Background

I'm going to semi lazily rapid fire some Colonel E. H. Taylor fun facts today, since he was a pretty interesting guy, then roll right into the tasting notes.

• This will shock absolutely no one, but he was a Kentucky Colonel. He held no military rank.

• He was close friends with the Pepper family, and was guardian to young James E. Pepper after the death of James' father.

• He moved from banking into the whiskey business by funding distilleries before establishing the Old Fire Copper (O.F.C.) distillery.

• He then basically spent a shit ton of money making OFC world class, which worked in terms of quality output but also drove him deep into debt. Enter George T Stagg who would bail him out.

• George T and Edmund ended up not going along so well. Colonel Taylor leaves OFC, buys J. Swigert Distillery, renames it Old Taylor and decides he didn’t go opulent enough with OFC… so he turns it into a FUCKING CASTLE (It’s now Castle & Key distillery).

• He was a massive supporter of the Bottled in Bond Act, it gets passed, Old Taylor distillery and makes awesome whiskey until prohibition shuts them down. Colonel Taylor dies not too long after in 1922.

And with that, let's taste!

Nose: Nose is apple juice, butterscotch, and toasted coconut. It’s pretty mellow for a rye.

Palate: Again very approachable for a rye, vanilla, orchard fruits, and then comes a wave of rye spice and pumpernickel bread.

Finish: Almost like applewood. Vanilla persists and hints of pumpernickel.

6/10

Overall: Super nice drinkable rye! Not alot to dislike here, approachable, flavorful… I just like my ryes a bitttt punchier. Were it more available, this would be one of my go to options to convert non rye drinkers.
 

Nose: Vanilla and caramel on the nose, pretty standard bourbon in a nice comforting way.

Palate: Brown sugar, maple, caramel. Next to the particular single barrel, it’s a bit sweeter and more dark sugar forward.

Finish: Finish is still sweet, muted wood, and brown sugar still.

5.5/10

Overall: It’s good! Is it go ballistic and clear out a whole shelf of it good? No. Fun story, my father in law came into town recently and saw a few of these on the shelves of a local DC store for $90. He grabbed three to check in his luggage, despite my protests. ¯\(ツ)/¯. It’s a good whiskey, you can just find other, equally as good whiskey on the shelf.
 

Nose: When you press the vanilla cherry coke on the Coke freestyle machine and the syrup scents just waft up at you.

Palate: Stilllll a bunch of vanilla and cherries. Notes of almond extract as well as occasional hints of oak.

Finish: Short to medium, nutmeg, buttercream frosting.

6.5/10

Overall: I’ll be honest, I didnt really anticipate liking this more than Small Batch. It’s just more flavorful (despite being the same proof/juice/etc.) and I’d be lying if I said those cherry notes dont draw me in big time.
 

Nose: Like the Single Barrel on steroids. Cherry pie, vanilla, caramel

Palate: Cherry pie again, butterscotch candies, caramel chews. Rich and layered sip.

Finish: Burnt sugar, caramel, creme brulee, barrel spice. Really leaves you wanting more"

8/10

Overall: Ah wow, just turns the volume up to 11 on all the previous EH Taylor flavors. Exceptionally well integrated for 129 proof. It’s consistent, and while yes, you’re not necessarily going to be picking new flavors out of the sip each time you drink it, that consistency is still really nice. You get a great throughline of flavors from start to finish.

Last but not least, ranking scale and some examples:

1 | Disgusting: Town Branch Single Barrel Reserve

2 | Poor: Black Maple Hill Oregon Straight Bourbon Whiskey

3 | Bad: Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel

4 | Sub-par: Blue Run High Rye Bourbon

5 | Good: Four Roses Small Batch Select

6 | Very Good: E.H. Taylor Straight Rye

7 | Great: Wilderness Trail 8 Year BiB

8 | Excellent: Stagg Jr Batch 17

9 | Incredible: A Smith Bowman Cask Strength (Batch 1)

10 | Perfect: George T Stagg 2020