Whatever happened to Cecil Withrow

[BourbonJoe]

Does anyone know whatever happened to Cecil Withrow, the colorful character that owned Old Taylor (the castle) in the late 90's. I remember he was trying to restore it and wanted to open a restaurant there.
Joe

[callmeox]

Does anyone know whatever happened to Cecil Withrow, the colorful character that owned Old Taylor (the castle) in the late 90's. I remember he was trying to restore it and wanted to open a restaurant there.
Joe

It's funny how using Google to research a bourbon topic usually leads back here.

Joe, it looks like Cecil passed away before he could make his vision a reality.

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forum...ead.php?t=2492

[T Comp]

I found a bottle of his Potemkin whiskey on a bottom shelf of a local liquor store about two years ago. Meant for Japanese export and labelled Stone Castle Single Barrel, ID #6 Lot 1, ABV 53%, filled by MW (Michael Withrow?). As learned from John Lipman's writings, this was Cecil Withrow's first and only bottling of bourbon around the time he was also restoring the Old Taylor Distillery in 1999. The label states "Hand filled, proofed and bottled by Stone Castle Distilling, Milville, Kentucky...DSP 53". The whiskey is very good and it tastes similar enough for me to suspect being HH made but who knows for sure.

[cowdery]

To the best of my knowledge, no restoration ever took place. The Withrows used some building, possibly the bottling hall, to host swap meets or craft fairs or something for a time. Mostly they just looted the place for anything of value they could find, as have its subsequent owners. They never did anything except pay lip service to either restoration or preservation.

[nblair]

They never did anything except pay lip service to either restoration or preservation.

Which is a total shame. For any SB'ers that haven't seen Old Taylor and Old Crow, make it a priority next time you visit the Frankfort area distilleries. I personally think they are a breathtaking site. Kind of eerie too, almost like forgotten cities.

[dgw671]

I went out there just yesterday. It is very erie. I would love to be set loose in that place to explore. It's a shame though. The facility at one time was so beautiful. Gardens, the Keystone Pool, the wells are all overgrown with brush. It would take a lot of work and a lot of money to bring that back to the beauty of its hayday....