CYRUS NOBLE & HAAS BROTHERS: A HISTORY

The year is 1851; the city, bustling San Francisco; the climate – pure gold! The City by the Bay was aglow from the famous Gold Rush of 1849 as Leopold Loupe and Kalman Haas set their sights on its lustrous streets. Loupe partnered with Haas and the two German natives began a general–store variety of business, Loupe & Haas. Together, they supplied groceries on the corner of Davis and California streets. In 1865, love beckoned Loupe to return to Europe where he married and remained. Over time, Loupe & Haas became a family affair for Kalman when his brothers Charles and Samuel, and cousins Jacob, Samuel, Abe, and William integrated. The firm became Haas Brothers Wholesale Groceries. Their burgeoning success was renowned in the wholesale commerce business.

Haas Brothers’ reputation for quality goods and honest commerce grows among newly-arrived settlers in the West, and the company becomes a hallmark of San Francisco’s boomtown landscape.

In 1871, a new world-class bourbon whiskey is created by Ernest Reuben Lilienthal to honor Cyrus Noble, a renowned spirits distiller.

Cyrus Noble’s smooth whiskey achieves critical acclaim, weaving its way into miner’s saloons, as well as San Francisco’s upscale homes and bars.

Commodore George Dewey was informed of his promotion to Admiral of the U.S. Navy. To celebrate, “He then reached for a bottle of Cyrus Noble, a sour mash bourbon, filled two glasses…” and drank a toast with his friend.

Searchlight, Nevada – A prospector named John Coleman walked into a roaring mining camp. Like many prospectors, he was looking to trade a claim for anything else he could find useful. In this case, he traded a claim for one bottle of Cyrus Noble Whiskey, the “best bourbon in town.” The claim was developed into a rich mine, called the Cyrus Noble Mine, and yielded over $250,000 in gold.

Quickly recovering from San Francisco’s devastating earthquake of 1906, Haas Brothers commissions the constriction of one of the city’s most prominent buildings, at the corner of Davis and California streets, and shows the world that San Francisco is triumphantly back in business.

Throughout Prohibition, the Lilienthals kept the trademark for Cyrus Noble whiskey, but later sold it to the Haas Brothers, related to the Lilienthals by marriage.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Cyrus Noble became known for a series of collectible ceramic decanters, including this set honoring John Coleman's 1901 trade.

160 years after its Gold Rush origin, Cyrus Noble was relaunched to acclaim, and remains craft-distilled in Kentucky.