Oscar Getz

In 1944, Oscar bought the old Tom Moore Distillery outright from Tom’s son, Con Moore. Getz changed the name of the plant to the name of the brand of bourbon that he was selling throughout the Midwest, which he had named years earlier. The new name of the factory was the Barton Distillery, originally a name he literally picked from a hat from several choices. At the time of the distillery purchase, the three Kentucky straight bourbons that the plant produced were Old Barton, Tom Moore, and Kentucky Gentleman.

Under Getz's leadership, the Barton Distillery company went on to become Barton Brands Limited. They heavily promoted their flagship bourbon, now called ”Very Old Barton."  They added the “Very Old” because they aged their two variations of this label four and, at that time, unheard-of six years. There were no super premium or older aged bourbons in those days, and standards in the industry only required bourbon to be aged for two years, so six years was quite the anomaly.

Barton Brands then purchased the Glenmore Distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky. Because the name Barton was a bigger name in the industry, the merged company used the Barton name and discarded the Glenmore moniker. The Glenmore Distillery was known for making several well-known regional brands of their own, including Kentucky Tavern, Ten High, Walker’s Reserve, Old Thompson, Imperial Blended Whiskey, and Fleischmann’s Rye, as well as a number of blended whiskies and the Mr. Boston line of diversified spirits. Eventually, the Glenmore Distillery plant was closed completely, and the newly acquired brands’ production was moved to Bardstown.

Getz had established a great reputation for both himself and his distilleries, and he later became a well-known historian and lecturer for the industry. He also made quite a name for himself in the distilling business as he was named the liquor industry's “Man of the Year” in 1942 and again in 1957. During this time, he continued to amass a large collection of all things whiskey, even to the point of obsession. Eventually, his wife Emma told him that she didn’t want his elaborate but messy collection in her house anymore, so Oscar turned the Barton offices into a visitors center. Barton was, thereafter, the very first company to ever offer distillery tours, many years before it was a popular activity, and Getz’s museum collection became both the beginning and the end of what was a very rudimentary tour of the production facility. Beginning in 1957 and lasting all the way into the early 1980s, many visitors actually thought that the museum WAS the distillery tour since there had never before been a public institution that was dedicated to capturing history and importance in the bourbon and whiskey industry. Getz was so enamored with bourbon making that he wrote a book called "Whiskey: An American Pictorial History," which came out in 1978 and quickly became the definitive reference guide to everything in the Bourbon and American whiskey business for the next two decades.

His collection continued to snowball and finally became so large that it outgrew even the Barton Visitor’s Center. Oscar, in a quest for a proper home for his collection, paid the City of Bardstown to fix up an abandoned, 200-year-old Catholic seminary to house his museum. Unfortunately, Getz passed away in 1983 before he could ever see his vision become reality. The museum opened a year later in 1984. The Getz family wanted everyone with any interest to see what Oscar had collected, so the Museum of Whiskey History has always been free of charge.

Now the old Georgian building, stately and Southern, is rich with carpets and elegant molding and is perfect for the presentation of whiskey’s history. A bronze bust of Oscar Getz’s head and shoulders sits on a marble pedestal at the end of one wing, welcoming visitors and forever keeping a bright eye on his collection.

One of the more interesting items on display in Getz’s collection includes George Washington's still, the ancient pot still, apparently at the time still being used, seized by revenuers in 1939 from descendants of Washington's slaves. The sign notes that while he was President, Washington made the equivalent of $125,000 a year by selling whiskey that he distilled at Mount Vernon. After the Father of the County retired, he went on to become this country’s largest distiller, making over 9,000 proof gallons annually.

Contributed By: Barrett Straub, Lexington Park, Maryland

with support from Bill & Vicki Gallagher, Mid-Atlantic Section Editors, Marriottsville, Maryland