• Gotbourbon.com Bourbon Tour 2010




    The 2ndannual gotbourbon.com Bourbon Trail Tour was held last weekend, Saturday May15th. After last year’s inaugural event, expectations were set high.  Much planning and anticipation had gone into this year’s event.  This year we were headed on the South Tour – Maker’s Mark, Heaven Hill, and Jim Beam.  To assist us again was Mint Julep Tours and our guide Gary.  Our day started early around 7:45am.  We carpooled to the Galt House in downtown Louisville, where the Mint Julep Tours store front is located.  After many weeks of nonstop rain, our weather actually shaped up nicely at sunny at 76 degrees.  We piled into the van and headed down I-65. 

     

    Our first stop was Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretta, KY.  To say the distillery is off the beaten path is an understatement, but it made it all the more special.   Maker’s Mark is the oldest distillery still operating on its original site.  We were early, but the staff accommodated us and with a handful of other visitors, started the first tour of the day a little early.  Our guide was very informative and thorough, and you could tell she knew everything there was to know about Maker’s Mark and Bourbon.  Our first impression of the distillery was the impeccable grounds and immaculate buildings, each black with a red roof.   The attention to detail was evident- down to the individually label trees and the Maker’s Mark bottle shaped cut outs in each window shutter.  The still house was amazing, with its hardwood floors and shiny brass equipment. They even had on display the original mill stone, which had been extracted from a creek bed when the Samuels bought the distillery.  Legendhas it that a military sword was discovered underneathof it when it was found.  Next was the bottling line, which was not operating since it was a Saturday, but the audio visuals assisted us in visualizing the process.  The rickhousewas equipped with barrel educational material and ambassador barrels on display.  Through a door in the back of the rickhouse led us to the tasting room and gift store.  After a taste of Maker’s Mark, Maker’s Mark Mint Julep and“white dog” - I can’t tell how but we somehow foundourselves tasting the not yet released Maker’s 46 – Maker’s Mark newest creation – matured Maker’s Mark aged for an additional two to three months with seared oak staves.  It was very complex, and delicious with a superior palate and no burn in the aftertaste.   After dipping our very own Maker’s Mark bottles we headed over to the Tollhouse, for one of the best BBQ sandwich (Bourbon flavored of course) that we have ever had.  We didn’t want to leave, but we had a strict itinerary.

     

    Heaven Hill was our next stop.   What struck us first about Heaven Hill was the massive visitor center, which had everything from A-Z about Bourbon and Heaven Hill – a movie, countless Bourbon memorabilia displays, and every type of Bourbon and Heaven Hill merchandise imaginable.  What we liked best was the 3-D audio visual displays about every step of the Bourbon making process complete with smells of the different stages of aging Bourbon.  The barrel shaped tasting room was just as impressive – a round room with a circular bar and stools.  Elijah Craig 18-year was my favorite tasting here.   Since the distilling is done at the old Berheim distillery in Louisville, there was no still house tour here, but the rickhouse tour made up for it.  We learned two facts about Bourbon rickhouse that none of us knew.  First, the black (dirty look) that is sometimes seen on Bourbon warehouses is actually a naturally occurring black mold found on many types of wood called Torula that likes the Kentucky humidity andthe environment around the rickhouses.  Also, Heaven Hill rickhouses had a nice demonstration on how and why a rickhouse needs to be balanced.  If you think about it makes sense, because newly filled barrels weigh more than ones that have been aging over time due to the “angel’s share” loss of some of the barrels volume. 

     

    Before we knew it we were off to the legendary Jim Beam Distillery.  Not to far from Heaven Hill, Jim Beam sits a little closer to the interstate than the other two distilleries.  We actually worked our way backwards on the trail.   The Jim Beam distillery was massive with its visitor center and gift house looking over all of the operations along with a bronze statue of Fred Noe in his rocking chair.  A new tour was still in the planning stages, so there was no walking tour or visits to the buildings yet but one could tell from the construction and other activities that a top notch tour was in the works.  The visitor center had abundant Bourbon merchandise and memorabilia for us to browse.  We did have a nice tasting of Booker’s at the visitor center, which marked a wonderful end to three amazing distillery tours.  While the actual tour was winding down, as with tradition, a nice dinner and night on the town awaited us.  Gary brought us back to the GaltHouse, where we gathered ourselves for the second portion of our day.  Much of the evening was spent planning our next “Bourbon Tour”.  Maybe a cooperage tour, a horse farm tour or even a Keeneland tour or a little bit of everything next year.  Stay tuned.  Thanks, Bill.

     May 23rd, 2010  admin   2 comments