Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. Small Batch Bourbon

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On February 12, 1830, Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr. – widely considered the father of modern bourbon – was born in Columbus, Kentucky. Orphaned as a baby, Taylor was adopted by Edmund Haynes Taylor Sr. and was raised in Louisiana by his great-uncle, Zachary Taylor (who would later become the twelfth President of the United States). After attending the Boyer’s French School in New Orleans, Taylor moved back to Kentucky and matriculated from the B. B. Sayer’s Academy. Following in the footsteps of his adopted father, Taylor became involved in banking and came to the aid of several Kentucky distilleries that were suffering from Reconstruction.

In 1869, Taylor purchased a small distillery situated on the banks of the Kentucky River. Christened the distillery OFC (OFC was an abbreviation for Old Fire Copper) Distillery, Taylor began renovating and modernizing the plant – he purchased copper fermentation tanks, new grain grinding equipment and unique, columnar stills. During his tenure, Taylor also implemented several innovative distilling techniques, including aging whiskey in climate-controlled rickhouses.

At the time, an overwhelming number of distilleries were still not aging their bourbon. In order to make their spirits palatable, some distillers and retailers added juices and syrups to sweeten their bourbon, while others added acid and tobacco to give their bourbon its signature amber hue.

Armed with distilling experience and a political pedigree, Taylor, together with Treasury Secretary John G. Carlisle, was instrumental in passing the Bottled-In-Bond Act of 1897 (27 C.F.R. 5.21). The act required that any spirit labeled as “Bonded”or “Bottled-in-Bond” be the product of one distiller at one distillery during one distillation season. In addition, the Act required that bonded spirits be aged in a federally bonded warehouse under U.S. government supervision for at least four years and bottled at 100 proof.

Named in honor of Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr., Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr. Small Batch Bourbon is made from a blend of seven-year old barrels hallowed from the sixth floor of a brick warehouse in Kentucky. Bottled in Bond at 100 proof, the bourbon has distinctive notes of oak and dried fruit. The initially sweet flavors give way to hints of salted caramel, butterscotch and orange, which linger on the finish.

Each bottle of Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr. Small Batch Bourbon is packaged behind a vintage label and canister reminiscent of the bottles Taylor used over one hundred years ago.