Ten High is a brand of
American whiskey
American whiskey is whiskey (a distilled beverage produced from a fermented mash of cereal grain) produced in the United States. American whiskeys made from mashes with at least 51% of their named grains include bourbon whiskey, rye whiskey, r ...
first introduced in the 1930s by
Hiram Walker & Sons,
[ now produced by the ]Barton Brands
Barton Brands, Ltd. was a company that produced a variety of distilled beverages and liqueurs and is now part of the Sazerac Company, which is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has its principal offices in Louisville, Kentucky. The Bart ...
division 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 name ''Ten High'' refers to a barrel storage location at least ten ricks high, as barrels in the upper part of the aging warehouse mature faster.[ Although the brand name evoked this storage method, the manufacturer did not actually promise that the brand was from barrels aged in such locations.][
]
History
The brand was originally produced by Hiram Walker & Sons (a company owned by Harry C. Hatch at the time) at a distillery in Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...
, starting shortly after the end of Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
in 1933.[ It was a major brand (and the leading brand of Illinois-made bourbon) until the late 1960s when the American whiskey market went through a particularly difficult period.][ The Peoria distillery stopped distilling operations in 1973 and closed completely in 1981.][ After the Peoria distillery closed, production moved first to ]Heaven Hill
Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. is a private family-owned and -operated American distillery, founded in 1935 and headquartered in Bardstown, Kentucky, that produces and markets the Heaven Hill brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and a vari ...
and later to Barton, both based in Bardstown, Kentucky
Bardstown is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 13,567 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the list of counties in Kentucky, county seat of Nelson Count ...
. The Sazerac Company acquired Barton, including the Ten High brand, in 2009.
From the early 1980s until the late 2000s, Ten High was a straight
Straight may refer to:
Slang
* Straight, slang for heterosexual
** Straight-acting, normal person
* Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture
Sport and games
* Straight, an alternative name for the cross, a type of punch in boxing
* Str ...
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 ...
. Starting in 2009, the brand switched to being labelled "Bourbon – a blend", a designation for a product that is 51 percent straight Bourbon, with the remainder neutral spirits
Rectified spirit, also known as neutral spirits, rectified alcohol or ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin, is highly concentrated ethanol that has been purified by means of repeated distillation in a process called rectification. In some countr ...
.[Is Ten High No Longer A Bourbon?]
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References
External links
Official Site of The Sazerac Company
{{Alcoholic drinks
Bourbon whiskey
Sazerac Company brands