Mr Boston

Mr Boston at a Glance

Mr Boston has 6 distinct products with 17 total TTB label approvals, including Vodka, Vodka 100 Proof Up, Vodka 80-89 Proof. Labels approved between 2021-05-20 and 2025-12-04. Label origins on file: American, Ireland, Kentucky, United Kingdom.

At a Glance data sourced from public TTB records.

Mr Boston Vodka: The Bartender's Guide Brand and the Label Origins on File

Old Mr Boston began as Ben-Burk Incorporated, a chain of outlets that Hyman Berkowitz and Irwin Benjamin started in 1927 to sell malt syrup and bottling supplies to Prohibition home brewers, bourbonveach.com says. Sazerac continues to produce Mr Boston spirits, namely rum, gin, vodka, and cordials, Punch wrote.

From Prohibition supplies to Old Mr Boston gin

Ben-Burk released Old Mr Boston Dry Gin in 1933, saying gin could provide income while its whiskey aged, bourbonveach.com records. The distillery stood at 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, When and Where in Boston records. In 1951 a fifth of Rocking Chair Blended Whiskey, an Old Mr Boston label, sold for under three dollars, Punch wrote. The firm changed its name to Mr Boston Distilling Company in 1953, bourbonveach.com says.

The Official Bartender's Guide

The first Old Mr Boston DeLuxe Official Bartender's Guide was printed in 1935, and the book promoted the Old Mr Boston spirits, bourbonveach.com says. It sold for 50 cents and carried recipes for 120 drinks, with a whistling bartender on the cover and the line "Happy daze are here again," Punch wrote. The recipes pooled the expertise of four Boston bartenders so that each was bartender-tested, Sazerac House says.

Leo Cotton edited the guide from 1935 through 49 editions until he retired in 1970, Punch wrote. Some 11 million copies have been printed in 68 editions over eight decades, by Punch's count, while The Whiskey Wash puts the total at 75 guides published.

How the name and the packaging changed

Glenmore introduced "glass can" packaging for pre-packaged cocktails in 1971 and a "snowshake" line of dairy-based pre-packaged cocktails in 1973, the history says. The "Old" was dropped in 1975, by bourbonveach.com's account, while When and Where in Boston dates the drop to 1980 and a move to Owensboro, Kentucky to 1981. The 50th Anniversary Edition of the guide in 1985 included a video cassette version and a computer disk version, bourbonveach.com says.

How the guide went online

Sazerac rounded up 58 of those guides and entered the data in a custom-built database holding 210,780 data points and 10,539 recipes, The Whiskey Wash reported in 2016. Twelve past editions between 1935 and 2012 were digitised so users can view an original recipe alongside the modern one, The Spirits Business reported. The books "were let go over the years," Sazerac president and chief executive Mark Brown said, adding that the site would ensure the brand's future "for at least another 80 years." Brown called the website the culmination of seven years of work.

Label origins on file: Kentucky, American, United Kingdom, then Ireland

Approvals dated 20 May to 29 October 2021 were filed by The Glenmore Distillery, Sazerac Distillers, LLC of Owensboro, Kentucky and list Kentucky as the label origin on file, the BUY.VODKA TTB snapshot shows. An approval dated 27 March 2023, filed by Sazerac Company, Inc. of New Orleans, lists American. Buffalo Trace Distillery, Inc. of Frankfort, Kentucky filed approvals dated 12 September 2024 listing United Kingdom, then approvals from 6 November 2024 to 4 December 2025 listing Ireland. Every approval is in the TTB label data for Mr Boston on this page.

Sources

• bourbonveach.com (Michael Veach). “Brand History - Old Mr. Boston.” 23 November 2020. https://bourbonveach.com/2020/11/23/brand-history-old-mr-boston/
• When and Where in Boston (whenandwhereinboston.org). “Old Mr. Boston distillery is built.” Undated. https://whenandwhereinboston.org/?p=61648
• Sazerac House (sazerachouse.com). “Who is Mr. Boston.” Undated. https://sazerachouse.com/inspiration/stories/who-is-mr-boston
• Punch (punchdrink.com). “The Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide.” Undated. https://punchdrink.com/?p=18819
• The Whiskey Wash. “Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide Joins the Digital Era.” 2016. https://thewhiskeywash.com/?p=8242
• The Spirits Business. “Sazerac's dedicated Mr. Boston website goes live.” 2016. https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/?p=77609
• TTB Public COLA Registry via BUY.VODKA data snapshot (src/data/labels.json, local build 16 October 2026). “Mr Boston” label approvals. Local read-only query, 16 October 2026.

Produced at Multiple Facilities

• Buffalo Trace Distillery, Buffalo Trace Distillery, INC.
• Sazerac Company, INC.
• The Glenmore Distillery, Sazerac Distillers, LLC

Related Brands

• Burnett's also from Ireland
• Svedka also from Ireland
• Faber also from Kentucky
• Three Olives also from Kentucky
• Deep Eddy also from Kentucky
• Muscle also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof
• Veil also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof
• Stoli also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof
• Heritage Distilling CO also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof
• Holla also makes Vodka 80-89 Proof

Related Questions

• Where is Mr Boston vodka made?
• Who makes Mr Boston vodka and who owns the brand?
• What proof is Mr Boston vodka?
• Is Mr Boston vodka the same as another brand?

Browse All Labels

• a
• b
• c
• d
• e
• f
• g
• h
• i
• j
• k
• l
• m
• n
• o
• p
• q
• r
• s
• t
• u
• v
• w
• x
• y
• z
• 0-9