KY Peerless & JWK
In the early 1880’s, Worsham Distilling Company began in Henderson, Kentucky. In 1889, Peerless Whiskey production began under the leadership of Henry Kraver. He renamed it Kentucky Peerless Distillery.
J.W. Kelly passed away in March 1907. Just prior to his passing he appointed Carl White as president of J.W. Kelly & Co.
On January 13, 1909, the Tennessee legislature passed the Holladay Bill; which forbid the sale of liquor within four miles of any school in the state. The second law passed that day prohibited the manufacture of intoxicating beverages. J.W. Kelly & Co. closed its Deep Spring Distillery in July 1909, but reopened it in October to fill out-of-state mail orders for liquor. J.W. Kelly & Co also filed a bill that claimed that " the 1909 four-mile law . . . did not apply to wholesale dealers selling at wholesale in quantities of a quart or more . . .” This case was dismissed by the state supreme court, on the grounds that there was no jurisdiction. A new motion regarding interstate sales was then filed and in 1910 the state supreme court ruled that the law didn't prohibit interstate sales and shipments.
In February 1911, Henry Kraver sold one-half interest in the Kentucky Peerless Distilling Plant to Carl White for $40,000 ($1.17 million in 2022). Improvements were made and the capacity was doubled. This is also when JWK & Co began to list their Kentucky distillery in their advertisements.
After Tennessee passed the "Bone Dry Bill" in 1917, which made illegal the receipt or possession of liquor and prohibited the transportation of liquor in and out of the state, J.W. Kelly & Co moved production to Henderson, KY.
J.W. Kelly & Co continued operations until the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919. Deep Spring Distillery was torn down in 1927. Kentucky Peerless Distillery was one of the federally-bonded warehouses that was used for whiskey storage under the protection of the U.S. government, and during Prohibition you could get their whiskey for medicinal use with a prescription.
Both J.W. Kelly & Co and Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co. were re-launched in 2016.
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