THE SIX SURVIVORS

Prohibition devastated America's whiskey industry, but six entities obtained federal licenses to supply whiskey for medicinal use.

When Prohibition took effect in 1920, America's whiskey industry collapsed. Thousands of distilleries shuttered their doors. But a handful found a way to survive-by obtaining licenses to produce whiskey for medicinal purposes.

The Six Survivors tells the remarkable story of the six licensed whiskey concerns that remained at the center of America's medicinal whiskey system during Prohibition. Through the Volstead Act's medical exception and the federal licensing system, these concerns supplied whiskey for medicinal use.

Drawing on distillery records, Treasury Department documents, period sources, and historical research, this book follows the six entities that received federal medicinal-whiskey licenses: Brown-Forman, A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery, Frankfort Distilleries, Schenley, American Medicinal Spirits, and James Thompson and Brother, later known as Glenmore.

What You'll Learn:

• Which six licensed whiskey concerns remained in the medicinal whiskey system
• How they obtained medicinal licenses
• The Concentration Act of 1922 and the warehouse system
• How Brown-Forman survived and remains family-controlled today
• The stories of Beam, Four Roses, and the other survivors
• How medicinal whiskey was produced and distributed
• The legacy of the six survivors in the modern whiskey industry

Based on distillery records, government documents, period sources, and historical research, this book traces the six licensed whiskey concerns that supplied the medicinal alcohol system and follows their businesses, people, and brands through Prohibition and beyond.

Perfect for readers of:

• Bourbon and whiskey history
• Prohibition history
• Business and brand survival stories
• Kentucky and American history
• Hidden history book club favorites

The Six Survivors reveals how American whiskey survived Prohibition and how six licensed whiskey concerns influenced the industry's development.