ONE WAY TO RECYCLE THOSE ALUMINUM CANS

Thursday, September 29 – Just what a guy needs.....another hobby. While we were camped in Louisville, the neighbor - Bob Clipfell, and Paul got acquainted. Paul was admiring a road runner whirligig Bob had made and before you knew it Bob was teaching Paul how to make these windspinners.

Bob holding two of his roadrunners.


Paul hard at work.



Paul's first stacked spinner turned out pretty good.He's going to make several more of these before he tackles a road runner. Now we have to start collecting aluminum cans....LOL


We drove to Knoxville, TN, this morning. It was a beautiful day for a drive. The roads were in excellent shape with moderate traffic.


We are staying at Raccoon Valley RV Park. It is an Escapees park. It is located just NW of Knoxville in Heiskell, TN. We are going to spend a week just relaxing…we will see how long that lasts.
Site #56




No, you don't have triple vision. What are the chances of three 05 Tiffin Phaetons, with the same paint scheme, parking in the same park in the same section? We are the middle one.

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

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!

BOURBON TAIL…PART 2

Monday, September 26  - Our third stop was Maker's Mark Distillery. This distillery, in its storybook setting outside the charming town of Loretto, is the nation's oldest working distillery on its original site and has been designated a National Historic Landmark. This is the only distillery that opened its factory doors to a beginning to end tour of the distilling process.

Notice the cool design in the shutters on the buildings.

Here is a picture of what is to be believed as America's oldest remaining "retail whisky store." This is called a Quart House. This is where the distillery used to sell bourbon to the surrounding neighbors around 1889. It could be considered the first "drive through." People would pull up their wagon next to the house, get their barrel filled up, pay a quarter and be on their way.

We started our tour inside the original home. When the house was build in 1911, it served as a boarding house for distillery workers and visiting businessmen. In 1934, when Prohibition ended and the Beams began rebuilding, the house was renovated and moved to keep a watchful eye on operations.

It was interesting to find out how the Maker's Mark's trademark wax sealed bottle came about. Well here is the story…

Wax was on everything…LOL

This distillery is much smaller than the two previous distilleries we toured. We began our tour in the area where the wheat, corn, and barley are ground and mixed. Mountain spring water is then added along with yeast and the fermenting process begins. The fermentation is a three step process. We were encouraged to dip our fingers into the vats to taste the changes taking place in the process.

Stage 1…lots of mash on top. The yeast is starting to work.

Stage 2…look at those bubbles. The call this beer.

Stage 3…we could smell the CO₂   big time and feel the heat!

This is the stage that we tasted the mash…SOUR!!!

We again visited the rick houses where the finished Bourbon is aged for an average of 6-8 years. They determine when the Bourbon is ready to bottle by taste rather than simply age, as the other distilleries do.

Maker's Mark Bourbon is different from their second brand, Maker's Mark 46, in that additional charred oak staves are added into the barrel at the end of the aging process for an additional 46 days for additional flavor and color.

A real treat of this tour was to see the bottling process. They do everything by hand, including dipping every bottle in their signature red wax. They bottle about 30 bottles per minute with the final process before boxing is the hand dipping of the neck of the bottle in red wax. This is their trademark and a unique process to Maker's Mark.

Sterilizing the bottles and then filling them up for our enjoyment.

These gals hand dip 23 bottles each a minute. Because of the repetitive nature of all the jobs on the assembly line, they all rotate every 30 minutes.

Boxing it up.

We again enjoyed the tasting room where we not only sampled the traditional two different Bourbons but also tasted “white dog” the clear bourbon liquid before it is aged in the oak barrels. It is the charred oak barrels that gives the Bourbon is caramel color and distinctive flavor. We were also served a piece of Bourbon chocolate, a tasty treat to end our day of touring.

BACK AT THE CAMPGROUND:  At the end of each day, Grandpa drives around the campground in one of several ways. This is the way we like the best. He just has the biggest time.

 

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