Castle & Key is housed in what may be the most photogenic distillery in Kentucky — the former Old Taylor Distillery in Millville, a limestone castle built by Colonel E.H. Taylor in 1887 and left to decay for decades before being rescued and restored beginning in 2014. Walking the grounds, past the sunken gardens and the classical springhouse, it is hard to separate the whiskey from the place.
When Marianne Barnes joined as master distiller in 2015, she became the first female master distiller in Kentucky since Prohibition — a headline moment, but one she quickly put to work. The Castle & Key bourbon mash bill is wheated: 73% corn, 10% wheat, 17% malted barley. That high malted barley percentage is unusual and contributes a softer, bready character alongside the gentle sweetness that wheat delivers in place of rye's pepper bite.
The Small Batch release was the first bourbon bottled under the Castle & Key label, following years of waiting while the spirit matured in the restored rickhouses. Bottled at 96 proof, it is unapologetically approachable — a whiskey built for conversation and long evenings rather than for knockout-punch statements.
The nose leans floral and honeyed, with honeysuckle, vanilla cream and soft stone fruit. The palate follows through on that promise: caramel, peach, buttered toast, and a gentle wave of oak and cocoa. The finish is clean and medium-length, with baking spice and a faint floral echo that feels distinctly Kentucky in spring.
This is bourbon as hospitality — generous, well-mannered, and rooted firmly in its restored limestone home.
