Colonel E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof Bourbon 129 Proof: 2014 Batch 3

Colonel E.H. Taylor Barrel Proof Bourbon is uncut, unfiltered, and coveted by bourbon lovers around the world. This 2014 release was bottled at 129 proof.

F. Paul Pacult’s Spirit Journal Rating: 5 stars/Highest Recommendation

“A masterpiece that, in truth, might be too much for inexperienced whiskey devotees.” -Paul Pacult’s Spirit Journal

“Crafted from hand-selected barrels, this bourbon is bottled directly from the barrel; uncut and unfiltered. It reflects the way whiskey was produced in the days before Prohibition, when Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. was the owner of Buffalo Trace Distillery. Drawn from barrels aged in warehouses constructed over a century ago under Taylor’s watchful eye, the taste is smooth, yet powerful and uncompromising, just like its namesake.”

One of the real fathers of bourbon is Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr. He was adopted by his uncle, Edmund Haynes Taylor Snr., who rechristened him as his junior, after becoming an orphan at the age of five in 1830. Due to his honorary title of Kentucky Colonel, E.H. Taylor Jr. is also referred to as Colonel Taylor. Taylor established and owned seven distinct distilleries throughout the course of his career, and because of his advocacy for the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897, he is regarded as “the father of modern bourbon.”

He established the Old Taylor distillery close to Frankfort in Kentucky ten years earlier after selling his interest in the OFC distillery (now Buffalo Trace) to George T. Stagg. The distillery, which gave rise to bourbon tourism, included a fake castle and subterranean gardens on the property. Here, he founded the Old Taylor brand, which was later acquired by National Distillers, one of the “big four” distilling companies that controlled the post-repeal market, after Prohibition.