Old Taylor Distillery Revived with New Name- Castle & Key

Marianne Barnes, along with partners Will Arvin and Wesley Murry, announced today that the former Old Taylor Distillery will now become known as Castle & Key. Aptly named after the limestone castle built by Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor in 1887, this site once produced some of the world’s finest bourbons.

Barnes, Kentucky bourbon’s first female Master Distiller since before Prohibition, explains the resurrection, “The core of Colonel Taylor’s vision with bottled-in-bond was building a relationship of trust with his consumer, providing a literal guarantee of bourbon’s authenticity and, by extension, quality. Our goal is to embrace and enhance that vision, creating products and sharing the story from the plow to the bottling line.”

Castle & Key plans to continue the heritage of the distillery with a flagship bottled-in-bond bourbon. “It’s so encouraging to see how much people want to know about the bourbon they drink, who made it, where and how it’s made,” says Barnes. “Castle & Key is a destination that encourages people to be our guest, taste, see and enjoy a step back into bourbon history.”

A BUSSCLUB exclusive, we now know what they are making at Old Taylor Distillery and can share the news. The brand is called Castle and Key. We got to tour this amazing piece of Bourbon history this week and got lots of face time with Marianne Barnes, Master Distiller, using some new equipment along with mostly historic elements of this distillery.

Gins: Developing 4 styles of Gin currently. Looking at a London Dry Traditional style made more interesting by using botanicals grown on our property, a seasonal expression using herbs and botanicals that are in season and fitting of the seasons – Spring and Fall, a barrel aged expression. Wood and length of aging are yet TBD, this will require Marianne to do 6-18 months of testing prior to release, the final gin concept is a hybrid spirit that they are all very excited about and protective of… so not willing to share all the nitty gritty details just yet.

Ingredients/sourcing: Botanicals and herbs will be grown on the property to the extent it’s possible. Grains will be sourced from a local farmer in Adairsville, KY. Projected output: Depends on how well the gin is received in market. They will produce gin 200 cases at a time, fairly small runs. Planned production start: Late summer; On shelf: 2016.

Bourbon & Whiskey: Developing traditional style bottled-in-bond bourbon utilizing all Kentucky grown grain and white corn.
Castle & Key will also produce Rye whiskey, Wheat-recipe Bourbon, and Malt whiskey – exact details to be determined as Master Distiller Marianne Barnes continues to refine the recipes. Ingredients/sourcing: Same as above. Projected output: Will we have the capacity to produce 12,000 barrels of whiskey each year. Planned production start: Late summer On shelf: 2018-2020

Yep, there will be Bottled in Bond Bourbon flowing out of the Old Taylor Distillery once again!

Standing over the 96ft. / 24” Vendome column still was just beyond description.