It’s a story that’s been told before. A team finds a distillery in ruins, pumps money into it, rebuilds it. That’s what happened in Owensboro, Ky., when a team found the former Green River Distillery in ruins, restored it and began production in 2016 as the O.Z. Tyler Distllery. Yesterday the distillery resumed it’s original name.
It’s the fourth largest independent distiller in the U.S., producing 90,000 barrels of bourbon and rye a year for bulk, private brand, private label partners.
Green River Distilling Co. was founded by John W. McCulloch in 1885. The original Green River became synonymous with quality and known for producing some of the finest bourbon in Kentucky. Green River lore is said to be some of the most fascinating in the whiskey world. Known as the “most expensive spirit ever sold,” 20 barrels were once traded for interest in a Colorado gold mine.
At the height of Green River’s popularity, a fire broke out on the distillery grounds. In just three hours, most of the buildings and whiskey barrels were reduced to rubble. The distillery was rebuilt, but Prohibition was passed, and J.W. McCulloch would not live to restore Green River to glory. In the following decades, the distillery passed hands on several occasions.
In 2014, the team that found the famous property in ruins began working to restore it. They began distilling in 2016 under the name of O.Z. Tyler, the visionary who founded the company that purchased the distillery. Today, history comes full circle as the distillery returns to its original name.
“Green River was known for making some of the finest whiskey in Kentucky. We’re excited to be crafting bourbon and rye under the Green River flag again,” said Jacob Call, Master Distiller of Green River Distilling Co. “As a third-generation distiller and seventh-generation Kentuckian, playing a role in reviving this historic distillery has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
CEO Simon Burch worked closely with John’s great-grandson Rob McCulloch to rename the distillery. McCulloch said, “I’ve always wanted the distillery’s name back at its original location in Owensboro. It completes the story my great-grandfather started in 1885.”