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The post on the Collector's forum made me think of these warehouse receipts in the Filson collection and I thought I would post them here now. I find them interesting because of the low entry proofs for the barrels.

1942)H E Pogue Distillery Co. - Maysville, Ky. 104 proof
(1943)Bernheim Distilling Co. - Louisville, Ky. 101 proof
(1947)Geo. T. Stagg Company - Frankfort, Ky. 105 proof
(1947) The Melvale Distilling Co. (formerly the Dowling Distillers, Inc) - Burgin, Ky. 101 proof
(1941) Dowling Bros. Distilling Co. - Bugin, Ky. 101 proof
(1943)Logansport Distilling Co., Inc. - Logansport, Pa. 101 proof
(1942)Logansport Distilling Co., Inc. - Logansport, Pa. 162 proof
(1942)Blue Ribbon Distilleries Co. - Carrolton, Ky. 103 proof
(1944)Fairfield Distillery - Bardstown, Ky. 101 proof

The Logansport receipt at 162 proof was obviously some aged spirit for a blend. Schenley had many blends in its portfolio and made a lot of whiskey just to blend.

You might, for the uninitiated, want to explain warehouse receipts.

Mike,
Is there any information on what proof they were originally distilled to? It would be very interesting to compare them to the BT Distill Sheets for the Antique collection.

A warehouse receipt is proof of ownership for barrels. When you purchase barrels of whiskey from a distillery, they give you a warehouse recipt stating the proof of the whiskey and how many proof gallons in the barrel when filled.

The distillation proof is not listed, but would have been very close to the barrel proof - probably no higher than 120 proof.

Cool, thanks Mike.

Gary

I should also say that warehouse receipts are official documents. They were often traded and used to secure loans. They look a lot like stock certificates and have very impressive engraving. Some even depict the distillery site and may be the only image available to that particular distillery today.

I would add that they were a kind of futures investment. You bought them banking that "your" whiskey would increase in value. Some people, i.e., producers, bought them intending to eventually take possession of the whiskey, but other people bought them speculatively.

Mike,
Would it be possible for you to post a photo of what one of these looks like?
Joe

Great stuff Mike and Chuck. I might add that the purchase of warehouse receipts from various distilleries is how George Remus "legally" amassed his holdings of whiskey at the onset of Prohibition (and hence his $75 million in two years from 1920-1922). My favorite warehouse receipt is one of my great grandfather's which checks out 2 barrels of bourbon for "personal consumption". If I were a little more technologically savvy I'd scan it in.

Peter Pogue