In 1887, Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr. built something that had never existed before: a distillery designed as a tourist destination. Not just a place to make bourbon, but a castle, a springhouse, a sunken garden—bourbon hospitality as architectural vision. Taylor, credited as the "father of modern bourbon," built the Old Taylor Distillery as a palace of spirits. It was magnificent. Then Prohibition came in 1920, and the distillery closed. For 98 years, it sat abandoned—caved-in roofs, boarded windows, vegetation so overgrown that visitors needed flashlights to navigate in daylight. In 2005, the property was sold to salvagers for demolition. It nearly became rubble. In 2012, a man named Will Arvin stumbled across photographs of the abandoned distillery and couldn't stop thinking about it. Two years later, he and partner Wes Underwood bought the entire 113-acre property with 27 buildings for nearly $1 million, then invested millions more in a careful restoration. They didn't renovate—they restored. Two full years of meticulous work brought the historic structures back to life. In September 2018, Castle & Key opened its doors. In March 2022, they released the first bourbon distilled there in nearly 50 years.
- Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr. is credited as the "father of modern bourbon"—he pioneered age statements, quality control, and the concept of the distillery as a destination experience
- The property was nearly demolished in 2005; a casual interest in old photographs quite literally saved American bourbon history
- The restoration cost millions and took two full years of expert work—architectural preservation is not quick or cheap
- The keyhole-shaped Springhouse on the property is the source of Castle & Key's water and explains part of their name (Castle = castle building, Key = the keyhole springhouse)
- Woodford County is one of America's most prestigious bourbon regions, home to multiple legendary distilleries
- The site includes a functioning 18th-century stone house registered as a National Historic Place
- Castle & Key's bourbon is made from bourbon distilled on the property, not sourced from elsewhere—they're producing their own spirit
- The property is genuinely stunning—one of the most beautiful distillery grounds in America, combining Victorian-era architecture with modern bourbon production