THE END OF THE TRAIL

Tuesday, September 27 – We finished the Bourbon Trail Distillery Tours today by visiting three more distilleries: Wild Turkey, Four Roses, and Woodford Reserve. We can now mail our passport books in and get a free t-shirt.

We arrived a bit early for our first tour of the day, so Marsha made the best of it.

Wild Turkey just opened a new distillery and is only in the 4^th month of production in the new facility. The new 134,000 square foot facility expansion makes them not only one of the biggest whiskey distilleries in Kentucky, but in all of North America. It is capable of producing up to 11 million proof gallons of liquid annually, up from the 5 million proof gallons of the previous distillery which was first put into operation back in 186. It is a highly automated and impressive facility.

The old…

The new…

We had a great tour guide and again were able to see the distilling process from beginning to end.

Our guide showed us the label machine and how they fill each barrel.

This is the only distillery that let us look in on their sensory room. Really interesting

Wild Turkey bottles off site.

We got to choice which two samples out of all the different Bourbons. Of course, Paul choice the two top shelf Bourbons….GOOOOOOD! They actually make an American Honey Liqueur. Marsha had one shot of it and off she went to make her purchase.

We thought this was the 2^nd best distillery tour behind Maker's Mark.

When we arrived at Four Roses, we had a long wait until the next tour. We had them stamp our Passport and then off we went. We did read that they are the only distillery using single-story rack warehouses to minimize the temperature variances, which provide even maturation during the aging process.

Our sixth and final stop on was Woodford Distillery. Woodford Reserve Distillery was the only tour that charged a fee.....$5. Paul asked why this was and the response was a corporate decision.....hmmmm?

Woodford is the oldest and smallest distillery in Kentucky, and traces its origins to 1797. This National Landmark crafts only Woodford Reserve, the Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby.

While we waited for our tour to begin, we browsed around the museum and gift shop.

This is the only distillery that makes their own barrels.

The distilling room features three genuine copper pot stills that triple distill the mash.

Warehouse

Bottling area.

We ended with yet ANOTHER taste of bourbon. We agree that this is the strongest tasting bourbon. Paul thought that chocolates were the best he tasted.

It was also a very nice tour offering a glimpse of the distilling process from beginning to end.

Our mission is complete.



We feel that six tours is a little too much. After four tours we pretty much had the process down pat. The guide at Wild Turkey summed it up fairly well. He described Bourbon making as a simple process. Smash some corn. Add yeast and water. Let it ferment for several days,. Distill it. Age it in oak barrels for several years. Enjoy!

We are off to Knoxville, TN tomorrow. We are going to spend a week at Raccoon Valley RV Park. It is an Escapees park.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!