The Midacore shotglass database shows a listing for a Belmont shotglass, giving the the brand owner as the L. Hellman & Co. of Louisville. The shotglass says "L. HELLMAN" in a scroll across the top, with "LOUISVILLE, KY" in a similar scroll at the bottom. In between is a large bell, with "KY Hand Made Sour Mash DISTILLERY" inscribed on it. A banner across the top of the bell says "BELMONT". The same logo has appeared (much later, of course) on the Belmont Bourbon label.
The company was originally located at #44 3rd, below Main, and moved to #156 3rd in 1882. Mike, wasn't Distillers' Row on Main, between 3rd and 4th? They were known as "Franck Hellman & Co." until 1886, changing to "L. Hellman & Co." from 1887 until it closed in... yup, you guessed it... 1893.
Sam Cecil indicates that the Moore & Selliger distillery at 17th and Breckenridge dates from 1870, and gives them as the owners of the Astor, Belmont, and Nutwood brands. However, the Snyder database shows the Belmont Distillery Co. as first registered in 1881 and the distillery itself (which they show to be at 17th and Lexington) being established the following year.
I couldn't find any references to L. Hellman at the Belmont Distillery (Geo. H. Moore, President, Nathan Hofheimer, Secretary, Max Selliger, Treasurer), but there was also a Hellman Distillery Co. in St. Louis at around this same time with several brands, none of which were Nutwood, Astor, or Belmont. Louisville's L. Hellman might have been an authorized dealer or wholesaler.
The Belmont Distillery's offices moved several times during its existence from 1881 to 1919...
#3 Main, below 1st (1881)
110 W Main (1882-1892)
223 W Main (1893)
Arbegust, SW 17th (1894)
223 W Main (1895-1897)
1701-1723 Lexington (1902-1911)
1701 W Breckenridge (1912-1919) (I'm guessing the street name changed in 1912)
The actual brand "Nutwood" was first registered, to Belmont Distillery of Louisville, KY, around 1894 [Snyder reference: sg38]. That would indicate to me that Moore & Selliger bottled existing whiskey, probably in 1893, and sold it under the Nutwood brand label. As neither that distillery nor L. Hellman existed before 1881, there is some question as to whether it originated at a completely different (and unknown) distillery.
Or perhaps W. H. Thomas' Son was an indie bottler, like Cadenhead (or Van Winkle), who purchased a barrel from Belmont and marketed it privately
But then there's that reference from Sam Cecil...
Sam gives
1870 as the origin of the Moore & Selliger distillery. Now, most of us are aware that, due to the way information is (or isn't) conveyed in the whiskey-biz, not everything in Sam's book is dependably accurate. But that 1870 date would certainly be consistent with a 23 year-old whiskey bottled in 1893.
Yes, this is the kind of detective work I love about American spirits.
No matter what vanilla, cocoa, pitted fruits (avacados?), or rutabaga flavors can be detected in the whiskey.