A Distillery Was Built And Left To Decay In The Middle Of Kentucky's Capitol City
By Sarah McCosham|Published February 02, 2022
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Sarah McCosham
Author
I write like it's my job - because it is! I have a Master's in English and love words: crossword puzzles, Scrabble games, Wordle, and, of course, good, old-fashioned books.
I'm a writer and editor at OnlyInYourState, and a contributing writer at Cincinnati Magazine. I love the Great Outdoors and am endlessly awestruck by this beautiful country of ours. Coffee keeps me going, yoga keeps me sane, my kids keep me grounded, and my writing keeps me inspired.
Once upon a time, in 1887, E.H. Taylor built a new kind of distillery in Kentucky; it was a massive place, complete with its castle! Old Taylor Distillery was the birthplace of bourbon tourism in the Bluegrass — and my, was it something. But time can be a fickle thing, and this once-bustling distillery in Kentucky’s capitol city was ultimately abandoned, left for ruin. But the story of this abandoned distillery in Kentucky doesn’t end there. It’s found new life with bourbon upstart Castle & Key.
The most well-known abandoned distillery in Kentucky is the Old Taylor Distillery -- and actually, it's no longer abandoned at all! But we'll get to that in a moment.
Inspired by European architecture, Col. Taylor was a trailblazer in whiskey tourism, constructing his very own bourbon kingdom complete with a castle-like distillery, classical springhouse, and sunken garden.
The distillery flourished, not just becoming a place of unprecedented bourbon production (it was the first distillery to reach one million U.S. Government certified cases of straight bourbon whiskey), but also an epicenter of Bluegrass bourbon tourism.
But all good things must come to an end. Once Taylor passed away, the Old Taylor Distillery changed hands a few times, ultimately falling into disrepair.
The story doesn't end here, however. In 2014, during the beginnings of the bourbon boom in Kentucky, a group of spirited investors bought the derelict distillery with the intention of bringing it back to life. Inspired by the castle-like buildings on-site, the new bourbon whiskey operations was named Castle & Key in February 2016, and in 2018, this beautiful bourbon distillery reopened -- bigger and better than ever!
The sun is rising on a new era for this formerly abandoned distillery in Kentucky. Come to Castle & Key, and experience the rebirth of a Bluegrass icon!
In a state that’s world-known for bourbon, it’s no surprise that there would be an abandoned distillery in Kentucky! Had you visited Old Taylor Distillery before it became part of Castle & Key? It’s exciting that this piece of Bluegrass bourbon history is getting new life!
Bourbon and the Bluegrass go hand in hand. Take your experience to the next level when you stay at the historic Maker’s Mark family home!
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