Written by Kim
It was a cold day around freezing when we arrived at Woodford Reserve for our 9:30 am tour. Woodford certainly has a different feel than Buffalo Trace. It was fancier, richer looking and appeared much newer but its history explains some of that. It had a very uppidy feel and even the tour guide explained how they were so much better than the competition, lol. The gift shop was beautiful.
The Woodford Reserve Distillery, formerly known as the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery and later the Labrot & Graham Distillery began distilling on the site of the current day distillery in 1812. Although the site has not been continuously operational as a distillery since, the main structure, built in 1838, stands as one of the oldest distilleries in Kentucky. The current owner, Brown-Forman Corporation bought the distillery in the 1941 and operated it until the late 1960s, then sold the property and its accompanying acreage to a local farmer. Brown-Forman re-purchased the property in 1993, refurbished it, and brought it back into operation. The current Woodford Reserve brand was introduced in 1996 so it’s a relatively new bourbon on the scene.
Our tour really showed us the complete process to make bourbon. Woodford Reserve doesn’t do a lot of small batches or specialty products they mostly “mass produce” their standard brands. The first step in making bourbon is creating the mash bill. The master distiller sets the recipe of grains that must include 51% corn to be called bourbon but also might include barley, wheat or rye. The mash is cooked about 5 hours and at WR include setback or starter which is used grains from a previous batch similar to starter for sourdough bread so the recipe has consistency.
Water and yeast are added during the fermentation step which typically lasts about 7 days. The fermenters are made of cypress wood with cooling bands to regulate the tempsture so the yeast doesn’t die and alcohol can be created.
Distillation happens after fermentation. WR uses triple arm copper stills for distillation. The liquid is strained from the grain solids. Some used grains are used as setback for new batches while most are donated to local farmers to feed their livestock. White lightning or new mate is the output of distillation and is 158 proof. Water is added before barreling.
After distilling the bourbon is barreled and sent to the warehouse to age. WR owns their own cooperage (barrel making) in Louisville. They toast their barrels with radiant heat for 10 min before charring for 25 seconds medium char. Double oaked bourbon barrels are toasted 40 minutes and charred 10 seconds. Barrels are rolled down the tracks around the plant
The older Terracotta rickhouse holds 11,000 barrels. The newer warehouses are much larger and hold 65,000 barrels. Steam heat cycling is used to manage temperature in warehouses. Barrels are never moved unless they are dumped and put in a 2nd barrel for aging.
On average WR bourbons are aged 6-9 years but if you look closely at the picture above you will see puncture holes in the barrel heads where the tasters sample the barrel since they are bottled based on taste not age. Bottling is done in one of the original warehouses at the distillery.
The end of our tour included a tasting where Tony, our tour guide, explained more about the recipes. He explained the different brands get their flavor by the mix of grains in the mash, the way the barrel or wood is prepared and the age of maturation.
Our tasting included the major brands of WR: Bourbon, Malt Whiskey Wheat Whiskey, Rye Whiskey and Double Oaked Bourbon. Each had a slightly different flavor, spice and aroma. WR is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby so they make a special release each year for the Derby. Next year will be a special one because it is the 150th anniversary of the Kentucky Derby.
The ride home from Kentucky is quite long for us so we decided to drive 7 hours and stay overnight in Charlotte. This gave my crazy bourbon loving hubby a chance to check out a liquor store near there that he learned about from a You Tube Bourbon guy. This store has several barrel picks of good bourbons and holds a raffle once in a while for a chance to buy very rare bourbons. All I can say is I see more trips in my future to Charlotte so now we have St Martin and Charlotte in my bourbon lovers shopping rotation. It’s certainly warmer in St Martin so that gets my vote. Alex got 2 bottles at the liquor store – Wilderness Trail barrel pick and Benchmark single barrel (the lowest end Buffalo Trace product) to add to our full backseat of bourbon. Please no smoking near our car or we’re up in flames! After our short stop we continued another 3 hours home.
That’s it for this short adventure. Next up is a trip to Florida in January after time with family over the holidays. We’re not completely planned for January but it’s coming along with a mix of things – 2 short cruises, one on Virgin and one on RCCL Liberty, some time at Singer Island, a stop at Hard Rock Hollywood and of course, the Formy Open in Palm Beach Gardens. As a teaser we’re thinking of another big trip in Fall 2024 to tick off visits to more of the 50 states in the US. This short trip took us to 6 states but most of them we’ve already been too. We’ve got lots to visit in the Northwest and Midwest so we’re beginning to think about a road trip.
Until then….happy holidays!
