Yikes! I didn't want to hijack a perfectly good forum topic. Maybe this thread can be exported to its own location?
Landrum, Don't let any of this discourage you from trying Town Branch and letting us know what you think of it. Despite not being (IMO) as good as Old Ezra, at pretty much the same price point as Buffalo Trace (a favorite of mine) it's worth trying.
Now, as to the subject that poor Landrum never brought up, but Squire did without knowing what a splash it would cause, let me add just this, and then I'm not gonna add any more to this thread until (1) it gets moved somewhere else, and (2) someone else gives Landrum an answer that he deserves....
What I know about "21 Brands" is that it was incorporated in New York at Repeal and, like many others (Austin Nichols, S.S. Pierce, Mr. Boston, Heublein, etc) the company marketed brands that were produced by various distilleries on contract. And, like some of those (Austin Nichols, for example) they did actually purchase a distillery dedicated to producing their whiskey products. According to the Miami News (June 12, 1956), 21 Brands purchased what had been the Rocky Ford Distillery in Frankfort that year. That may have been the distillery shown in Gary's photo. "21 Brands" was a division of the legendary "21 Club" in New York City. According to Mike Veach, the Medley Brothers purchased the brand (along with other "21 Brands" assets) the following year. He doesn't say whether the Rocky Ford distillery was part of the purchase, but here's a photo of a Shop'n'Bag Market advertisement from May 12, 1955, listing both Medley and Rocky Ford products. Ezra Brooks was always marketed as an ersatz Jack Daniel's for folks who were unaware that J.D. wasn't bourbon (as were Evan Williams, Virgin, Jim Beam Black, and God-only-knows how many others), and I don't know for sure whether Medley already was marketing their 90-proof 4-year-old as Ezra Brooks before that, or if they inherited it with the other "21 Brands" assets.