Things tour guides say: Stitzel-Weller

[Josh]

Our crew went to the Bulleit Experience at S-W Sunday afternoon after KBF and got the full tour.

Our tour guide Brian was great. Answered all of our questions in a straight forward manner with minimal BS.

Here is some stuff he said that I found to be of interest and can remember

-Diageo plans to install a new still on site in a building still under construction. It will be the first 21st century distillery in Kentucky (apparently Wild Turkey doesn't count)

-That still will be made with some reclaimed (or resmelted or whatever) pieces from the old S-W stills.

-The remaining salvageable parts of the old stills will go to the Shelbyville distillery.

-The Shelbyville facility will have 8 warehouses and they will all be 1-2 stories.

-There are 18 warehouses at S-W. There are all (basically) full.

-The whiskey in those warehouses will be Bulleit, Bulleit Rye, Dickel Rye, I.W. Harper, Orphan Barrel stuff and a few other things.

-He didn't mention it, but I noticed that all identifying marks on the barrel heads had been sanded off the barrels in the part of the warehouse we visited.

-I.W. Harper may be returning to the U.S. market in the near future.

-He showed us an old S-W guest book signed by Pope Paul VI (reigned 1963-1978)

-Diageo spent $2 million on the visitors center (a former administrative building).

-When they reopened the old cooperage in order to add it to the tour, they noticed many holes in the wall (still visible) allegedly made by disgruntled distillery workers shooting the walls on their lunch breaks after the distilling was ended in 1992.

-A vintage Playboy magazine was also found stuffed into the wall in the cooperage.

-Diageo does plan to return bottling to the site.

-The archives are to be turned into a bourbon research library and reading room.

That's all I can remember now. It was a pretty cool experience to walk around there and imaging what it was like 40-50 years ago when the distillery was in its prime.

Anyway, lots to chew over there.

[squire]

I should think the barrels are turned around rather than sanded unless the Feds have changed disclosure requirements.

Yep, lots to chew on.

[Josh]

Nope. Clearly sanded. Both sides were visible.

[squire]

Did anybody thump one to see if it was empty?

[Josh]

I thumped one I could reach. Seemed to be full. It was oozing.

[callmeox]

Did you see anything else on your tour, Squire? Sounds different than the tour Josh went on.

[squire]

It would've been Scott, my last Louisville distillery tour was in 1972.

[Josh]

It would've been Scott, my last Louisville distillery tour was in 1972.

Was Pope Paul on your tour?

Anyway, I almost forgot a detail. There was one barrel that still had some info on the head, but it was dimly lit and I had to crane my head around to see it. I know it sounds fishy but I really think it read dsp-ky 230.

[cowdery]

Brown-Forman, Barton, and Jim Beam (dsp-ky-230) are all known to have produced new make for Diageo in recent years. Beam, because of their expansion, is one of the few distilleries that has surplus capacity and can, therefore, do contract distilling.

[kickert]

I should think the barrels are turned around rather than sanded unless the Feds have changed disclosure requirements.

Yep, lots to chew on.

Nope. Clearly sanded. Both sides were visible.

Interesting, because TTB requires barrel labeling. Wonder what's up with that.

[Josh]

Questioning my memory now...They could have been full of water I suppose but at the time it seemed like they actually contained whiskey.

[oke&coke]

So there I was, with my mouth around the still outfall.......

[squire]

Something or somebody contained whisky.

[Josh]

I'm sure I still had some leftover from the night before still flowing through my veins.

[cowdery]

Did you happen to notice a small tag with a UPC code on it affixed to the barrel somewhere? That's just as legal, although sanding the heads is done for one reason only, to hide something.

[Old Dusty]

sanding the heads is done for one reason only, to hide something.

[PaulO]

....

-I.W. Harper may be returning to the U.S. market in the near future.

...

I thought I.W. Harper was being sold as export only for many years. If they brought it back here, I'm curious, it would be what mash bill and distilled by who? I would try it if it was the BIB version.

[bjhowell]

I was just there yesterday and the few barrels I did see, I didn't see any stenciling and I didn't see and UPC tags either.

[dannyballs]

I was there last weekend and Brian was our guide. Pretty cool dude with a ton of historical knowledge on the Kentucky Bourbon space. If you could bottle the aroma form that warehouse I would buy it in a minute.

Edited October 6, 2015 by dannyballs

[Richnimrod]

I was E

Huh????????????

[Robertsccr5]

One thing I found strange when I was there were the recipe codes in the lab. I recognize these codes...does anyone else??

I'm not sure why they're there.

[johnnybogey]

One thing I found strange when I was there were the recipe codes in the lab. I recognize these codes...does anyone else??

I'm not sure why they're there.

I recall seeing a picture somewhere of Jim Ruttledge and behind him, a bookcase filled with bottles from other distilleries. IIRC, he mentioned that he likes to taste the products of other distilleries to kind of see where they are at, etc.... I imagine, the other distilleries are doing the same.

Tried to find the link but no luck. Maybe someone here knows the interview/picture I am speaking of.

[Josh]

I'm sure Diageo still has lots of Four Roses in their warehouses. Those samples are probably there to aid in the "mingling" process when putting together a batch of Bulleit or Harper or what have you.

[squire]

Harper is batched? Oh, well, another illusion shot.