Formerly: Old Time Distillery · H. E. Pogue Distillery
Maysville, Kentucky · Founded 1876 · Building: 2012 (modern artisan distillery; historic Pogue distillery structures no longer standing)
A fifth- and sixth-generation Pogue family revival of Maysville's 1876 Registered Distillery No. 3, reopened on historic family grounds in 2012.
The Old Pogue Distillery carries forward a Maysville whiskey lineage that began in 1876, when Henry Edgar Pogue bought the Old Time Distillery and established Kentucky Registered Distillery No. 3. The original operation endured into Prohibition through limited medicinal-whiskey activity, ended production in 1926, reopened in 1934, and later ceased manufacturing again after World War II. Pogue descendants revived the Old Pogue brand in 2005 and opened the present artisan distillery in 2012.
The Thomas family's Old Time Distillery operated in Maysville by the early 1860s, according to local historical material. It later became the predecessor operation acquired by H. E. Pogue.
Source: Kentucky Gateway Museum Center, "Old Pogue Interactive"
Henry Edgar Pogue, master distiller for O. H. P. Thomas, acquired the Old Time Distillery in Maysville. The operation became Kentucky Registered Distillery No. 3 in the seventh district.
Source: The Old Pogue Distillery, "Our Story," accessed September 1, 2026; Kentucky Historical Society, "H. E. Pogue Distillery" historical marker entry
H. E. Pogue I died, and his son Henry Pogue II took over the original distillery operation.
Source: Kentucky Historical Society, "H. E. Pogue Distillery" historical marker entry
Henry Pogue II was killed in a distillery accident after operating the business for roughly three decades.
Source: Kentucky Historical Society, "H. E. Pogue Distillery" historical marker entry
National Prohibition began. Under Henry Pogue III, the historic operation continued for several years with medicinal-whiskey-related activity rather than ceasing immediately.
Source: Kentucky Historical Society, "H. E. Pogue Distillery" historical marker entry; The B-Line, "Visit the Old Pogue Distillery on The B-Line," April 21, 2023
The historic Pogue distillery ended production during Prohibition, creating a clear break in operating continuity.
Source: Kentucky Historical Society, "H. E. Pogue Distillery" historical marker entry; The B-Line, April 21, 2023
After Prohibition, the Pogue Distillery resumed production.
Source: Kentucky Historical Society, "H. E. Pogue Distillery" historical marker entry
Manufacturing at the historic Pogue Distillery ceased again after World War II amid industry competition and overproduction. Reviewed sources vary on the exact final year, placing the closure broadly in the postwar period or the 1950s.
Source: Kentucky Historical Society, "H. E. Pogue Distillery" historical marker entry; Bourbon Veach, "Old Pogue Distillery," June 3, 2022
Fifth-generation Pogue descendants revived the Old Pogue brand.
Source: The B-Line, "Visit the Old Pogue Distillery on The B-Line," April 21, 2023; Bourbonfool, "Old Pogue Distillery Dates Back to 1876," May 1, 2019
Pogue descendants opened the present artisan distillery in Maysville, producing small-batch bourbon and rye on grounds the company identifies as the original Pogue distillery site.
Source: The Old Pogue Distillery, official website, accessed September 1, 2026; The B-Line, April 21, 2023
The Old Pogue Distillery continues to offer small-batch bourbon and rye products as a Pogue-family-owned artisan distillery.
Source: The Old Pogue Distillery, official website and spirits pages, accessed September 1, 2026
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The Old Pogue Distillery's official history identifies the 1876 Pogue operation as Kentucky Registered Distillery No. 3, and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail identifies modern Old Pogue as DSP-KY-3 and Kentucky's third registered distillery in its district. Original state or federal registration documents were not reviewed, so the designation is credible but not rated documented.
The current Pogue site says its artisan distillery is on the same grounds and plot of land where the historic H. E. Pogue Distillery stood and drew water. This is a strong first-party site-lineage claim, but Mason County deed, parcel-map, and title records were not reviewed to independently confirm the exact boundaries or unbroken family ownership.
The historic operation ended production on August 10, 1926, resumed in 1934, and ceased manufacturing again after World War II or during the 1950s. The Old Pogue brand was revived in 2005 and the present artisan distillery opened in 2012, so the modern business is a descendant-led revival rather than an uninterrupted distillery operation.
The current distillery says the Pogue family owns the operation today and that fifth- and sixth-generation descendants carry forward the family's bourbon and rye tradition. This supports present family operation, although the precise legal entity and individual ownership shares were not independently reviewed.
The official product pages identify Old Pogue as the original H. E. Pogue Distillery's flagship product and Old Maysville Club as an original rye brand revived in a modern form. The current record does not include independent period advertising, labels, or trademark records, so the detailed product-lineage claim remains plausible rather than documented.
The Old Pogue Distillery has operated continuously in the same building since 1876.
The nineteenth-century Pogue distillery ended production in 1926, resumed in 1934, and ceased manufacturing again after World War II or in the 1950s. The present artisan facility opened in 2012 and is a descendant-led revival on grounds the company identifies as the historic Pogue site.
Source: Kentucky Historical Society, "H. E. Pogue Distillery" historical marker entry; The Old Pogue Distillery, official website; The B-Line, April 21, 2023
Prohibition shut down the Pogue Distillery immediately in 1920.
Kentucky Historical Society material says the historic Pogue operation continued for several Prohibition years through medicinal-whiskey-related activity and ended production on August 10, 1926.
Source: Kentucky Historical Society, "H. E. Pogue Distillery" historical marker entry; The B-Line, April 21, 2023
Kentucky Registered Distillery No. 3 proves that Old Pogue is Kentucky's third-oldest distillery.
The No. 3 designation is a historic registration identifier associated with the 1876 Pogue operation and its district. It is not, by itself, a statewide chronological ranking or evidence that the modern distillery has operated without interruption since 1876.
Source: The Old Pogue Distillery, "Our Story"; Kentucky Bourbon Trail, "The Old Pogue Distillery"
Old Pogue survives because descendants treated the old distillery as a recoverable family legacy rather than a claim of literal uninterrupted operation. The nineteenth-century plant did not make it through Prohibition and later industrial consolidation as an operating distillery, but the family retained its stories, recipes, brand memory, and connection to the Maysville site. The 2005 brand revival and 2012 artisan-distillery opening turned that inheritance into a current small-batch bourbon and rye business.
The original H. E. Pogue Distillery became Kentucky Registered Distillery No. 3 in Maysville in 1876, after Henry Edgar Pogue acquired the Old Time Distillery from O. H. P. Thomas. The original business continued for part of Prohibition through medicinal-whiskey-related activity but ended production in 1926, resumed in 1934, and later ceased manufacturing again after World War II. Pogue descendants revived the Old Pogue brand in 2005 and opened the current artisan distillery in 2012.
No. The Old Pogue Distillery does not claim a defensible title as Kentucky's oldest continuously operating distillery because the original business ended production in 1926 and later closed again after the postwar period. Its real historical distinction is Kentucky Registered Distillery No. 3, an 1876 designation associated with the original Pogue operation in Maysville.
Yes, but not immediately in 1920. Kentucky Historical Society material says Henry Pogue III continued the business for several Prohibition years with medicinal-whiskey-related activity before production ended on August 10, 1926. The distillery resumed production in 1934 after Prohibition, then ceased manufacturing again after World War II or in the 1950s.
The Old Pogue Distillery says its current artisan operation occupies the same grounds and plot of land where the historic H. E. Pogue Distillery stood and drew water in Maysville. The present production facility opened in 2012 and is not the original nineteenth-century distillery building. A deed and parcel-map review is still needed to verify the exact historic property boundaries.
Pogue descendants revived the Old Pogue brand in 2005 and opened the modern artisan distillery in Maysville in 2012. The modern operation uses the historic family story and recipes as a guide, but it should not be confused with an unbroken continuation of the nineteenth-century industrial distillery.
705 Germantown Rd, Maysville, KY 41056
The distillery identifies 705 Germantown Road as the historic property and separately lists a downtown Maysville contact location; confirm current tour arrangements directly with the distillery before traveling.