Tuesday:
This began our trek through the Bourbon Trail. As a precaution, we drove to the furthest distillery first, which was supposed to be Jim Beam, but we got a late start so had to cut that one out. Therefore, our first distillery was Heaven Hill. At the end of a winding road. Surrounded by horse farms.
Heaven Hill makes, among other things, the Evan Williams and Elijah Craig labels.
Since we were running behind schedule, we took the mini tour, which was just a walk around in their museum area. This tour was $5. They had a lot of history about the distillery, and, of course a tasting at the end. We got to taste a single barrel offering. We learned how to drink a sipping bourbon. Believe it or not, there is a technique, which allows for the full effect of the bourbon. The single barrel is a bottle that has not been blended with any other barrel, so you will never get the same flavor again. Out of all of the single barrel bourbons we tasted, this was my favorite.
******************************************
To make up for missing Jim Beam, we added Barton Distillery to our tour. They were surrounded by horse farms. On a winding road. They are not on the trail, but they were the most entertaining. The tour was free. When we got there, we had missed the previous tour, but the hostess yelled out the door up the street to the tour guide to wait for us stragglers. We picked up the tour 2/3 the way through, but they said they would take us as far as we missed on the next tour. At this point I was told that I could take all the pictures I wanted.
Barton was so cool. They didn't make a top shelf Bourbon, yet, but they were all about making money. Not only did they make and bottle Bourbon, they bottled brandy, Montezuma tequila and rum. Their bottling plant was running all year round, whereas all the other distilleries shut down for the summer as it was too hot to bottle the Bourbon then. It was noisy, chaotic and I saw, at one point, a conveyer being held together by a pair of vicegrips. But the people really were having fun. Most were young.
 |
| Jim Smells the Whiskey |
 |
| Primary Distillation column |
They took us through the distillery, the aging warehouses the bottling and the shipping departments. Of all the distilleries, they had the most modern setup. We learned a few things from our second tour guide. That all bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon. In order to be bourbon it must be:
Distilled to no more than 160 proof
Put into the aging barrels at no more than 125 proof
Aged in new, charred white oak barrels (barrels can be used only once)
Made in America
Unadulterated by any flavoring
Made of 51% corn
Aged for at least 2 years
We also learned that 95% of all Bourbon is made in Kentucky due to the limestone water and the extreme temperature changes. Apparently, the bourbon is mellowed and colored by filtering through the charred layers of the oak repeatedly during hot and cold weather. The sugars in the char flavors the bourbon.
Since the barrels are only used once, they are sold. Most Scotch is aged in Bourbon barrels. The wine industry uses the barrels as does Altech brewery (more about that later).
And, apparently, the distilleries are pretty chummy. One of the Beam family is the master distiller for Heaven Hill. If one distillery has a problem, the others come to the rescue. Pretty cool in this cutthroat age.
We tasted their blended, small batch and single barrel. None of them were to my taste, but they are improving their quality each year.
********************************************
Makers Mark was our last stop for the day. They had a creek running through their property that was very rustic. They were surrounded by horse farms. On a winding roadThe distillery (as most of the ones on the tour) is family owned and operated. Makers Mark has the distinct red wax sealing their bottles.
 |
| hand dipping bottles |
 |
| distillery enterance |
 |
| fermentation vat (cypress wood, over 100 years old) |
 |
| Taste Test |
That was all we had time for. There is a bit of a distance between each distillery. So we had dinner at an asian fusion restaurant in Paris. Yea! An open restaurant. In the worlds tallest three story building.
When we got home it started to rain. The creek went from a trickle to a swell. They needed it.
What I learned:
1. I am ultimately a single malt Scotch girl, but I don't mind a good sippin' bourbon now and then.
2. LBJ, bless his heart, was responsible for the legislating of the definition of Bourbon.
bak bak
No comments:
Post a Comment