John Hanning Distillery

Registered Distillery #11 - 2nd District

A building was erected in 1869 by John Hanning and its capacity was ten barrels a day. It was burned down in the fall of 1880, and in Feb 1881, the "John Hanning Distillery Company" was formed, consisting of John Hanning, F. T. Gunther, and G. W. Crutcher. This company erected a distillery about a mile below the courthouse, on the river and it had a capacity of 25 barrels a day. The brand was "The John Hanning Hand-Made Sour-Mash Whiskey."

It was later (1889) sold to M V Monarch Co. and finally to the Trust (1899). Insurance underwriter records from 1892 indicate that the distillery was frame-built with a slate of metal roof. The property included six bonded warehouses and one free, although the 1892 log notes that Warehouse “F” had been torn down recently. Cattle in frame pens could be found 150 ft north if the still house.

Details on the warehouses are as follows:

• Warehouse “A” – frame, shingle roof, 200 ft SE of still house
• Warehouse “B” – iron-clad, shingle roof, 300 ft SE of still house
• Warehouse “C” – iron-clad, shingle roof, 360 ft SE of still house
• Warehouse “D” – iron-clad, shingle roof, 100 ft SE of still house
• Warehouse “E” – iron-clad, shingle roof, 300 ft east of still house
• Warehouse “G” – partly iron-clad, shingle roof, 100 ft south of still house
• Free Warehouse “A” – 4″ brick veneer, shingle roof, 440 ft SE of still house and 50 ft east of Warehouse “C”.

The John F Hanning Distillery provided product that was sold under the following aliases:

• 1892-1901: Queen Distilling Co.
• 1892-1920: Sour Mash Distilling Co., Owensboro, KY

Internal Revenue recorded warehouse transactions for The John F Hanning Distillery as follows:

• 1898: Queen Dist. Co. — T, E, B, X, G, N
• 1901: Sour Mash Dist’g Co. — D, W
• 1901: John Hanning Dist’g Co. — T, G, W
• 1901: Queen Dist’g Co. — T, G, W (casualty)
• 1903: Sour Mash Dist. Co. — D, T, G, W
• 1903: John Hanning Dist. Co. — T, G, W
• 1904: Sour Mash Dist. Co. — T, G, W
• 1904: John Hanning Dist. Co. — T, G, W
• 1914: Sour Mash Distilling Co. — no details given
• 1914: John Hannig Distg. Co. — no details given
• 1914: Louis Poock — no details given
• 1920: Sour Mash Distilling Co. — no details given

D – Spirits were deposited in the warehouse

T – Spirits were withdrawn upon payment of tax

E – Spirits were withdrawn for export

X – Spirits were withdrawn for bottling in bond for export

B – Spirits were withdrawn upon payment of the tax for bottling in bond

G – Spirits were withdrawn for transfer to general bonded warehouses

W – Spirits remained in the warehouse at the close of the year

Source: www.pre-pro.com

Source: History of Daviess County, Kentucky. Chicago: Interstate Publishing Co., 1883. Print.