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The Sazerac Family Establishes a vineyard and distillery to make Eaux De Vie in the Cognac region.

Louis Sazerac de Roches makes the bells at the family’s foundry.

Louis Sazerac produces cannons to help America during The American Revolution under the direction of Benjamin Franklin.

Bernard Sazerac buys Logis de Forge, an estate with extensive vineyards, and assumes the name Bernard Sazerac De Forge.

Bernard begins making Sazerac Cognac, warehousing the aging barrels in Angouleme.

Bernard Sazerac De Forge dies, passing control of his ventures and property to his son Laurent Sazerac De Forge.

Antoine Peychaud (1803-1883) establishes his own apothecary at 123 Royal Street in New Orleans (known as 437 Royal Street today), where he sells “the best bitters, peppermint and alcohol” to local coffee houses for use in their cocktails.

The Merchants Exchange is completed at 26 Royal Street, New Orleans. The grand gathering place for the city’s merchants houses rooms for meetings, a great rotunda for auctions, a reading room, post office and a coffee house and bar.

Sewell Taylor (1812-1861) arrives in New Orleans from Pensacola, Florida, and begins working as a barkeeper at a coffee house in the Merchants Exchange.

The first known ad for Sazerac de Forge et Fils Cognac in the U.S. appears in Philadelphia’s National Gazette. For many years Sazerac and other Cognacs were advertised as brandies.

Sewell Taylor obtains a five-year lease to run the Merchants Exchange Coffee House.

Sewell Taylor’s coffee house lease is not renewed at the Merchants Exchange. He establishes a wholesale and retail liquor business nearby on Royal Street where he began to promote Sazerac de Forge est Fils brandy exclusively.

The Sazerac House, a coffee house located next to the Merchants Exchange, and its proprietor, Aaron Bird (1793-1864) are first mentioned in the local press. There are many indications that Sewell Taylor was the financial backer or perhaps the actual owner of the Sazerac House. This ad shows that he was the legal representative, the “Syndic” for the creditors of the bankrupt Armstrong’s which became the Sazerac House shortly after.

Peychaud advertises “American Aromatic Bitter Cordial” for the first time, also announcing his bitters have been introduced into use at the Sazerac House.

After Aaron Bird’s death, J.B. Schiller, a local importer of Sazerac de Forge Et fils brandy, takes over as proprietor of the Sazerac House. He expands the footprint of the property to include the building next door at 11 Exchange Place and uses it as a stockroom. That same year Schiller hires Thomas H. Handy as a clerk at the Sazerac House.

Thomas H. Handy (1839-1893), who had been working at the Sazerac House since 1865, and several other employees from Thos. H. Handy & Co. buy the Sazerac House from Schiller who was in bad health and passed away shortly after.

Thomas H. Handy announces it is the sole agent in New Orleans for Sazerac de Forge et Fils brandies.

After Handy loses his money in bad railroad investments, he is forced to dissolve Thos. H. Handy Co., though he maintains control of Peychaud’s bitters. Shortly after, Vincent Micas buys out Thomas Handy becoming the owner of the Sazerac House, the sole agent for Sazerac de Forge et Fils brandy and the owner of Peychaud’s Bitters. This begins a bitter battle between Handy and Micas for control of the Sazerac House and Peychaud’s bitters.

In March, Vincent Micas loses his lease of the Sazerac House and the building is demolished. He opens “the old Sazerac” bar room and liquor store at the intersection of Common and Camp streets. In October of the same year, Thomas Handy rebuilds and reopens the Sazerac House at its original location on Exchange Place to much fanfare.

Experiencing financial difficulties, Micas sells his Sazerac saloon and liquor store along with the rights to Peychaud’s Bitters to an employee, Theodore Baumann, and moves to Bordeaux, France, ending his years’ long competition with Thomas H. Handy.

Affected by the phylloxera outbreak in French vineyards, brandy and cognac are in short supply; New Orleans bartenders begin to make the Sazerac Cocktail with American Rye Whiskey to replace the brandy.

After Thomas H. Handy passes away, William McQuoid, a financial backer of the Sazerac House since 1880, reestablishes Thos. H. Handy & Co.

The term Sazerac becomes commonplace in the US, according to a trademark application dating to 1900.

Thomas H. Handy & Co. begins national marketing of its many versions of a bottled Sazerac Cocktail.

The 18th Amendment calling for Prohibition is ratified in January 1919 and takes effect in January 1920. Realizing the impending threat of Prohibition, the Thomas H. Handy & Co. Inc. reincorporates as the Sazerac Company, Inc. with plans to manufacture, buy and sell groceries, candy, soft drinks, dairy products and to operate restaurants. Only a deli and a French restaurant are known to have materialized.

Prohibition is repealed. In December, the Sazerac Company gets back in the liquor business by opening a bar and lunchroom, a wholesale and retail headquarters, and a manufacturing and bottling facility in New Orleans. The Company also renews its trademark for the Sazerac Cocktail and begins producing and bottling it in their new facilities.

In addition to producing the Sazerac Cocktail, the Sazerac Company gradually becomes the southern distributor for a variety of alcoholic products and obtains a rectifier’s license to begin a business blending and bottling liquor for private clients.

An ad campaign is launched for the “Famous Sazerac Cocktail” available only at the Sazerac Bar at 300 Carondelet Street. The campaign runs until 1944.

The Magnolia Liquor Co. Inc. owned by Malcolm Woldenberg (1896-1982) and Stephen Goldring (1908-1997), acquires the Sazerac Co. Inc.

Sazerac obtains a copyright for the “Sazerac Cocktail Label” and purchases Herbsaint from J. Marion Legendre. The Sazerac Bar on Carondelet Street closes and a new Sazerac Bar is opened on Baronne Street at the Roosevelt Hotel.

Sazerac launches Taaka vodka, one of the first vodkas to be sold in the U.S., which then goes on to become one of Sazerac’s most successful brands.

Sazerac re-acquires Peychaud’s Bitters from L.E. Jung & Wulff Co., regaining the rights to the brand once briefly owned and controlled by Thomas H. Handy.

Seven brands are purchased from Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Ltd. Benchmark Bourbon, Eagle Rare Bourbon, Carstairs Whiskey, James Foxe Canadian Whiskey, Crown Russe Vodka, Nikolai Vodka, and Dr. McGillicuddy’s Schnapps.

The Sazerac Company and Takara Shuzo, Inc. reach an agreement by which Sazerac acquires the Leestown Co. and the George T. Stagg Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. The distillery boasts acres of scenic land on the Kentucky River and historic warehouses and production buildings dating back to the late-1700s.

After years of restoration, the George T. Stagg Distillery is rechristened the Buffalo Trace Distillery and its flagship bourbon, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, is launched.

Buffalo Trace Distillery partners with Old Rip Van Winkle to produce their line of premium Van Winkle Bourbons using a recipe to the Van Winkle family specifications.

Sazerac purchases the A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Sazerac Rye Whiskey brand is launched in packaging that reflects the original 1880s bottle and is the perfect rye for the Sazerac cocktail.

Sazerac completes acquisition of brands and facilities from Constellation Brands Inc. including two facilities in Kentucky, The Glenmore Distillery in Owensboro and the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown.

Sazerac du Canada (Old Montreal Distillery) joins the Sazerac family.

Returning to its roots in France, the Sazerac Company purchases Breuil de Segonzac, a French Cognac distillery, reconnecting with its early history with Sazerac de Forge et Fils brandy and Cognac.

The purchase of Southern Comfort brought the brand back to its Southern roots and restored the New Orleans connection.

Sazerac acquires a shareholding in John Distilleries, the Bangalore-based producer of Paul John Indian single malt whisky, marking the company’s entry into the Indian whisky market.

For the first time in decades, Canadian whisky is distilled in Montreal at Sazerac’s Old Montreal Distillery. The Sazerac Company also closes the year with the purchase of 19 brands from Diageo.

The Sazerac House, a 5-story interactive visitor center, opens in the French Quarter in New Orleans, a mere 400 yards from the site of the original Sazerac House.

The Sazerac Company begins a new chapter at the Hazelwood Estate in County Sligo, in the west of Ireland, in the shadow of Hazelwood House, an 18th century Palladian mansion. The distillery is renamed Hawk’s Rock Distillery in 2025.

Sazerac completes its acquisition of BuzzBallz, the Texas ready-to-drink business founded by Merrilee Kick.

Sazerac completes its acquisition of Svedka Vodka from Constellation Brands.

Sazerac acquires Western Son Vodka and its distillery in Pilot Point, Texas. Founded in 2011, Western Son distills its vodka ten times from 100 percent American corn, and the Pilot Point facility adds production capacity to the Sazerac network.

Sazerac completes its acquisition of Garrard County Distilling in Lancaster, Kentucky. Opened in 2024, the 210-acre site adds two column stills and barrel aging warehouses to the company’s Kentucky production.

Sazerac completes its acquisition of Au Vodka, the Welsh vodka brand known for its gold bottle. Founded in Swansea in 2015 by Charlie Morgan and Jackson Quinn, Au Vodka continues to operate from its home in Wales.

Today Sazerac operates 18 distilling and bottling facilities worldwide, with 8,000 team members and a portfolio of more than 525 brands.