On January 17, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment and Volstead Act went into effect, beginning the Prohibition era in the United States. With the quality and quantity of available spirits being squeezed dry, the daring residents of Templeton, Iowa, started producing a carefully crafted bootleg rye whiskey affectionately known as The Good Stuff.
This date also happened to be the birth date of the notorious bootlegger and Chicago gangster, Al Capone.
The town of Templeton is soon supplying his gang with hundreds of kegs per month. Selling primarily Canadian whiskey, Capone nonetheless insists on Templeton Rye as his personal drink of choice — serving family and friends only The Good Stuff.
In 2001, drawn to his family’s history, Scott Bush sets out to re-establish Templeton Rye whiskey by producing it legally and introducing it to a wider audience.
Meryl Kerkhoff, son of Alphons Kerkhoff, one of the most prolific Prohibition-era producers of The Good Stuff, forms a partnership with Bush and reveals the original formula. Meryl then enlists his son, Keith Kerkhoff, to join the Templeton team and carry on the family tradition.
In 2006, sixty-eight barrels of Templeton Rye whiskey complete their four-year aging process. The spirit is bottled and finds its way to shelves legally for the first time thanks to the collaboration of Kerkhoff, Bush and Infinium Spirits, a division of Young’s Holdings, LLC.
In August 2007, Templeton Rye begins distribution in Illinois — giving the state its first taste of The Good Stuff since the end of Capone’s reign.
Celebrate your own defying spirit this January 17th with a bottle of Templeton Rye Whiskey. You know. The Good Stuff!
Check out the Bootlegger Rye below and visit templetonrye.com for more recipes!
2 oz Templeton Rye Whiskey½ oz Fresh Lemon Juice½ oz Simple Syrup3 Mint springs (torn)3 Dashes Angostura bitters3 oz SpriteBuild first 5 ingredients in mixing glass with ice, shake vigorously and strain into ice packed pint glass. Top with SpriteGarnish: Mint Sprig
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