James E Pepper Decorative Glass Whiskey Bottle with glass topped cork stopper

Description

ITEM DESCRIPTION:
Vintage
James E. Pepper 1776 Straight Bourbon Whiskey Decorative bottle w/glass topped cork stopper
DIMENSIONS:
Overall Height w/stopper:
10 3/4"
Height w/out stopper:
8 1/2"
Base: 2 1/4" X 4"
Marked on bottom:   D-9   67   49   6
OVERALL CONDITION:
Very Good to near excellent. No apparent chips or cracks.
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HISTORY OF JAMES E. PEPPER DISTILLING CO. - LEXINGTON, KY:
Established in 1780, at the dawn of the American Revolution, and distilled over 3 family generations, the Pepper family brand of whiskey is one of the oldest & most legendary whiskey brands in both Kentucky and American history. Starting with Elijah Pepper (distiller 1780-1838) and then his son Oscar Pepper (distiller 1838-1867), Oscar’s son the Colonel James E. Pepper (distiller 1867-1906) was the 3rd generation of that distilling legacy. James E. Pepper was a larger than life bourbon industrialist, a flamboyant promoter, and took the family brand to it’s highest peak. A Kentucky captain of American industry, he raced thoroughbreds in the Kentucky Derby, traveled in a private rail car & helped introduce the world to the Old-Fashioned cocktail. He nicknamed his whiskey “Old 1776” and proudly proclaimed his continued use of his grandfather’s original Revolutionary-era recipes. This grand story begins in 1776, the year
America declares its independence from England and the American Revolutionary war ensues. Four years later, in 1780, during the midst of the Revolution, a young Elijah Pepper, of Culpeper, Virginia, builds his first whiskey distillery. In 1790, after the war has concluded, Elijah leaves his home and ventures west, further out into the Virginia frontier. He settles in the area near present day Versailles, in Woodford County, Kentucky (prior to 1792 present day Kentucky was part of Virginia).
Elijah built a new distillery in Versailles at a spring behind the court house and became well-known as a superior local farmer-distiller. When the Whiskey Rebellion arose in 1794, Elijah was one of the few distillers with pockets deep enough to pay the demanded excise taxes. Many other local farmer-distillers were forced to give up distilling due to the high taxes and sold their grains to Elijah, which he, in turn, distilled. In 1812, Elijah bought a large tract of land nearby below the spring on Glenn’s Creek. There, Elijah erected a cabin for his family and built a new larger distillery. Today, the distillery site on Glenn’s Creek is a National Historic Landmark and is home to the Woodford Reserve® Distillery (Woodford Reserve® is a registered trademark of the Brown-Forman Corporation) .