Stagg Jr. Bourbon Barrel Proof

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.