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In this episode of Bourbon With Friends. The BWF crew is on site at Castle & Key Distillery. We sat down with Brett Connors. National Brand Embassador for Castle & Key. To whom Connor more lovely nicknamed, the whiskey wizard. We had a great time at C&K as well as having a live audience pop in on our recording! This is an episode you don't want to miss!

In 1887, Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr built a new kind of distillery destination in Millville, Kentucky. Inspired by European architecture, the site featured a Castle, a classical Springhouse, and a Sunken Garden. What he built became the birthplace of bourbon tourism.

Prohibition forced the closing of the distillery in 1920. Over the next century, the property changed owners and occupants several times, eventually falling into ruin.

In 2012, Will Arvin came across photographs of the abandoned distillery. He couldn’t stop thinking about its legacy and potential. He decided to visit the property to see for himself.

At the distillery, Will found caved-in roofs, boarded-up windows and doors, and vegetation so overgrown he had to use a flashlight — in the middle of the day — to navigate. But, he felt an affinity for the property. It was then that he resolved to restore the historic bourbon icon.

Wes Murry shared Will’s love for adventure and restoration. At Will’s invitation, Wes agreed to tour the property. Within minutes, it was clear to Wes that they could build a brand at this distillery.

They loved Kentucky bourbon culture, but had a dream of something different. Something new. They chose to follow intuition over the advice of industry experts. They were galvanized by those who called them crazy.

The two became partners in a new adventure. Knowing the path ahead would be challenging, unpredictable, and invigorating, Castle & Key was created.

In 2014, they purchased the Old Taylor Distillery, in ruins. Then they got to work, building a team of like-minded people, often from outside of the industry, who shared in their vision. Together, we did not renovate the distillery – we restored it.

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