of Local Whiskey History Verified by PA Historical & Museum Commission.

From National Park Service National Historic Landmarks Program: Dating from 1753, the Bomberger’s Distillery in PA, the Nation’s oldest distillery, represented the transformation of whiskey distilling from an agricultural enterprise into a large-scale industry.

The site has a documented history of spirit production dating back to 1753. Bomberger's listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980, and was America's smallest commercial distiller at the time of its 1989 closure.

• The National Register of Historic Places lists Bomberger’s Distillery amongst the most significant locations in American Manufacturing History amongst the original Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Coca-Cola Bottling Plant in Georgia, Duke Homestead and Tobacco Factory in North Carolina, and the Milton Hershey Mansion. 

“Whether or not you’re a whiskey drinker, it’s difficult to imagine Lancaster’s countryside filled with rye fields and dotted with distilleries. Such a scenario existed during the 18th and early 19th centuries. According to an article read before the Lancaster County Historical Society in the 1920s, 183 distilleries had existed in Lancaster County in 1813…What was the reason behind the proliferation of distilleries? A need grew out an abundance of rye grain harvested across the region’s farmlands. Rather than let crops go to waste, farmers could preserve their rye yield and turn it into a tradable commodity, a currency by the gallon or barrel.” -Jordan Bush, Lancaster County Magazine

"If the name Dick Stoll rings a bell, that’s because Mr. Stoll was the last master distiller at Pennsylvania’s Michter’s where he also distilled bourbon for the A.H. Hirsch Bourbon brand. He was trained by Charles Everett Beam who was the grandnephew of the legendary Jim Beam himself." -Breaking Bourbon

"...They produced whiskey not far away, at a distillery that’s since closed down: the (Pennsylvania) Michter’s distillery, where they made the excellent whiskey that has become a legend under the A.H. Hirsch name. Though the distillery has been closed for almost 30 years, the master distiller, Dick Stoll, still lives nearby. He’s more than 80 years old and in startlingly good health, and is helping a new distillery, Stoll & Wolfe, get started there." -Lew Bryson, The Daily Beast

“Grain was hard to transport to the city markets and oft times just as hard to keep from spoiling when stored. The very survival of many of our first settlers depended on turning their crops into “liquid” which could easily be carried to the city and sold for cash.

Life was hard and short for most of our ancestors and they felt that strong drink was a necessity of life…They knew that spirits disinfected, brought warmth as well as good humor and cheer to their uncomfortable lot.

The first commercial distillery in operation in Lititz is believed to have been built in Rome along the Lititz creek in the 1760’s.” Hiram Eberly, Spirits of Warwick Township

FULL 250+ YEARS OF LOCAL WHISKEY HISTORY TIMELINE HERE

“No decent tale of Pennsylvania rye whiskey distilling would be complete without mention of Michter’s, the Commonwealth’s last legacy distillery, which closed in 1990. Though their primary product was a sour mash, their last master distiller, Dick Stoll, made plenty of rye whiskey too, including a 20 year old that was destined for the lucrative Japanese market, as well as Wild Turkey rye for many years. I once asked Jimmy Russell why he had his rye whiskey distilled at Michter’s, and he told me that even in the 1980s, ‘people expected rye whiskey to come from Pennsylvania.’” -Sam Komlenic Whiskey Advocate