Brown-Forman

Type: Owner group

In 1956, Brown-Forman bought the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, bringing an existing distillery into a business whose own story began with Old Forester.[7] George Garvin Brown had founded J.T.S. Brown & Brother in 1870. Later acquisitions included The BenRiach Distillery Company Limited, a purchase completed on 1 June 2016.[6][7] The history between those milestones reaches beyond famous labels to restored distilleries, bottling lines and the making of casks.

What Brown-Forman is known for

Glass bottles and wooden casks tell a different side of Brown-Forman’s story from its familiar labels. Old Forester’s identity includes its producer’s claim to be the first bourbon sold only in sealed glass bottles.[1] In 1945, Brown-Forman bought the Wood Mosaic Company, the business its history identifies as the future Brown-Forman Cooperage.[7] Bottling and cask making belong alongside distilling in the company’s history.

The names on those bottles also represent different kinds of work. Old Forester belongs to the founding story. Jack Daniel’s was an existing distillery when Brown-Forman bought it. Woodford Reserve emerged at a restored site, more than half a century after its acquisition.[7] Creating a brand, buying a distillery and restoring one are not interchangeable achievements.

Nor is ownership necessarily permanent. Canadian Mist’s purchase and later sale make that especially clear.[7] The useful question is not simply which brands appear together in a company history, but how their relationships began and whether they subsequently ended.

How the Brown-Forman name began

Story box: the partners behind the name

Founding story: George Garvin Brown founded J.T.S. Brown & Brother in 1870, according to Brown-Forman’s history. The founding place and first licence date are not reliably established in the supplied record. His partnership with accountant George Forman in 1890 created the Brown-Forman name; formal incorporation followed in 1901.[7] Source for these founding milestones.

Turning point: In 1924, following the purchase of the G. Lee Redmon company, the business moved to Louisville’s West End, according to its history.[7] Source for the headquarters move.

Documented record: These milestones come from the producer’s published history, rather than independently established claims of priority.[7] Source for that account.

Last checked: November 2026; the exact day is not recorded.

Old Forester’s name has a separate origin. The producer says it was named after Dr William Forrester, with the second “r” removed when he retired.[1] That account concerns the brand name; the later partnership supplied the company name.

The bottle is central to another part of Old Forester’s identity. Its producer describes it as the first bourbon sold only in sealed glass bottles.[1] That is a specific claim about how the bourbon was sold, not a claim to have been the first whiskey ever put into glass. The word “only” makes the difference.

Louisville, Prohibition and continuity

The business’s Main Street roots reach back well before Old Forester Distilling Co.’s documented opening in 2018. The producer places offices and bottling lines at 125 W. Main Street from 1882 to 1919, identifying that address today as 119 W. Main Street.[1]

Fire struck the bottling line on 2 October 1910.[1] The documented event does not establish an explanation for a later whiskey’s name or production method.

Prohibition brought restrictions, but not a complete shutdown. According to the producer, Brown-Forman received licence No. 3 of six federal licences in Kentucky in 1920, permitting sales of Old Forester for medicinal use.[1] Its timeline separately records permission in 1929 to distil whiskey to replenish medicinal supplies.[7] These were distinct permissions: first to sell existing whiskey, then to distil more.

Brown-Forman also claims to be the only US spirits company to have bottled, aged and distilled whiskey before, during and after Prohibition; that wider claim of exclusivity is the company’s own.[7]

The first public stock issue followed in 1933.[7] It marks an important change in the ownership history, although it does not establish the present share structure or voting control.

Acquisitions that changed the business

In 1956, two purchases expanded Brown-Forman in contrasting ways. The company says Jos. Garneau Co. increased its brand count from three to 37, while the Jack Daniel transaction brought the Lynchburg, Tennessee distillery into its history.[7] Expansion was not always permanent. Canadian Mist, acquired in 1971 and described by Brown-Forman as its first major operation outside the US, was sold in 2020.[7]

The chronology records those completed historical transactions alongside other acquisitions, rather than presenting a current portfolio. A purchase date establishes when a business entered the group, not whether every later relationship remains unchanged.

The Scottish transaction has a particularly clear documentary marker. Brown-Forman’s dated statement confirms that the acquisition had completed on 1 June 2016.[6] That wording records a completed purchase, rather than an intention to buy. For readers tracing ownership, the distinction is essential; the wider process is explained in how distillery ownership changes.

Old Forester and Woodford Reserve: different routes to development

Buying Labrot & Graham was only the beginning of its place in Brown-Forman’s story. Woodford Reserve launched at the restored distillery in 1996, more than half a century after the company bought the site.[7] Acquisition, restoration and brand launch were separate chapters, rather than a single founding moment.

Old Forester’s later development took a different route, through releases and a new facility. Its first Birthday Bourbon appeared in 2002. The producer describes that whiskey as coming from a single day’s production and being aged for 12 years.[1] Those details describe the first release, rather than every later bottling bearing the Birthday Bourbon name.

In 2018, Old Forester Distilling Co. opened at 119 W. Main Street, with an active cooperage on site.[1] The opening added a new facility at an address already associated with the business. It was distinct from both the company’s nineteenth-century foundation and its earlier occupation of the Main Street premises.

The producer dates the launch of the 117 Series to 2021, led by Master Taster Jackie Zykan.[1] Where Woodford Reserve’s launch followed the restoration of a previously acquired distillery, these Old Forester milestones trace the continued development of a brand rooted in the company’s beginnings: a particular release, a new distilling facility and a later series.

Common mistakes

“Brown-Forman founded Jack Daniel’s.” Brown-Forman bought the Jack Daniel Distillery in 1956.[7] A long association between an owner and a brand can make their histories seem inseparable, but the purchase was not the distillery’s beginning.

“Canadian Mist is still part of Brown-Forman.” The company records its sale in 2020.[7] A historical acquisition list gives an incomplete picture unless it includes disposals.

“Old Forester was the first whiskey in a glass bottle.” The producer’s claim is narrower: the first bourbon sold only in sealed glass bottles.[1] Dropping those distinctions turns a specific account into a different claim.

For a particular bottle, distinguish the owner, the brand and the distillery. A transaction can establish who bought a business without identifying where an individual whiskey was distilled. The guide to whisky brands that do not own a distillery explains how those identities can differ.

Where to go next

• How Distillery Ownership Changes: understand the difference between an announced transaction and a completed transfer.
• Whisky Brands That Do Not Own a Distillery: separate the brand on a label from the producer behind it.
• William Grant & Sons: explore another whisky company through its own distinct ownership history.

Sources

[1] Brown-Forman. Discover Our Roots. Undated web timeline; supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.brown-forman.com/history-timeline

[6] Brown-Forman. Brown-Forman Completes Acquisition of The GlenDronach, BenRiach and Glenglassaugh Single Malt Scotch Whiskies. Press release, 2016. https://investors.brown-forman.com/investors/news-releases/press-release/2016/Brown-Forman-Completes-Acquisition-of-The-GlenDronach-BenRiach-and-Glenglassaugh-Single-Malt-Scotch-Whiskies/default.aspx

[7] Brown-Forman. Old Forester. Undated brand webpage; supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.brown-forman.com/brand/old-forester

This article was prepared from the supplied fact sheet, without fresh source inspection.

Last checked: November 2026