Olde Bourbon by J. W. Dant

J.W. Joseph Washington Dant, produced the first label in 1836 in Nelson County, KY. Currently distilled by Heaven Hill, J.W

Joseph Washington Dant was a Kentucky distiller during the 1830’s He was famous for making whisky using a log still. This was an old time method from when the settlers did not have the money for a copper still. A section of tree trunk would be hollowed out with a copper pipe running through it. The hollowed section would be filled with the fermented mash and steam fed through the pipe to start distillation

In the early days of Kentucky Bourbon, not everyone who wanted to distill had enough wherewithal to afford a copper pot still. It was common in such circumstances to improvise a pot-like still from a log. That's right. A log. A log was split in half, hollowed out, and joined back together. The top was fitted with a thing that looked like a hollow Hershey's Kiss with a copper pipe running out of it. Another length of copper pipe ran through the hollowed-out portion of the log. The distiller would fill the cavity of the log with his beer, run steam through the copper pipe in the cavity, and collect the alcohol running out of the copper pipe coming out of the Hershey's Kiss on top. This method of distilling was called "running the log," and one of the early distillers who used it was Joseph Washington Dant, who began distilling in Nelson County in 1836. The Dants became one of the first families of Bourbon, with JW's eponymous brand of Bourbon and son Joseph Bernard Dant's Yellowstone Bourbon being two of the best-selling Bourbon brands in their day.

JW Dant is a bourbon with a long history. The brand dates back to nineteenth century distiller Joseph Washington Dant. After prohibition, National Distillers purchased the Dant distillery from the family, then sold it to the Schenley Company in 1952. Schenley eventually closed the distillery in the 1960s but held onto the label until the Schenley Company was purchased by United Distillers in 1987. The Dant label was acquired by Heaven Hill in 1993 and they continue to make JW Dant Bourbon.