|
One of Kentucky’s original Bourbon aristocrats, Taylor was an industry leader who greatly advanced the quality of Kentucky Bourbon and safeguarded the Bourbon label from bogus producers. Called the "father of the modern bourbon industry," Taylor started and/or owned seven different distilleries throughout his career, the most successful being the O.F.C. and Carlisle distilleries, the forerunners of today’s Buffalo Trace Distillery. A native of Columbus, Kentucky, Taylor was orphaned at an early age and sent to New Orleans to live with his great uncle Zachary Taylor, who would become the 12th U.S president. He was educated at Boyer’s French School in New Orleans before coming to Frankfort, Kentucky, where he was adopted and raised by another uncle, Col. Edmund H. Taylor one of Frankfort’s most prominent community leaders. Taylor finished his education at B.B. Sayre’s Academy and followed in his uncle’s footsteps in the banking profession. Taylor’s real passion, however, was bourbon making. During his banking days of the 1860’s, Taylor helped organize several area distilling companies and came to know many of the early whiskey makers personally. His direct involvement with the development of these whiskey ventures exposed him to all aspects of the whiskey trade, which proved to be invaluable when he decided to begin his own bourbon-making operation.
In 1869, Taylor purchased a small distillery on the banks of the Kentucky River. The distillery was located on the same site as where the pioneer settlement of Leestown —the first settlement north of the Kentucky River where distilling had been taking place since as early as 1787—sprung up nearly 100 years earlier. Interestingly, Taylor’s ancestors had been instrumental in the development of Leestown, and his great grandfather, Commodore Richard Taylor, built his home there. Known as "Riverside," the house still stands today and is the oldest existing structure in Franklin County.
Another Taylor innovation was a patented mash technique, which he helped develop during the 1870s. Taylor used a strained-slop process that filtered out dead meal to recreate a "rich creamy liquid" instead of an inert mass, which other distilleries used to cook the mash. According to Taylor, "… properly handled by the skilled distiller, the use of this spent beer is a valuable aid in the attainment of a faultless fermentation." (It also produced almost a gallon more of whiskey per bushel of grain!) Taylor built a second distillery, "Carlisle," adjacent to O.F.C. between 1879-1880. Comprised of the two distilleries, the property was among the largest and the finest in the world. Both Carlisle and O.F.C. whiskies bore the famous E.H.Taylor signature—a trademark recognized throughout the United States and Europe as a guarantee of high quality. In addition to advancing the quality of bourbon within his own distilleries, Taylor worked to pass legislation that required accuracy in labeling consumer products, like bourbon, to prevent fraud—a radically progressive concept in the 1880s. Taylor also was a staunch advocate of the Bottled in Bond Act (1879). This act provided that whiskey must be aged for a minimum of four years and in warehouses supervised by federal agents. To qualify as a bonded whiskey, it had to be distilled at one place at one time, must be at least 100 proof, and its actual maker identified on the label. It is said that Taylor followed a career that linked the "classic and modern eras" of bourbon making—a bridge, which he in large part contributed to build. He was a traditionalist, yet an innovator. He was a proud, competitive distiller, yet he championed the entire bourbon industry and left a legacy that has benefited bourbon makers and bourbon lovers for generations. |
1830-1923.jpg)
Although the early days of bourbon making in Kentucky are often recounted with legends and lore, Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr., left an undisputed and invaluable legacy for America’s favorite spirit..jpg)
.jpg)
Taylor quickly set to renovating the distillery property and raising its production capabilities to state-of-the-art. One of his initial improvements was the substitution of copper fermentation vats for the wooden tubs that had been used in the past—a unique technique for his time. He also bought new grinding machinery and massive columnar copper stills for which he built larger, more modern structures to house them, and, subsequently, he demolished the original distillery building. His capital investment and overriding attention to detail demonstrated his commitment to producing a bourbon whiskey of unparalleled quality..jpg)
Taylor named the new distillery O.F.C., derived from "Old Fire Copper," the traditional distilling method he adopted. From the time the grain was ground until the time it was barreled, Taylor’s whiskey came into contact only with copper. Eventually, Taylor became recognized as the maker of first-rate bourbon whiskey in the old-fashioned, hand-made, sour mash, fire copper method. The O.F.C. name was so synonymous with quality whiskey that several other producers tried to pass their wares off under the same name. O.F.C.’s quality came from Taylor’s whiskey making innovations, including the nation’s first climate-controlled aging for whiskey, which incorporated the use of steam in brick covered rick warehouses.
|
© 2002 - 2003 Buffalo Trace Distillery, Franklin County, Kentucky | Privacy Policy |
