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Concerning Dowling

Elijah Pepper started making whiskey around the start of the American Revolution, and he constructed the first log cabin distillery in Versailles, Kentucky, during the War of 1812. He eventually gave his son Oscar and his grandson James E. Pepper control of the family business.

One of the earliest bourbon aristocrats in Kentucky was Colonel James E. Pepper, who made the Old Fashioned cocktail popular, traveled in a special train car, and raced thoroughbreds in the Kentucky Derby. “Pepper Whisky is an old fashioned whisky, made in the old time way from a formula used for more than 100 years by three generations of the Pepper family,” James wrote in an August 22, 1887, advertising. “We claim not only to make the oldest but absolutely the purest and best brand of whisky made in America, and we invite comparison with any whisky of any age.”

In 1958, the James E. Pepper Distillery had to close its doors as the whiskey industry collapsed. Pepper Whiskey, or “Old 1776 Whiskey” as it came to be known, was popular under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant. Daniel Webster, a prominent American statesman and senator from Massachusetts, also liked it.

This expression was bottled in 1969 after being distilled at the James E. Pepper distillery in 1953, just five years before the distillery closed. Bottled in-bond and weighing in at 100 proof, the 16-year-old bourbon was released as part of the Dowling Distillers Collector’s Item series. As the name suggests, this uncommon bourbon is a true collector’s item.

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Notes on Tasting

The smells of caramel, vanilla, wood, cherry, and spices are all in balance. The juicy and delightfully sweet taste reflects the flavors from the nose. There is a hint of caramel in the fruity, oaky aftertaste.