“Cascade Hollow Owner”
Victor Emmanuel Shwab (born Schwab) was born January 11, 1847 in Ohio.
Despite a lack of evidence of George A. Dickel being involved in Civil War smuggling in Nashville during Union occupation in 1862, the Schwabs that Dickel was involved with were very involved in whiskey smuggling trade in Nashville. Meier Salzkotter who worked with Dickel since 1859 and son-in-law of Abram Schwab was apprehended by the Union with contraband liquor. Salzkotter defended himself by claiming his in-laws forced the whiskey on him, but was jailed anyway. Upon release he divorced his wife Cecilia Schwab.
Following the Civil War in 1865 on South College Street in Nashville, Dickel opened his liquor store and then moved it to South Market Street the next year. Salzkotter was hired as a superintendent and Victor Emmanuel Shwab, son of Abram Schwab was his bookkeeper who had removed the ‘c’ from his surname. Victor Shwab married Emma Banzer, one of Augusta Dickel’s sisters.
A March 17, 1874 fire destroyed the Dickel and Company headquarters and just missed their large warehouse filled with whiskey. The warehouse in May 1881 was destroyed by another fire. Later in 1882 Dickel and Company constructed a new five story headquarters building located on Market Street in Nashville.
It’s unclear when Dickel and Company began distribution of whiskey produced by the Cascade Hollow distillery. F.E. Cunningham along with John F. Brown operated a distillery in the Hollow in 1879 when Brown sold to Matthew Sims. Then in 1883 McLin Davis was appointed the distiller and was able to institute innovations that improved the whiskey greatly. Davis is also credited with the recipe for the whiskey. Victor Shawb, George Dickel’s brother in law, who was made a full partner in Dickel and Company in 1881, bought out Sims in 1888 and held 2/3 ownership of the distillery. At this time Dickel and Company were then Cascade Hollow’s exclusive marketer and distributor calling it George A Dickel’s Cascade Tennessee Whiskey; the whiskey that is Mellow as Moonlight based on the method of cooling the mash at night began by Davis. After the death of Master Distiller, Maclin Davis in 1898, Victor Shwab acquires the remaining shares of the Cascade Distillery. By the turn of the century, Shwab hires the D’Arcy Advertising, a large firm out of St. Louis to advertise Geo. A. Dickel’s Cascade Tennessee Whisky nationally and internationally.
Shwab took over Dickel and Company operations as Dickel’s health was declining. Dickel left his stake in the company to Augusta and asked her to sell when she was able to. She decided instead to keep the company instead though was not active in the operations.
By 1904 the distillery expanded as the demand for Cascade continued to grow. Prohibition came to Tennessee in 1910 and distilleries were given 12 months to move. Victor Shwab formed an agreement with Arthur Philip Stitzel to continue production of Cascade whiskey and paid for charcoal mellowing, part of the Lincoln County process at the Stitzel distillery.
When Augusta died in 1916, Shwab received her share of the company.
Victor Shwab and wife Emma Banzer Shwab had 6 children, Felix Emile Shwab, George Augustus Shwab, John Buist Shwab, Hugh McNeilly Shwab, Louise Shwab Lindenberg and Augusta Dickel Shwab Davis.
When Victor Shwab passed away on November 2nd, 1924, ownership was passed to his children. Victor Shwab was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.
Schenley Industries bought the Cascade brand from the Shwab family in 1937. Schenley’s version of Cascade Whisky was originally produced at the George T Stagg distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky as Cascade Bourbon and didn’t use the Lincoln County process. They later reconstructed the Cascade Hollow distillery located in Tullahoma and used the brand George Dickel in the 1950’s.
Contributed by Daniel Snyder, Whiskey Founders Committee Chair, Champaign, Illinois
George Dickel Historical Bottles
George Dickel’s Cascade Whiskey
George A. Dickel & Co. Cascade Tennessee Whiskey
George Dickel’s “Cascade Whiskey” produced in Kentucky
Contributed by Daniel Snyder, Whiskey Founders Committee Chair, Champaign, Illinois