History

Early Contributions

James Crow was born in 1779 in Scotland and studied medicine and chemistry at Edinburgh University. After graduation Crow moved to Philadelphia and Kentucky in 1823. Crow began working for Colonel Willis Field at Grier’s Creek Distillery in 1835, where he applied scientific methods to bourbon production. Using thermometers, hydrometers and pH-balance checks Crow standardized the sour mash process and improved quality. Crow later moved to Old Oscar Pepper Distillery (later Labrot & Graham Distillery and Woodford Reserve Distillery), where he first produced his Old Crow brand of bourbon. He subsequently moved to Johnson Distillery, which later became the site of Old Taylor Distillery, and worked there until his death in 1856. At Old Oscar Pepper Crow’s detailed notes were reviewed by William F. Mitchell, who was able to reproduce most of his processes. Old Crow’s logo, a crow perched on grain, symbolized a bridge between North and South during the American Civil War. After the war the logo was changed to a crow. National Distillers bought Gaines in 1934. After World War II National Distillers began to focus on industrial distillation processes. In the 1960s Old Crow was renovated with new equipment, including a copper column still, and the company also adjusted the amount of setback in the sour mash process. Sales declined slowly, and in 1987 National Distillers sold their remaining interests in Old Crow to Jim Beam. The plant closed, although some of the warehouses were used by Jim Bean. In the 2000s the column still and other metal parts were dismantled by scrappers. Neil Craig, a descendant of whiskey pioneer Elijah Craig, and his partner David Meier bought the distillery in December 2013. The parties had plans to rehabilitate the bottling-house for Deviant Distillers, but the parties later split, and Meier operates Glenns Creek Distilling today near Old Crow.

Production and Manufacturing

Old Crow Distillery used a sour mash process and in the early years the methods included the use of thermometers, hydrometers and pH-balancing to ensure consistency and quality. In the 1960s the distillation was changed with a copper column still and changes were made to the amount of setback in the sour mash process. In the documented description it is also noted that there were plans for a custom-built steam-jacket copper-pot still with a capacity of 60 gallons per day as part of Deviant Distillers plans, which were later changed after the partnership dissolved.

Products / Whisky Series

Old Crow Distillery produced Old Crow as well as other brands such as Old Grand Dad, Bourbon DeLuxe and Sunny Brook. It is explicitly noted that Old Crow is a bourbon.

Visits / Experiences

Today Old Crow Distillery is partially repurposed as Glenns Creek Distilling. Some building parts and a gallery-like overview (Bottling Plant & Shipping Building, Main Building, Power House, Spring House) are mentioned in connection with the site, but there are no concrete details about tours in the scraped texts.

Philosophy

The historical approach to distilling at Crow was scientific and systematic. Crow used thermometers, hydrometers and pH-balancing to standardize the sour mash process and improve bourbon quality. In the 1960s the copper-column distiller and adjustments to setback became part of the modernization. The Old Crow logo depicted a crow and was said to symbolize a bridge between North and South during the Civil War. After the war the logo changed to a crow, and Old Crow became one of the early national whiskey brands during National Distillers’ ownership.