A Journey Through Time at Castle & Key: Where Bourbon Meets History

At Bourbon Journey, we believe that bourbon isn’t just a drink — it’s a story. A story of people, place, and passion. Few distilleries embody that idea quite like Castle & Key, a place that feels as much like stepping into a novel as it does stepping into a distillery.

We recently had the pleasure of touring Castle & Key, nestled in the rolling hills of Kentucky. What we found was more than bourbon. It was vision.

It was ruin and rebirth. And it was, of course, some damn good whiskey. So pour yourself a glass and settle in as we walk you through our visit to this historic and breathtaking distillery.

A Castle Built for Bourbon Lovers

The tour begins with a view that stops you in your tracks: a grand limestone castle draped in ivy, flanked by a towering water tank and stately red brick buildings. This isn’t just a factory. This is a destination — exactly as its original owner, Colonel E.H. Taylor, intended. Back in 1887, Taylor was already a bourbon legend.

But this was the first (and only) distillery he designed from the ground up to be not just functional, but beautiful. Inspired by European beer gardens he’d seen on his travels, Taylor wanted to create a place people would come to not just for bourbon, but for the experience. He built gardens that rivaled Versailles, a Roman-style springhouse around the limestone-filtered water source, and even a private railway station, Taylorton Station, to ferry guests in style for the lavish parties he threw here.

Walking through the gates today, you can still feel that sense of grandeur. The architecture. The gardens.

The quiet hum of history all around you.

Rise, Fall, and Resurrection

Like many bourbon stories, Castle & Key’s has its share of ups and downs. After Prohibition hit in 1920, the distillery fell silent. Colonel Taylor passed away shortly after, and the site changed hands a few times over the decades.

National Distillers ran it for a time, producing up to a thousand barrels of bourbon a day at its peak — impressive even by modern standards — but by the 1970s, bourbon’s popularity was waning and the operation was shuttered in 1972. For more than 40 years, the property sat abandoned, succumbing to nature and neglect. Roofs caved in.

The gardens became overgrown. Salvage companies stripped away anything they could. By the early 2000s, it was a crumbling shadow of its former self.

And then came Will Arvin. A Kentucky native, Arvin was sitting at a racetrack, sipping bourbon and having what he called a “midlife crisis,” when he decided to Google “distilleries for sale near me. ” Castle & Key popped up — and despite its ruin, or maybe because of it — he saw the potential.

Along with a few partners, he bought the property in 2014 for just under a million dollars. What followed was a painstaking restoration. Piece by piece, the castle, the gardens, and the distillery buildings were brought back to life.

By 2018, Castle & Key reopened, ready to welcome a new generation of bourbon lovers.

The Heart of the Place: The Springhouse

Our tour kicked off inside the iconic springhouse — a striking, keyhole-shaped structure that protects the main limestone spring. This spring is the soul of Castle & Key’s bourbon, just as it was in Taylor’s day. The water here is naturally filtered through Kentucky’s limestone-rich geology, removing impurities and adding vital minerals.

It’s no exaggeration to say this spring is why the distillery was built here in the first place. Standing inside, you can hear the soft trickle of water and feel the cool air rising from the spring below. It’s serene, almost sacred.

The Castle: A Working Museum

Next, we made our way into the castle itself. This isn’t just a showpiece — it’s a working distillery. But it’s also a living museum of bourbon-making, with original equipment side by side with modern updates.

Our guide gave us the lay of the land and a few safety notes (tip: don’t touch the machinery — it’s hot enough to burn). As we moved through the rooms, we saw the massive grain hoppers, the cookers where the mash begins its journey, and the open fermentation tanks where yeast works its magic, converting sugars into alcohol. The smell of fermenting mash is unforgettable — warm, sweet, and sour all at once.

It fills the air as you stand on the metal grating above the open vats, watching the bubbling surface below. One of the coolest things about Castle & Key is how transparent they are about their process. We learned about their three mashbills: a standard bourbon recipe (73% corn), a wheated bourbon, and a rye whiskey recipe.

Each has its own character and its own fan base. We also got to see the towering column stills and hear about how the spirit is distilled up to “white dog” before it’s barreled and left to age in one of the on-site rickhouses. And yes, we learned that those massive rickhouses also double as Cold War-era bomb shelters.

So if the world ever ends, we know exactly where we’re heading.

The Gardens: Beauty Restored

One of the highlights of the tour is stepping out into the meticulously restored gardens. These formal gardens, modeled after French and English designs Taylor admired, were a key part of his vision. When the new owners took over in 2014, the gardens were buried under decades of overgrowth, debris, and even garbage.

Restoring them became a priority — a signal to the world that Castle & Key was back and serious about honoring its history. Today, they’re stunning. Lush greenery, neatly trimmed hedges, and a reflective pond framed by potted plants.

The gardens are also a favorite spot for weddings and events — and we can see why. There’s an almost magical calm here, the kind of place where time slows down.

The restored gardens, peaceful and lush.

Tasting the Revival

Of course, no bourbon tour would be complete without a tasting. After walking through the heat of the distillery buildings and soaking in all that history, we were ushered into a blissfully air-conditioned tasting room, where we got to sample a range of Castle & Key’s products. We started with their vodka and gin, both crisp and clean, showcasing the same attention to detail you’d expect from a bourbon producer.

Then we moved on to the main event: their bourbon and rye. The bourbon was everything we hoped for — rich caramel and vanilla notes balanced by a hint of spice and oak. The rye was bolder, with peppery warmth and a lingering finish.

Both are testament to what this revived distillery is capable of. We also couldn’t help but admire the presentation: bottles with elegant labels that nod to the past while feeling modern and fresh.

Final Thoughts: A Place Worth the Journey

At Bourbon Journey, we’re always looking for more than just good whiskey. We’re looking for stories worth telling and places worth visiting. Castle & Key delivers on both counts.

It’s more than a distillery. It’s a testament to vision and resilience — to the idea that with enough passion, even the most forgotten places can be brought back to life. If you’re planning a trip to Kentucky’s bourbon country, make sure Castle & Key is on your list.

Stroll the gardens. Stand in the springhouse. Breathe in the warm, sweet air of the fermentation room.

And of course, sip the bourbon. Because as Colonel Taylor knew all those years ago, bourbon isn’t just something you make. It’s something you experience.

And at Castle & Key, that experience is unforgettable.

Tips for Visiting:

· Book your tour in advance — spots fill up quickly.

· Wear comfortable shoes; you’ll be walking on metal grates and uneven ground.

· Bring a camera — there are countless photo-worthy moments.

· Stay hydrated — it gets warm inside the distillery.

Cheers,

BourbonJourney.com

“No gatekeeping, no snobbery. Just good pours and better conversations.”