Old Prentice Distillery

The Old Prentice Distillery is the best example of Spanish Mission architecture in Kentucky. Although the Spanish Mission style is found infrequently in Kentucky, the Old Joe Distillery is a well-executed example of the style which compares well with other expressions of the style in twentieth-century America. The use of this style at the Old Joe Distillery is indicative of the adaptability of this style for industrial purposes.

Old Joe Whiskey was first produced in 1818 by "Old Joe" Peyton on Gilbert's Creek in Anderson County. The plant and the brand name were sold not many years later to the Granville Hawkins family. Production of "Old Joe" continued under the ownership of Medley Bond, T. B. Ripy, and Wiley Searcy who sold it to a descendant of Granville Hawkins--Gratz B. Hawkins. The Hawkins family produced whiskey in the late 19th century at facilities located in other parts of the county.

In 1912 the Hawkins firm erected a new facility at the Montrose Estate on Bond's Mill Road which they called the Old Prentice Distillery. The Old Prentice facility closed in 1917 with the onset of Prohibition. When Prohibition ended in 1933, the Hawkins refurbished the plant, calling it the Old Prentice Distillery where "Old Joe" whiskey was produced.

The property was sold to National Distillers Products Company in 1941 and after passing through other ownerships was acquired by Joseph Seagram and Sons, Incorporated, which continues to use the facility to produce whiskey. After fermentation and distilling, the unaged whiskey produced here is shipped by truck to an Indiana plant where it is blended with other whiskeys. As a result, the storage warehouses and bottling facilities are no longer used at the Old Joe Distillery.

Leo Oberwarth, who designed the building, was a Frankfort-based architect who designed many governmental, industrial, and residential buildings in Central Kentucky during the early 20th century. The Old Prentice Distillery is one of Oberwarth's Major Works.