Schenley Distillery architectural plans

The Schenley Products Company was organized in New Jersey in 1920. During the 1920s, the owner of Schenley, Lewis Rosenstiel, acquired approximately thirty distillers of whiskey and other spirits. Until the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, liquor manufacturing was subject to strict government regulation and limited to products consumed for medicinal purposes.

In 1933, Schenley Distillers Corporation was created in Delaware. Later that same year, Schenley purchased the Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. In July 1933, Schenley Distillers acquired, in an exchange for 820,000 of its capital stock, the entire capital stock of Schenley Products. At this time, Schenley was the second-largest whiskey distiller in the United States, second only to Joseph E. Seagrams, and was composed of the following companies: Schenley Products Company, Schenley Wine & Spirit Import Corporation, Joseph S. Finch Company, George T. Stagg Company, James E Pepper & Company, John T Barbee Company, A. B. Blanton Small Tub Distilling Company, Cove Spring Distilling Company, Greenbrier Distilling Company, Melvale Distilling Company, Sam Thompson Gibson Distilleries Company, Old Quaker Company, Napa Valley Wine and Brandy Company, Eastern Distillers Syndicate, and Monticello Distillery Company.

During World War II, the Schenley plant in Lawrenceburg (operating as Schenley Laboratories, Inc.) was used to produce penicillin for the war effort. In 1945, Schenley acquired Many, Blanc & Co. and its DuBouchett brands. In 1949, Schenley Industries, Inc. was formed from the old Schenley Distillers Corporation. Schenley Industries was purchased by Guinness P.L.C. (United Distillers) in 1987. The beverage manufacturer Pri-Pak, Inc. has been operating near the former location of Schenley Distillery in Greendale, Indiana since 1993.