Bourbon Trail- Part 1

Made it to the Bourbon Trail today! James (fellow QU PT student) and I visited Four Roses, Wild Turkey, and Woodford Reserve. I'm not gonna lie I was pretty impressed with my tour guide abilities today. I managed to make a schedule of which distilleries to go to and which tours we would make and we managed to stick to it, without getting lost mind you and with the help of Frank (my handy GPS). The scenic drive was beautiful with a ton of horse farms. There was a ton of history and facts throughout the day but instead of boring you with all the details here are some of the highlights of the day:

What is Bourbon? (In a nutshell)

I had no idea but apparently in order to be called "bourbon" the alcohol must comply to Federal Regulations including:

1. Grain mixture must contain no less that 51% corn, but no more than 73%
2. Bottled at more than 80 proof. 
3. Only aged in NEW White Oak barrels 
• Old Bourbon barrels are then turned into planters or sent overseas to make Scotch and Irish whiskey that are often aged in old bourbon barrels. 
• Oak wood gives it the distinct mellow flavor and amber color.
4. Has to be aged for more than 2 years
5. NO artificial coloring, flavor, or preservatives
• There bourbon contains: Corn, Rye, Barley, Yeast, and water. Nothing else. 
6. Only Bourbon that meets the above standards is considered Straight Bourbon. Everything else is whiskey. 

Four Roses: 
  This distillery had gorgeous Spanish Mission Architecture. The story behind the name was really cute too. Apparently the founder Paul Jones, Jr had fallen in love with a southern belle. He proposed to her and she replied that if her answer was yes, she would wear a corsage with four roses, if no only three roses. Well, I suppose you know how the story ends...

Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey. Quite a different setting, only 8 miles down the road from Four Roses. Here we actually got to see the giant fermenter's and Bourbon that will be ready to drink in a few years after it sits in the barrel. We also got to meet Jimmy Russell, the Master Distiller at Wild Turkey. He's quite old and not usually there on Saturdays so it was pretty cool. He is in charge of deciding what is fit for bottling and how long barrels age.

Woodford Reserve
This distillery is the smallest of the three but owns the largest distillery in the world, I think you may have heard of it....Jack Daniels (but Jack is whiskey so that's another story for another day). This location had gorgeous stone buildings and only produces 160 barrels per week compared to the thousands produced at the others. This was the only location that has the entire Bourbon production process on-site, from fermenting, to distilling, to barreling, to bottling.

98% of all the world's Bourbon is produced in Kentucky. The seasons work well here for the expansion and collapsing of the barrels for proper aging and the limestone spring water that is used in the bourbon.

Keep your eyes out for Part 2 of the Bourbon Trail to complete the passport! :)