My Bourbon Trail Review April, 2011

[gburger]

My Kentucky Trip 2011

First stop Corn to Cork tour at Woodford Reserve.

Dave was my tour guide.

This is a very good tour. It shows every step of the bourbon making process.

Naturally they show you the corn and grains, fermenting vats and pot stills. But what I enjoyed was the lab section. They showed us how from a small strain of yeast it grows into a large mass that eventually gets into the fermenter and begins the process of making the sugars and carbon dioxide.

They got into some really neat details about the process.

Then off to the warehouse and bottling.

This is a small operation, but a really well run one. They take pride in how everything looks and it shows.

The place is really beautiful and sits in the middle of acres of Kentucky Bluegrass horse farms.

The main building to check in and gift shop is also a nice complex, with areas to sit outside and relax on a sunny afternoon. You get a sample and a bourbon ball on your way out.

On a scale of 5 stars I have to give this 5.

Next was Buffalo Trace and their Hat Tour with Fred as our guide.

This tour takes you behind the scenes from the normal tour.

You don’t actually wear a hard hat by the way.

We began where the corn trucks drive up and dump their loads after they have been tested for freshness. Then you begin climbing up to the fermenting vats. Here you can see mash being poured into the vats and see the bubbles forming during the process.

Then you go through a long cat style walkway to where the stills are. Here White Dog is flowing. If your lucky your tour guide will grab a glass and pour some right from the still for you to taste. A taste you will never forget, you can smell and taste all of the corn and rye flavors. If you really like it they sell it in the gift store on your way out $16.00.

You then end up almost where you started but you actually did climb many flights of stairs and crossed over the alley way.

You go back to the gift store for tasting. I tried the Buffalo Trace Creme and Eagle Rare. I never had the cream before, I must say I did enjoy it.

My only gripe with this tour is we did not see the bottling and warehouse area. I really wanted to see the bottling.

So I have to give this tour 4 stars.

The next day I visited Heaven Hill in the morning. I paid $25 for the Behind the Scenes tour.

I ended up being the only one signed up, so I got a private tour. Billy Joe was my guide.

Heaven Hill does not have a distillery on site, it is in Louisville so you get to see everything except that process. But really, once you have seen a couple of fermenting vats and stills they are all very much alike.

After a short video the tour began.

We started in the barrel filling and emptying area. Large trucks bring the white dog from the distillery and it gets pumped into the oak barrels. They used to use a mallet to put the bung in, but now that is all automated.

Also they don’t dump barrels anymore, they suck the bourbon out with a vacuum.

Then off to the labeling area, I saw thousands of different labels. Heaven Hill makes many different types of spirits, vodkas, rums, liqueurs and such.

Next bottling. What a huge operation here also. They have a few different areas for this. One for glass and another for the plastic bottles. You get to see filling, labels put on then into the boxes for shipping. One room over you get to see the boxes being loaded by robots

into stacks to then be transported into the main warehouse to wait for their departure to the distributors.

Then a tour of one of their rick houses and some explanation of stacking the barrels and such.

After a couple hours you end back up at the visitor center for a taste. If you do not take this tour you get your sample in the warehouse. I was in for a treat, they take you inside their main tasting room in the center of the gift shop.

Wow what a beautiful bar. It is circular and looks like you are sitting inside the middle of a whiskey barrel, a very nice one.

Here we got to taste the upper shelf brands. Parker’s Heritage 27 and Evan William's 23, both are very good to say the least.

I give this tour 4 1/2 stars, would be 5 if they had their distillery there.

Next tour was Maker’s Mark.

A nice little drive into the middle of nowhere, then you pull up to a gorgeous layout of buildings and scenery.

You begin in a replica house of the Samuels’ along with the kitchen where they started.

You get a real home feeling as you walk towards the distillery. You get to see the fermenting vats and still, this is a small building. Then the bottling area and the dipping of the bottles.

The barrel warehouse looks much like the others. But as you walk through it you end up in the gift shop for the samples. You get to try Maker’s and 46.

This gift store is very nice, you can buy your own bottle and dip it yourself. You really should do this, it is fun.

They also have a little restaurant on the way out if you want a snack.

I give this 4 stars.

The next day I traveled to Wild Turkey. The gift store and tasting room is the size of my dorm room from college. Ok maybe not that small but it is tiny. They just started a new tour a few weeks before I got there of their brand new facilities.

We tried to begin with a short video, but there was an issue with it. So we moved on. Once again you see many vats with bubbling mash, and the process of making the beer and low and the high wine into white dog is explained. This operation is huge, and all run by two guys in front of a banks of computers.

You get to see barrels being filled and moving along a conveyor system. Then back on the bus to the warehouse. I noticed that all of the warehouses had bars on the windows of the bottom two floors. I asked about that, and I was told the government used to make them put them on so the whiskey would not be stolen or be sneaked out before the tax was paid on them. Kind of hard to move a 500 pound barrel out of a window.

You then walk over to the gift store for your samples.

They are very nice at Wild Turkey.

This also get 4 stars from me.

Four Roses was next. It is a short drive to Four Roses from Wild Turkey. Another picture perfect place. A nice little gift shop awaits you and video. They were not cooking the day I went, but you do get a tour of the plant.

There are some six story warehouse across the street but they do not belong to Four Roses. They only use single story buildings to age their bourbon in. They say this gives them the cream of the crop in aging.

Here for some reason we got three samples instead of only two like everywhere else. I did not complain.

This tour was short and sweet. The grounds and area is very pretty.

I am only giving this 3 stars. I just could not get excited about my visit.

My last tour stop was Jim Beam, this would be my last stamp in my Bourbon Trail Passport.

You start off with a 11 minute video, which ends up being the best part of the tour. You then walk by a couple of displays of how whiskey is distilled and barrels are made. Very small displays. The rick house is next, and would you believe it, it looks like the last five ones I was in. Then back to the gift shop for samples.

They told me that they are building a brand new gift store and restaurant that will be opened in late 2012. They need a better tour.

I am going to end my review of Jim Beam here, because that is all I saw.

This gets 2 stars.

So to summarize my reviews in star rating order.

1. Woodford Reserve 5 Stars

2. Heaven Hill Behind the Scene Tour 4 1/2 Stars

3. Buffalo Trace 4 Stars

4. Maker’s Mark 4 Stars

5. Wild Turkey 4 Stars

6. Four Roses 3 Stars

7. Jim Beam 2 Stars

And if you go on a Bourbon Festival or Sampler weekend in Bardstown, you must stay at the General Nelson Best Western. At night a gathering of Bourbon enthusiasts show up in the Gazebo and share stories and of course bourbon.

Bring a bottle and sample what ever is on the table. Anywhere from 50-100 bottles may be on the table.

I give that tour 10 stars.

[HP12]

Thanks for the overview. I'm going next week with my BIL and we are looking forward to it. In hindsight, is the HH tour worth the $25?

Upon our return, I'll too offer some insights on our experience.

[gburger]

Thanks for the overview. I'm going next week with my BIL and we are looking forward to it. In hindsight, is the HH tour worth the $25?

Upon our return, I'll too offer some insights on our experience.

The $25 gets you into the bottling and shipping area. Not sure if that is really worth $25. They should price is at $10-$15. $25 was steep for what you get.

I would pass on it if I did it again.

[HP12]

The $25 gets you into the bottling and shipping area. Not sure if that is really worth $25. They should price is at $10-$15. $25 was steep for what you get.

I would pass on it if I did it again.

Thanks. Likely that we will pass. As you stated, once you see the process at one, they all are about the same.

[mosugoji64]

My experience was very close to yours. We did not get to experience the new Wild Turkey facilities when there, so I'm looking forward to going back for that.

It sounds like the $25 at HH got you a better sample of bourbon as well. We took the standard tour and got Elijah Craig and Evan Williams Single Barrel for samples. We had a good time on the tour, but I'd like to go back for the one you experienced since we only got to see the rickhouse. I'd also like to go back for the standard BT tour since the Hard Hat tour, while great, seems like the beginning only.

Now you have me itching to go back!

[camduncan]

Thanks for the overview. I'm going next week with my BIL and we are looking forward to it. In hindsight, is the HH tour worth the $25?

[TNbourbon]

...$25 was steep for what you get.

I would pass on it if I did it again.

[cowdery]

I didn't know Heaven Hill was now using the vacuum extraction method, which I have only otherwise seen in Canada. Does it make that slurping sound you get when you try to get the last bit of milkshake with a straw?

[craigthom]

I imagine that the Heaven Hill distillery looks different than the others, but I haven't been. I picture it as a modern shiny production facility. I'm sure some of you have been in there. Am I wrong?