Last week, I posted part 1 of my photos of the Castle & Key distillery, FKA The Old Taylor Distillery. The photos were of the World’s Longest Rickhouse and some other buildings on the site that were not yet restored. This week, the photos will be of the distillery itself (and associated buildings), the springhouse and the the dam.
For further reading on this building and Castle & Key check out what friend-of-the-blog Chuck Cowdery has had to say about Old Taylor/Castle & Key here, and posts on Old Taylor’s sister distillery, Old Crow here and here.
Other friend-of-the-blog Fred Minnick takes better pictures than I do. He’s been to OT/C&K several times. Here’s his visits from 2015, and 2013, just before the current owners purchased the property.
Also check out the Lipmans’ piece about Old Taylor and Old Crow from 1999 (with a 2015 update).
Without further ado…
The iconic springhouse. Columns holding up the springhouse roof. All of the springhouse is original, except for that roof, which has been replaced.The iconic view of the iconic key hole shaped springhouse. The pool is ten feet deep. The water looks murky but is perfectly clear when drawn out. Minimal filtration is needed for use. The water is high in calcium and magnesium. The benches now placed around the pool were found inside it!The top of the key with the new roof visable. The springhouse is popular for wedding, prom and other photos.The well house between the springhouse and the dam on Glenn’s Creek.
Entering the boiler building.New skylight in boiler building, to eventually become a visitor’s center. The roof was repaired with materials recovered from other buildings on the campus.Where the boilers was.The front entrance to the distillery building, aka the castle.The tower by the main gate, for defensive purposes, obviously.The front door.Original hardwood floor inside the entrance.Fermentation room. White corn is used for the bourbon.Heating coils inside the fermenter.The still column behind our guide. They’re distilling a lot already about 20 barrels worth a day. They have capacity to go up to 60 a day. They’re doing a lot of contract distilling too. According to our guide, 70% of their output is contract, 30% for themselves. He said it was “no secrets” contract distilling, at least on their end.The pot still, thumper, doubler, whatever it’s called. The second part of the still. Their bourbon enters the barrel at 107 proof, rye at 118 proof. I should have mentioned it earlier but they will be using barrels from the Speyside Cooperage in Jackson, Ohio. They swear by them. Laser cut, never leak, apparently. They use numbers 3 and 4 char.Distillery building on the right, on the left is the building that was the lab, now serves as an office (upstairs) for Master Distiller Marianne Barnes and a bride’s room (downstairs).Walkways from the distillery building to the old lab.Second floor walkway to old lab, with Old Taylor stone.Same stone as above, from a different angle. Construction began on the distillery building in 1887 and it took twelve years or so to complete, according to our guide. That stone is visible from the road, but before the restoration, it was overgown with vines. I have a picture of this somewhere, but I haven’t been able to track it down.Panoramic photo of the beautifully sunken garden behiView from the garden looking back at the castle and the old lab.Opposite view with Warehouse E on the left.The fish pond at the center of the garden.Closer view of the pond. When the sunkern garden was being restored, the pond was called “the snakepit”. It was meant literally.View of the old office building across McCracken Pike. The roof has collapsed entirely. Eventually, Castle & Key hopes to restore this building too. Hope you enjoyed the photos! Peace.
Sipology 