Diageo is bringing the I.W. Harper brand back to the U.S. for the first time in more than 20 years this month (it has been available only in Asia) with the release of I.W. Harper Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and Limited Edition I.W. Harper 15-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
The brand originated with Bernheim Distillery Company, operated in Louisville by Isaac Wolfe Bernheim and his brother, Bernard. I.W. Bernheim, who immigrated from Germany to America in 1867 with about $4 in his pocket, became a very successful businessman and philanthropist. IN 1928 he purchased 14,000 acres of land in Bullitt and Nelson counties in Kentucky and established the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. He died in 1945 at age 96.
