Louisville Part 3

When we went to Louisville we had a day free to look around the state. We had initially planned on checking out a national park but there was a terrible accident and we were stuck on the interstate standing still for 3 hours. Finally I drove the rental car through the median and turned around. We were the first car to do it, but when people saw us do it the dam broke loose. We decided to go visit a distillery. We visited the Woodford Reserve Distillery.



They took us on a tour of the entire facility. It is the only distillery in the US that makes whiskey in copper stills.



They ferment corn, barley and rye in these huge vats. Then it is distilled in these huge copper stills.



They can only make about 8 barrels of whiskey a day. It takes 2500 gallons of mash to make the 8 barrels.


The barrels then get rolled down the track to the old stone warehouses.


The whiskey then ages for anywhere from 4 to 7 years. After 4 years they start tapping the barrels for little samples. They bring the sample to specialized testers who know when the whiskey is just right based on how it tastes and smells etc.

Woodford Reserve is a straight bourbon, meaning it gets bottled straight from the barrel without any additives. The inventor of bourbon - Jim Crow - started the distillery. It is a truly high class operation with an excellent product.