Frank Barton Thompson

“Colonel of Kentucky Bourbon”

Frank Barton Thompson was born on July 4, 1895, in Anchorage, Kentucky. He grew up in a family deeply embedded in the world of whiskey. His father, James Thompson, had emigrated from County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in the 1870s and built a thriving business before acquiring what became the Glenmore Distillery Company in Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1901. 

Frank graduated from Louisville Male High School and went on to earn an engineering degree at the University of Michigan, where he learned precision, discipline, and critical thinking skills that would serve him well in bourbon and business. Like many young men of his generation, he also served in the U.S. Army during World War I, was commissioned as a lieutenant, and gained leadership experience early in life. 

In 1925, Frank married Ida Maney Webb, marking the beginning of a partnership that balanced ambition with grace. Together, they had four children, raising them at the family’s elegant estate in Owensboro, a mansion built in the 1890s by his father James Thompson, a striking example of Queen Anne–style architecture now on the National Register of Historic Places. When James Thompson died in 1924, leadership of Glenmore passed to his sons. Frank B. Thompson as chairman and president, and his brother James P. Thompson as vice president. Unfortunately, Prohibition arrived just a few years later in 1920, shaking the American spirits industry. Under Frank’s leadership, Glenmore initially pivoted to produce vinegar, a short-lived but moderately successful venture; however,  Glenmore was fortunate enough to obtain one of the rare government licenses to bottle whiskey for ‘medicinal purposes’ during the entire 14-year dry era, a move that secured the business financially. This stroke of luck meant that when Prohibition was repealed in 1933, Glenmore entered the legal whiskey market with over 31,000 barrels of aged bourbon already in place and a fully operational production facility, an advantage that few others had.

Frank Thompson was formally known as Colonel Frank B. Thompson, and with good reason. Though his National Guard commission wasn't activated after Pearl Harbor, the 46-year-old enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private, rebounding into service and ultimately rising to Lieutenant Colonel and battalion commander in the 158th Regimental Combat Team. After the war, he returned to Glenmore confident and experienced in leadership, ready to guide the company into post-war expansion and innovation.

In the years following World War II, Glenmore Distillery thrived. By 1946, the distillery had barreled its two-millionth barrel of whiskey, a testament to its scale and endurance. Under Colonel Thompson’s tenure, the company diversified and expanded. It acquired the Yellowstone Bourbon brand in 1944, entered import and cordial markets, launched Glenmore Gin and vodka, and challenged industry norms by being one of the first distilleries to employ women as sales agents in the 1950s.