A Piece of Whiskey History at Neeley Family Distillery

Neeley Family Distillery president, CEO, and lead distiller Royce Neeley has a penchant for antique distilling equipment. His obsession is partly rooted in his family history—he’s an 11th-generation distiller, whose family has been making spirits in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ireland for centuries. He’s amassed quite the assemblage of antique equipment at the distillery, either on display in its gift shop or in active use, including a 75-gallon still with hand-beaten rivets from the early 1800s; a 20th-century 100-gallon square pot still from Casey Jones Distillery dating back to the early 1900s; a 47-gallon pre-Prohibition copper pot still that has bullet holes from an ATF bust; his great-grandfather's still from the late 1800s; two copper Donna jugs, which distillers in the South once used for yeast storage or propagation that Neeley stores yeast in today; and a French absinthe still built in the 1890s on which Neeley makes all of his absinthe. His most recent acquisition, however—a 150-gallon pot still registered in Pennsylvania in 1811—is now the crown jewel of the collection.

“I’ve collected a lot of old distilling artifacts over the years, and I’ve never seen another still like this one,” says Neeley. What exactly makes the still so singular? For starters, it’s purportedly the oldest registered American still in existence, built by the long-shuttered Philadelphia still maker G&F Harley in 1811. “It’s really rare to find one of these stills around,” he explains, adding that, “it’s built well, and it’s thicker and likely weighs more than my 600-gallon Vendome still.” He says it’s comparable to just two other stills that he knows of: one sits within the Oscar Getz Museum in Bardstown, Kentucky and purportedly belonged to George Washington—but has no registration number—and the other is a slightly younger still originally owned by Oscar Pepper that’s on display at the Frazier History Museum in Louisville.

Neeley’s reputation as a collector facilitated his purchase of the still, which, before his ownership, had spent six decades in the window of Mount Carmel Wine & Spirits, a liquor store in Hamden, Connecticut. “The owners of the store passed away, and a friend of theirs was liquidating everything; he called Brad [Bonds, of Revival Vintage Spirits & Bottle Shop] and asked him, ‘Do you know what this still’s worth? I don’t even know where to start with this,’” says Neeley. “Brad told him, ‘I don’t deal with old equipment, but I know somebody who knows a lot about old stills,’ and put him in touch with me.”

He purchased the still sight unseen, and while he’s not disclosing the price tag, he says that stills like this can easily go for $25,000-$50,000, and he feels he paid a fair amount. The still’s Pennsylvania heritage gave it extra appeal for Neeley, who can trace the second and third generations of his family back to the Keystone State, where they distilled at the Neeley-Thompson Mill and Distillery in Washington Crossing. “It’s the type of still that my family would’ve used [in Pennsylvania] making rye, and it’s also the same type of still that my family would’ve brought with them when they came over from Ireland.”

Now that he has the still (he compares the day it arrived to Christmas morning), he’s working on tracking down its history—where was it before it was owned by the liquor store, what spirits it might’ve made, and the like. While he unearths its past, you can view the still at its new home: Neeley Family Distillery in Sparta, Kentucky.

And should you find yourself in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, or Virginia and want more whiskey history, here’s a round-up of places to dive deeper into the spirit we so treasure.