Whiskey Shenk's Homestead Sour Mash

This Sour Mash Whiskey celebrates John Shenk, who founded a distillery in 1753, later known as Michter’s in the 20th century. Made in Kentucky using the traditional Sour Mash process, where some of the previous whiskey mash is added to the next batch. It’s a full-bodied, small-batch whiskey at 91.2 proof.

The whiskey has a dark amber color. Its nose features toasty burnt sugar, spice, and honey. The palate offers a rich, sweet, toasty experience with baking spice, dried fruits, toffee, nougat, and burnt sugar. The finish is smooth with lingering spice.

Originally known as Shenk's and later as Bomberger's, the whiskey company which ultimately became known as Michter's was founded by John Shenk, a Swiss Mennonite farmer, in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania in 1753. In its earliest days, Shenk's produced whiskey from rye grain, a favorite local crop in the Pennsylvania Blue Mountain Valley where the distillery was located.

According to Pennsylvania historical lore, commemorated by the Lebanon Valley Coin Club in 1978, this particular rye whiskey was so valued that when the Revolutionary War broke out, General George Washington visited the distillery and purchased whiskey to fortify his men as they hunkered down in their camp through the long, brutal winter at Valley Forge. Over 200 years later the Michter's Pennsylvania management would say Michter's was "the whiskey that warmed the American Revolution."

In the mid-1800s, Pennsylvania Dutchman Abraham Bomberger purchased the distillery and it became known for many decades as Bomberger's.