Old Taylor

File:Edmund Haynes Taylor (1830–1923).png

Old Taylor Bourbon was named{{when |date=May 2024 |reason=When was the brand introduced? By what company? The article needs to draw a more clear distinction between the brand and the person who it is named after.}} in honor of Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr., who was born in 1832 in Columbia, Kentucky.{{Cite web|url=https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/512|title=O.F.C.- Stagg Distillery|first=Becky|last=Riddle|website=ExploreKYHistory}}

Taylor was a grand nephew of U.S. President Zachary Taylor. Like various other figures in the Kentucky whiskey industry, Taylor is often referred to in public relations materials as a "Colonel", since he held the honorary title of Kentucky Colonel. The honorary title resembles that of the military rank but is not actually associated with military service and has primarily been used for public relations purposes (e.g., by "Colonel" Harland Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken). Taylor purchased or started 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.{{cite book

| last1 = Carson | first1 = Gerald

| last2 = Veach | first2 = Michael R.

| title = The Social History of Bourbon

| url = https://archive.org/details/socialhistorybou00cars | url-access = limited | location = United States

| publisher = The University Press of Kentucky

| pages = [https://archive.org/details/socialhistorybou00cars/page/n111 87]–89

| date = August 2010

| isbn = 978-0813126562 }} He purchased and named the O.F.C. distillery in 1870 and owned it for eight years.

E. H. Taylor is said to have lobbied in favor of the Bottled-in-Bond Act, a law passed in 1897 that gave participating whiskey producers a tax break and a government certification of product quality. He was a contemporary of and acquaintance with various other notable whiskey business figures as Dr. James C. Crow, Oscar Pepper, Judge William B. McBrayer, John H. McBrayer and W. F. Bond, and was an adept businessman and public relations professional when it came to packaging and promoting his bourbon.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}{{clarify |date=May 2024 |reason=Was his bourbon called Old Taylor?}}

Unlike most distilleries of the time that looked like little more than a sawmill sitting in a thicket, the Old Taylor Distillery in Woodford County was designed to resemble a medieval castle with the landscaped grounds of an estate.{{clarify |date=May 2024 |reason=When was it built? When was it shut down?}} The distillery attracted tourists and picnickers who were given complimentary "tenth pint" (about 50 ml) bottles of Old Taylor.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

By 1972, the historic "castle" distillery structure had been abandoned, and it remained abandoned but still standing in deteriorating condition for more than 40 years.{{cite web |url=https://castleandkey.com/story/ |title=History |publisher=Castle & Key Distillery |access-date=March 11, 2018}} Some of the material from the barrel houses was reclaimed for construction.{{Cite web|url=http://log-homes.thefuntimesguide.com/2007/02/recycled_hardwood_flooring.php|title=Looking for Hardwood Flooring? You Won't Find Floors More 'Rustic' Than This!|website=Log-homes.thefuntimesguide.com|date=26 February 2007}} The facility was refurbished starting in 2015, and began operating as a distillery again in 2016 under the new name "Castle & Key".{{Cite web |url=https://www.kentucky.com/news/business/article63146067.html |title=Old Taylor distillery in Woodford County renamed Castle & Key |access-date=May 1, 2024 |date=February 29, 2016 |newspaper=Lexington Herald-Leader}} The new distillery operation is not affiliated with the current owners of the Old Taylor brand.

File:Old EHT bottle.jpg]]

In the late 1940s, Old Taylor bourbon was promoted with the slogan, "Sign of a good host".{{Cite web|url=http://www.lawnjock.com/images/a8oldtaylorb.jpg|title=1947 advertisement for Old Taylor Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey|website=Lawnjock.com|accessdate=5 December 2021}}

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 Suntory Global Spirits), the maker of Jim Beam Bourbon and subsidiary of the Fortune Brands holding company.{{clarify|date=March 2018|reason=How and when did the brand become owned by Fortune Brands?}} The brand was purchased by Sazerac as part of an agreement where Beam bought the Effen Vodka brand from Sazerac.{{cite news |url=http://www.mfrtech.com/articles/2226.html |title=Beam Global Spirits & Wine Acquires EFFEN Vodka Line |date=2009-06-24 |place=Deerfield, Illinois |access-date=March 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310112834/http://www.mfrtech.com/articles/2226.html |archive-date=2012-03-10 |url-status=dead }}

Some expressions of the current Old Taylor brand continue to be offered as bottled-in-bond versions.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.sazerac.com The Sazerac Company] official web site

{{Sazerac Company}}

{{Alcoholic drinks}}

Category:Bourbon whiskey

Category:Sazerac Company brands