How medicinal whiskey helped Brown-Forman survive American Prohibition

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A handful of companies, including Brown-Forman, received medicinal licenses to legally sell existing spirits during Prohibition.

The repeal of Prohibition in 1933 did not immediately solve the industry's problems, as distillers needed years to age new whiskey.

Brown-Forman is the only U.S. distillery known to have produced whiskey before, during, and after Prohibition under the same family leadership.

The week before American Prohibition ended in 1933, Brown-Forman started mashing and fermenting grain.

Owsley Brown I had heard rumblings the law was about to be overturned and he wanted one of Louisville’s most iconic companies to have its ingredients to distill whiskey ready to go.

And distill is exactly what the company did the day after Prohibition ended.

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