W.A. Gaines and Company

Originally started as the partnership Gaines, Berry & Co. in 1862, it was reorganized in 1868 as W.A.

[1][2] Among the company's investors and officers was Edson Bradley.

Gaines erected the Hermitage distillery in 1868, and were the largest producers of fine "sour mash" whiskeys in the world.

[1][4] Its owners were accused of being major players in the "Whiskey Trust", but that was never proved.

[5] National Distillers, which owned the distillery and brand from the end of Prohibition until 1987, continued to use the W.A.