Shenk's, later known as Bomberger's and nowadays Michter's, was founded by John Shenk, a Swiss Mennonite farmer, in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania in 1753. The company produced whiskey from rye grain, a favourite local crop in the Pennsylvania Blue Mountain Valley where the distillery was located.
According to Pennsylvania historical lore, this rye whiskey was so valued that when the Revolutionary War broke out, General George Washington visited the distillery and purchased whiskey to fortify his men as they hunkered down in their camp through the long, brutal winter at Valley Forge. Over 200 years later the Michter's Pennsylvania management would say Michter's was "the whiskey that warmed the American Revolution."
In the mid-1800s, Pennsylvania Dutchman Abraham Bomberger purchased the distillery and it became known for many decades as Bomberger's until it closed in 1989.
The company has since been revived under the name Michter's and has grown to own three distilleries in Kentucky.
