Old Charter is a brand of

bourbon whiskey Bourbon whiskey (; also simply bourbon) is a Aging (food), barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn (maize). The name derives from the Kingdom of France, French House of Bourbon, although the precise source of inspiration is uncerta ...

distilled in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

at the

Buffalo Trace Distillery Buffalo Trace Distillery is a distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, United States, owned by the Sazerac Company. It has historically been known by several names, including the George T. Stagg Distillery and the Old Fire Copper (O.F.C.) Distillery. I ...

, a part of the

Sazerac Company Sazerac Company, Inc. is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by William ...

. The whiskey is no longer aged 8 years, despite the claim on the label that it "is gently matured for eight seasons in century old brick warehouses." In 2018 Sazerac is facing a class action

false advertising False advertising is the act of publishing, transmitting, distributing or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally, or recklessly, to promote the sale of property, goods or servi ...

lawsuit because of the claim on the label.

Early history

The Old Charter brand was established in 1874 by Adam and Benjamin Chapeze, brothers operating under the name A. B. Chapeze, who were operating a distillery on the

Bardstown Bardstown is a home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 13,567 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Nelson County. Bardstown is named for the pioneering Bard brothers. David Bard obtained a ...

branch of the L&N Railroad. Ben Chapeze traveled and pushed the brand and made it well known while his brother Adam managed the operation. Eventually sales were assigned under contract to Wright & Taylor, a

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

wholesale house operated by John J. Wright and Marion E. Taylor.

After prohibition

In 1933, the Bernheim distillery acquired the Old Charter Brand and all of its bourbon stock from Wright & Taylor, but did not start selling the brand using that stock until the stock was fully aged for bond in 1937. Wright and Taylor also used the Old Charter brand name for their remaining pre-prohibition bourbon stock. In 1937, the two majority owners of Bernheim, Gerngross and Schwarzhaupt, sold out to Schenley Distilleries. The brand names sold at that time included Old Charter, Cascade, and Echo Springs. In 1974, the 1,000,000th barrel of Old Charter was bottled and a case was given by the Governor of Kentucky (

Wendell Ford Wendell Hampton Ford (September 8, 1924 – January 22, 2015) was an American politician from Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Governor of Kentucky from 1971 to 1974, and as a member of the United States Senate for 24 ye ...

) to the Governor of Texas (

Dolph Briscoe Dolph Briscoe Jr. (April 23, 1923 – June 27, 2010) was an American rancher and businessman from Uvalde, Texas, who was the 41st governor of Texas between 1973 and 1979. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Because of his re-election fo ...

) as a gift. In 1987,

United Distillers United Distillers was a Scottish company formed in 1987 from combining the businesses of Distillers Company and Arthur Bell & Sons, both owned by Guinness. The company owned six single malt Scotch brands, which were relaunched as the ''Classic ...

acquired Schenley. In 1999, the Old Charter brand was purchased by the

from

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

.Sazerac Company
official web site

False advertising suit

Until January 2014 Old Charter sold a product that was aged 8 years and displayed "aged 8 years" prominently on the label, as well as stating that the whiskey "is gently matured for eight seasons in century old brick warehouses." In January 2014 the product was reformulated using "non-age stated" (NAS) bourbon. In place of "aged 8 years" the label simply printed a large 8. The phrase "is gently matured for eight seasons in century old brick warehouses" was also retained.

References

{{Alcoholic drinks Bourbon whiskey Frankfort, Kentucky Sazerac Company brands Food and drink introduced in 1874 1874 establishments in Kentucky