I still have the magnet and a lovely shot glass from Michter’s, but alas, the t-shirt and the whiskey are long since gone.

It began life as Bomberger’s Distillery before becoming Michter’s Distillery, and at the end of the twentieth century it was said to be the oldest remaining such building in the United States.

The complex, in Pennsylvania, represented the move from whiskey distilling as an agricultural enterprise into a large-scale industry. The surviving still house, warehouse, and jug house date from about 1840, although the site has a documented history of spirit production since 1753.

The distillery was bought and sold many times over the years, and even stopped production during ‘prohibition’, but finally closed in 1990. The site remains, although I believe it is no longer being maintained. Love the jug on top of the appropriately named ‘jug house’.

Bomberger’s was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980. The facility was America’s smallest commercial distiller at the time of its 1990 closure.

Since 2004, whiskeys, including bourbon, rye, and a version of the Michter’s Original Sour Mash brand, made in Kentucky, have been sold under the Michter’s label, now owned by Chatham Imports, Inc. The company has built a new distillery in Louisville, also known as the Michter’s Distillery.

In 2014, Heritage Spirits began using the Bomberger’s Distillery brand name on a small-production blend of straight whiskeys sourced from other distilleries. The blending and bottling of the new brand is done at the Thistle Finch Distillery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

As of October 2017, the company built and operates a distillery in Lititz, Pennsylvania, eight miles south of the original location, operating under the name of Stoll & Wolfe Distillery.