The Beam family tree.
Tour time.
Our tour guide was Kayla. She took us first to the well-house. Good bourbon needs good water.
Then we followed with the grains, mash, fermentation, still, and then the white dog. We got to sample the dog. Strong stuff.
A barrel of Single Barrel Knob Creek was on the porch today. Bruce volunteered to help with this portion of the tour. He turned the barrel until the bourbon poured out the bung hole, then demonstrated the amber color to the group. He had the first taste.
Now the real treat. Bruce along with others of the group was able to bottle their own bottle of Single Barrel Knob Creek. First he chooses a bottle and markes it. Then the bottle was washed with whiskey, then placed on the line. Then the filler, capper, and sealer. Bruce's bottle was the first bottle and had a red dot on the side. Next, he took his bottle to the wax where an employee dipped and turned the wax sealant. Bruce then put his thumbprint on the wax. $52.00 later it was all his.
Now we are off to the warehouse. Kayla told us there are more barrels of whiskey in Kentucky than there are people. We went to Warehouse D. Nine stories of barrels. One of over 70 such warehouses.
Finally the tasting. This was quite a high tech process. We were given credit like cards with a chip. You were allowed three tastings. Once you decided what you wanted to taste you inserted the card and pressed a button and you received your sample. Unfortunately, I am not as high tech because I messed up my pictures in the tasting room. Maybe it was the good bourbon.
We were allowed to keep our glasses as a souvenir. By chance, we found out that Joshua Rice, the gentleman at the front desk is also a graphic designer and had designed our glasses.
What a great start to our Tour. Next, we went to Four Roses. This was their bottling lines and warehouse area. The distillery is on another property. The cost of this tour was $5.00. It turned out to be a private tour as we were the only ones there at the time. It was interesting to learn about the history of Four Roses. At one time it was bought out by Seagram's and they made a blended whiskey. I remember that it was not exactly top shelf. Now it is owned by a Japanese firm, Kirin Company, and they again are making quality Bourbon. Much is exported to Japan. The bourbon is trucked in, barrelled and stored here. They have two bottling lines, one high speed and a second low speed with may hands-on activities. Once again we had a nice tasting of three of their products.
Our final stop today was the Bourbon Heritage Center/Heaven Hill. This was not a tour, but a very nice talk, tasting, and chocolates. It was very interesting and we had at least five tastings, maybe six. Sorry, I lost track. It was a good day.
Along the way to the Heritage Center we passed another larger than life animal.
Wonder what tomorrow will bring.
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