Last weekend I took a trip through the Kentucky Bourbon Trail so I thought I would share my experience. The precipitous for the trip was volunteering to be a member of the 3rd /r/bourbon Cask Force which was anointed with the task of picking out two barrels from Four Roses. I’ve never done any of the distilleries in Kentucky before so my volunteering was as much an excuse to visit the Bourbon Trail as it was to help pick out the barrels.
Maker’s Mark
Maker’s has lots of nostalgia for me as it is the first Bourbon I ever bought on a consistent basis so I really cut my whiskey teeth on it. One of the most awesome parts about visiting Maker’s is the drive into Loretto greets you with a sea of warehouses.
Of all the distilleries I visited, Maker’s was my favorite. Even though the weather was kind of crappy and made for bad photos, I really felt they had the nicest grounds.
One cool thing I witnessed was the second ever bottling run of the Cask Strength in full sized 750ml bottles.
The Chihuly glass exhibit in the rickhouse at the end of the tour is quite stunning.
Willett
Willett holds a special place for me as the Family Estate line is the first real ultra premium bourbon I ever bought many years ago. I had really only intended to stop at Willett for the gift shop but when I arrived there was a tour starting so I joined in. The Willett tour is neat because they are such a small distillery it’s a nice contrast to the larger operations on the official bourbon trail. My tour group was only 3 people so I got a really hands on experience and lots of time to ask questions I wouldn’t normally bring up with a big group. I really liked the old beat up look of the warehouses. It was an interesting stop.
Jim Beam
I’m pretty sure Jim Beam white label was the first bourbon I ever drank so stopping here was a must for me. I liked the tour here a lot because it really showcases how operations go at world’s biggest producer of Kentucky Bourbon. The scale of everything here is just massive - the number of warehouses, the bottling, and the incredibly immense 6 story copper still. My tour guide was very thorough and I never once caught her saying anything inaccurate which is more than I can say for some of the other tours I took.
A row of Knob Creek Single Barrels, lined up for bottling.
Four Roses: /r/bourbon Cask Force
Friday Morning we reported at 10am to the Four Roses bottling and warehouse location in Cox Creek. We were presented with 10 samples, one of each Four Roses recipe. To eliminate any personal recipe bias, we decided to taste all 10 blind. I’m no stranger to blind whiskey tastings but I can tell you that this one was really tough. Palate fatigue was a real issue, not only because of the sheer number of samples but also because all 10 bourbons were barrel proof and had a high rye content. Also with a brand as consistent as Four Roses it was very difficult to pick the cream of the crop.
It took about 1.5 hours but I was finally able to work out my top 3: OESK, OESQ, and OBSF. Of my top 3, the OESK and OBSF made it into the group’s top 4 which also included an OBSO and OBSK. We did another blind runoff of those and again the OESK was my number one followed by the OBSO, the OBSK, then the OBSF. In the end the group decided on the OBSF and the OBSO. In hindsight of my blind rankings, I feel pretty good about those choices. I personally pleaded for the OESK and even though it received the most votes in both rounds there were others in the group that thought the OBSO was more unique.
Our barrel selections, signed by the Cask Force
The barrel selection was challenging but also a very fun experience I’ll never forget. Our host and Four Roses sales manager Dan Gardner was quite the character who made it an even more memorable experience by sharing lots of funny stories from his many years in the industry.
After the barrel selection was over (almost 3 hours!), we all grabbed a quick bite and then hustled over to Lawrenceburg for a tour of the Distillery.
Truth be told, the Four Roses tour was rather disappointing. This was partially our fault - because the barrel selection ran so long we were running very late and our tour had to be compressed down to 30 minutes. It was obvious to us that our tour guide was also very green. He was reading from prepared notes for most of the tour and also regurgitated a few inaccuracies. Despite that, the grounds and setup at Four Roses were very unique - especially the Spanish style architecture.
Bluegrass Tavern (Lexington)
Friday night I stayed in Lexington. Not only was it close to a lot of distilleries but also because I had read that one of the better bourbon bars in the nation is located there. Well, the stories are true - they do have one of the best bourbon selections I’ve ever seen. They have just about every limited release from the last 10 years or so. The reason they still have them all though: the prices. I almost fell out of my chair when I first asked about some bottles. The thing is, there is no price list - the price of every whiskey is based on how much of it they have remaining. It was a real struggle finding things I could justify the price on which is rare for someone like me who will splurge when traveling. After hanging out there a while I did meet the manager who was extremely knowledgeable on rare bourbons and he explained to me why things are priced the way they are. It makes sense in hindsight but I’ve been to a lot of high end whiskey bars and I’ve never seen a pricing strategy like that before.
Buffalo Trace
Friday morning it was up and at it early to hustle over to Buffalo Trace for the 9am tour. Buffalo Trace was one of the more underwhelming tours for me. While it was very cool to see the place where a lot of my favorite bourbons are bottled/aged and the tour guide was very good, it was disappointing to get put in a room and fed a 15 minute video on the brand.
Maybe this barrel will grow up to be in a future William Larue Weller release
Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey’s new visitor center is very nice. My opinion of the place was probably elevated by the fact that when I arrived, Jimmy Russell himself was there sitting in a chair signing bottles for everyone like it was no big deal. The Wild Turkey tour was reminiscent of the Jim Beam tour in that you are looking at the heart of a very large scale bourbon operation. I really liked the view of the distillery as you arrive on the tour bus with the giant Austin Nichols Wild Turkey logo on the side of the building. Our tour guide was a funny older guy who was very entertaining but there were a few inaccuracies in his facts and at times his nomenclature was off. I hate to make assumptions about Wild Turkey’s fan base but I also noticed that the group on my tour happened to be the most unpleasant of any tour I went on. Despite that it was a still a very memorable experience and I recommend it.
Heaven Hill (Bardstown)
My last stop on the way home was Heaven Hill’s warehouse facility in Bardstown. The most impressive aspect of the facility is the sheer number of warehouses you’ll drive though. It’s a never ending sea of whiskey. As for the tour, I have mixed feedback on it. Like the Buffalo Trace tour, I was very disappointed they put you in a room and forced you to watch a rather long video with a history on the brand. The warehouse tour though was the most in depth warehouse tour I participated in. The volume and scale of their warehouses are truly impressive and it was almost scary to be on the ground floor in center of their warehouse knowing how much whiskey is stacked above you. I did catch the tour guide mistating a few things but overall it was a good experience.
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