Old Taylor

"E. H. Taylor" redirects here. For the herpetologist, see Edward Harrison Taylor. For the footballer, see Ted Taylor (footballer).
Old Taylor Bourbon
Type Bourbon whiskey
Manufacturer The Sazerac Company
Country of origin Kentucky, United States
Alcohol by volume 40.00%
Proof (US) 80
Related products Buffalo Trace

Old Taylor Bourbon is a bourbon whiskey produced in Frankfort, Kentucky by the Sazerac Company. The brand is sold as a straight bourbon. It is sold in glass in 200ml and 375ml bottles, 750ml bottles, 1-liter bottles, and in PET (plastic) 1.75L bottles. Old Taylor Bourbon was named in honor of the historic distiller Col. Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr.

The company also makes a similarly named premium brand called Col. E. H. Taylor, named after the same man, which is available in small batch, single barrel, and barrel proof bourbon expressions and as a bottled in bond rye whiskey.[1]

An old bottle of Old Taylor bottled in bond.

History

Old Taylor Bourbon was named in honor of Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. who was born in Columbia, Kentucky in 1832. Taylor started and owned seven different distilleries throughout his career, the most successful being the O.F.C. and Carlisle distilleries, the forerunners of today's Buffalo Trace Distillery.[2]

Taylor was a grand nephew of General Zachary Taylor, whose aide is quoted as alerting the enemy during the Mexican-American War, "General Taylor Never Surrenders," a declaration which was stamped into whiskey flasks, resulting in a positive effect for General Taylor's successful campaign to become the 12th President of the United States.[2] Colonel Taylor is said to have fought in favor of the Bottled-in-Bond Act, a law that required sellers to state what was in their bottles. Taylor was a contemporary of and acquaintance with Dr. James C. Crow, Oscar Pepper, Judge William B. McBrayer, John H. McBrayer and W.F. Bond, and apparently was an adept businessman and public relations professional when it came to packaging and promoting his bourbon. Unlike most distilleries of the time that looked like little more than a sawmill sitting in a thicket, Taylor's distillery on Glenn's Creek, near Frankfort, was designed to resemble a medieval castle with the landscaped grounds of an estate. The distillery attracted tourists and pinickers who were given complementary "tenth pint" bottles of Old Taylor. As of April, 2014, the historic "castle" distillery structure is abandoned, but still standing.[2] Some of the materials from the barrel houses is being reclaimed for construction.[3] Plans have been proposed to refurbish the castle and gardens as of 2014.[4] In the late 1940s, Old Taylor bourbon was promoted with the slogan, "Sign of a good host".[5]

On June 24, 2009, Buffalo Trace Distillery (part of the Sazerac Company) purchased the Old Taylor Bourbon label and barrel inventory from Beam Global Spirits & Wine (now Beam Suntory), maker of Jim Beam Bourbon and subsidiary of the Future Brands holding company. The product line changed hands in an agreement where Beam bought the Effen Vodka brand from Buffalo Trace parent company Sazerac.[6]

Castle & Key

As of 2015 the building is being renovated and was expected to be opened in 2016 as the Castle & Key Distillery.

References

  1. ↑ American bourbon whiskey, Proof66.com.
  2. 1 2 3 Carson, Gerald; Veach, Michael R. (August 2010). The Social History of Bourbon. United States: The University Press of Kentucky. pp. 87–89. ISBN 978-0813126562.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ http://www.kentucky.com/2014/06/14/3292146/old-taylor-distillerys-owners.html
  5. ↑ 1947 advertisement for Old Taylor Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
  6. ↑ "Beam Global Spirits & Wine Acquires EFFEN Vodka Line". Deerfield, Illinois. 2009-06-24. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
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