Thursday, September 11, 2014

Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Celebrates Its Whiskey Heritage November 7 - 8



From 1803 until the present day, the City of Lawrenceburg, Indiana has been home to many distilleries, thus earning it the name 'Whiskey City.'

The one distillery that remains in operation, the former Seagram's plant now known as MGP of Indiana, has been in the news recently because many non-distiller producers (NDPs) are using whiskey made there to establish fake microdistilleries. It's a reprehensible practice, which we try to expose, but MGP is blameless as they can't control what happens to the whiskey they make once it's sold. In fact, MGP is a fine company and Lawrenceburg is justifiably proud of its 211 years of whiskey history.

In addition to MGP, Proximo Spirits operates a distilled spirits bottling plant in Lawrenceburg. That facility also used to be part of Seagram's. The other major post-Prohibition distillery in Lawrenceburg was Old Quaker, owned by Schenley, which during Prohibition was owned by the notorious bootlegger, George Remus.

To celebrate it whiskey heritage, the City of Lawrenceburg, Lawrenceburg Main Street, MGP, Hollywood Casino, and the Dearborn County Visitor Center have come together to create the inaugural 'Whiskey City Festival,' to be held on Friday, Nov. 7, and Saturday, Nov. 8, at the new Lawrenceburg Event Center. Each day will feature whiskey tastings, industry experts, food, beer, cigars, music (including nationally recognized entertainment), as well as historic displays featuring the local story of the industry and its workers.

The Lawrenceburg Event Center, at 91 Walnut Street, is part of the complex that includes the Hollywood Casino and the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.

To prepare the historic displays, the organizing committee is asking current, former and retired employees of the local distilleries and bottling plants, both past and present, to share their stories and experiences of working in the industry. "Your stories are an important component in documenting and displaying on a personal level just how significantly this industry impacted our community and the people who worked within it," said Pat Krider, Lawrenceburg Main Street Director.

"If you're worried that your writing skills aren't up to par, please don’t worry, we can help with that," said Krider. "What really matters here is the story and the personal experience.”

A selection committee will review the submitted stories and the best five will be featured in The Dearborn County Register, one each week, in the weeks leading up to the Whiskey City Festival. In addition, a 'memory wall' will be featured at the event, displaying the selected stories. Winning entrants will be entered into a drawing for tickets to some of the events that will be part of the celebration.

Submit stories to the Whiskey City Festival Committee, c/o Lawrenceburg Main Street, 118 Walnut Street, Lawrenceburg, IN 47025.  For more information call 812-537-4507 or email info@thinklawrenceburg.com.

2 comments:

Sam Komlenic said...

A great way for Lawrenceburg to capitalize on their heritage and the recent wave of reporting on their hometown distillery.

Maybe the whiskey tasting can include all of those brands bottling MGP whiskey under their own labels...

...or maybe not.

Unknown said...

Horrible. One master distiller. All other were only there to pour and that they could barely do that. Asked basic questions and people had no clue about their products. Will never do this again. Waste of money.