On my way to Elizabethtown I saw the Jim Beam Distillery and said what up Jim Beam, I think I will. The following day I went to the Maker's Mark Distillery and found out about the Kentucky Bourbon Passport Program, so you know I had complete that Passport. You visit the nine distilleries listed in the passport, get the stamps, and you get a free t-shirt at the end.
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| Jim Beam |
On the tours you get a lot of the same information like how they make bourbon, the rules and regulations, and what constitutes a bourbon; it has to be 51% corn, and the rest of the mash is either rye, barley, or wheat, must be aged in oak barrels, the barrels have to be charred, when put into the barrel it has to be 125 proof or less, and the barrels can only be used once. But with all the repetitive information every tour had something different to offer; like when they started, why, and how they differ from their competitors.
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| Maker's Mark |
Unlike popular belief bourbon does not have to be made in Kentucky, most distilleries are there because of the water, there is no iron in their water because of the limestone, it is a natural filter. Iron free water makes the best bourbon.
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| Town Branch |
I started the trail on September 27 and finished on October 1, I listed the distilleries by order of visit not by order in the book, since all the distilleries have different hours . Bulleit is only open on Wednesday to Sunday, which is not helpful if you want to start the tour on Monday, but they only started doing tours three weeks ago, so I guess they're just trying to get their legs.
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| Woodford Reserve |
I visited Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Town Branch, Woodford Reserve, Wild Turkey, Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Bulleit, and Evan Williams.
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| Wild Turkey |
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| Heaven Hill |
Four Roses Distillery gives tours at two places; the warehouse and at the actual distillery (you get tastings and glasses from both places). I actually got three glasses, one from each tour and one from a guy who didn't want his glass. The day I went to the warehouse was there first day of tours; right before I got there they had there grand opening, the mayor was there and everything.
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| Four Roses |
By law you can only have four tastings, and a tasting is a sip. I got anywhere from two to four sips depending on which distillery I went to.
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| Bulleit |
My favorite Bourbon was Bulleit, my favorite design was Four Roses, and my favorite distillery was Wild Turkey (my tour guide on this trip was Bubba).
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| Evan Williams |
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