Timeline story
E.H. Taylor Jr. and the Bottled-in-Bond Act, 1897
Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor Jr. (1830–1923) of Frankfort rebuilt Kentucky whiskey's reputation after the Civil War—raising the O.F.C. (Old Fire Copper) plant in 1869, later the Old Taylor works on Glenn's Creek, and fighting the flood of adulterated "rectified" spirits.
Working with Treasury Secretary John G. Carlisle, he helped push the Bottled-in-Bond Act, signed March 3, 1897: one distiller, one distillery, one season; at least four years in wood under federal lock; bottled at 100 proof with nothing added but water.
It was among the nation's first consumer-protection laws for spirits, and the green bond stamp became the buyer's guarantee that what was in the bottle was straight whiskey—not prune juice and industrial alcohol.
Cite this story
Published . Last revised .
Chicago
Snowden, Shannon. "E.H. Taylor Jr. and the Bottled-in-Bond Act, 1897." Kentucky History Drive. Published September 29, 2026. Last revised September 29, 2026. https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/e-h-taylor-jr-and-the-bottled-in-bond-act-1897/.
MLA
Snowden, Shannon. "E.H. Taylor Jr. and the Bottled-in-Bond Act, 1897." Kentucky History Drive, published 29 Sept. 2026, last revised 29 Sept. 2026, https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/e-h-taylor-jr-and-the-bottled-in-bond-act-1897/.
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