James E Pepper E. Pepper Old Henry Clay Straight Rye

A gifted politician, Henry Clay (1777 - 1852) famously used to ship barrels of whiskey from the Oscar Pepper Distillery to the Willard Hotel on each journey to Washington for use in his diplomatic efforts. After his death, the Henry Clay Distillery was built in Lexington, Kentucky in 1869, only to be destroyed by fire a few years later. The distillery was later acquired and rebuilt by the then famed distiller, Col. James E. Pepper, the son of Oscar, and renamed the James E. Pepper Distillery.