Orville Schupp
“Blanton’s Protegé”
A unique story that helped forge the Bourbon industry that we know today occurred when Orville Schupp told Elmer T. Lee on his way out of the plant, “Show up next Monday morning and we’ll find something for you,” after Colonel Albert Blanton dismissed him. It was also Schupp who led the Buffalo Trace Distillery for fourteen years after Blanton retired, but he also ran the plant with precision and kept all its employees motivated for nearly two decades as the Colonel’s right-hand man.
In the military, every Brigade has a commanding officer who is a Colonel, an executive officer who is a Major, and a Sergeant Major whose general job is to make things run smoothly and maintain communication with the rest of the Brigade. Orville Schupp served as both the Major and the Sergeant Major during most of his time at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in a period that took production up over 500% in his tenure.
Schupp was born in Northern Kentucky, just across the Ohio River from Indiana, in 1909. He graduated from Purdue University in Indiana with his Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in May of 1931. Initially, Schupp worked in construction as an electrical inspector. Two years later, he married his wife Margaret, and they quickly had two daughters, Patsy, born in 1935, and Jinny, born in 1937. Now that he had a family, Orville was sent looking for a better career. He eventually took a position at the George T. Stagg Distillery in 1939 as a maintenance engineer.
Orville’s talent and drive were evident from the beginning, and he took a liking to the distillery business. Within a very short time, he had received several promotions and was soon made the supervising engineer. Colonel Blanton saw promise in young Schupp and named him plant superintendent in 1942. While Orville was running the plant, the number of employees that were needed to match demand for their bourbons soon blossomed to over 400, making the distillery the second largest employer in Central Kentucky behind only the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Blanton himself wanted to travel to open up international markets and spread the word about the distillery’s quality and products. But the Colonel wasn’t up to the rigor of both running the plant and serving as an ambassador, so in late 1943, Blanton retired from the day-to-day operations of the distillery. Blanton hand-picked Orville Schupp as his successor, and named Schupp Plant Manager as well as Master Distiller that day.
In 1957, the largest spirit distributor in the world, Schenley Distillers, Inc., lured Schupp away from the Stagg Distillery. Schupp’s apprentice, Elmer T. Lee, was then chosen to run Buffalo Trace upon his departure. Orville moved to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and ran the Schenley plant just across the Falls of the Ohio from Louisville. There, he helped develop the Bourbon brands of Ancient Age, I. W. Harper, J. W. Dant, and Old Stagg. Today, that plant is owned by MGP/Luxco.
In 1967, just nine years after joining Schenley, Schupp was elected president of the company.. At that time, he oversaw all domestic and international operations and was responsible for his four Bourbon brands as well as such other brands as Dewar’s White Label Scotch, Seagram’s 7, Seagram’s V. O., Roma, and Cresta Blanc wines.
After retiring from Schenley in 1970, Schupp moved back to Frankfort. In his retirement he secured the land and arranging the financing for what became Frankfort’s largest recreational complex, the “Juniper Hill City Park” which housed an 18-hole municipal golf course, two Olympic-sized swimming pools, a Community Center, tennis courts, a Meeting center for business retreats, a large picnic area and playing fields for sports.
Orville Schupp died of a heart attack in Lexington, Kentucky, in January of 2003 at the age of 93. He was inducted posthumously into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in the same year that he passed away, just eight months later September. Schupp became only the 3rd of 9 Buffalo Trace Distillery members to be inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame, behind only Elmer T. Lee and George T. Stagg himself. He was so highly regarded that he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in only its third class of inductees
Contributed by Colonel Craig Duncan, Columbia, Tennessee
Ancient Age is one of the Bourbons developed by Orville Schupp when he was at Schenley Distillers, Inc.
Pictured above are some of the current versions and recent past versions: (from left to right):
1.) Ancient Age Bourbon (80 Proof), 2.) Ancient Age 10 Star (90 Proof, aged 5 years), 3.) Ancient Age 90 (90 Proof) 4.) Ancient Age Barrel 107 (107 Proof), 5.) Ancient Age Preferred Blended Whiskey (80 Proof).
Old Stagg was one of the Bourbons developed by Orville Schupp when he was at Schenley Distillers, Inc. That brand along with Ancient Age have been bought and reintroduced by Buffalo Trace, The “Old Stagg” brand has changed its name to “George T. Stagg”
Pictured above are the original version and current versions: (from left to right): 1.) Old Stagg (86 Proof), 2.) George T. Stagg (128 to 144.8 Proof from the BTAC Collection), 3.) Stagg, Jr. (120-128 Proof).
I. W. Harper is one of the Bourbons that was purchased and reintroduced by Orville Schupp when he was at Schenley Distillers, Inc., it is named after Issac Wolf Bernheim and called I. W. Harper. Pictured above are I. W. Harper Bourbon Whiskey (82 Proof) and I. W. Harper 15 Year-old.
J. W. Dant is one of the Bourbons developed by Orville Schupp when he was at Schenley Distillers, Inc. Pictured above is J. W. Dant named after Joseph Washington Dant who was a blacksmith and only 16 when he opened his distillery in 1836.