Bourbon Trail
Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:45 pm
For the Bourbon Lovers out there, have you done the bourbon trail?
I got to go through the bourbon trail this past weekend. Didn't hit everything, but hit some good ones.
Copper still at Willet Distillery. Copper is typically used because it can remove some tannins that may or may not cause headaches or hangovers.
Large vat with fermenting mash.
Only oak barrels can be used for bourbon and the barrels cannot be reused. Outside of the mash bill (recipe), the majority of the flavor comes from the oak barrels. Barrels stored vertically typically are not rotated. The barrels at the top where it is the hottest are usually aged 3-4 years and end up as your cheaper bourbon. Middle section is usually aged 7-10 years while the lower racks where it is the coldest can be stored and aged for over 20 years some less some more. These barrels can lose up to 10% to evaporation the first year. A little less each subsequent year. Barrels that have aged 10 years may only have half the barrel left when they open it. I'll let you decide if it is half full or half empty. A bottle of Pappy 23 may only have the very bottom of the barrel left by the time they open it which is the main cause of longer aging whiskies costing so much. Some barrels that are opened after 20 years can even be empty.
Rickhouse or Rackhouse. These are the storage facilities of the barrels where the aging takes place. A byproduct of this process is a fungus that darkens everything within a mile. Trees especially. Some pressure wash, some paint their Rickhouses black, others just let it go. During prohibition, the authorities could easily tell the buildings that were aging whiskies by the black fungus growing on the outside. So people started painting their sheds black. Eventually, whole communities had black sheds even if they were not aging whiskey to help out their friends and neighbors.
Blackened trees
One of my favorite stops was Castle and Key. Not for the whiskey. They need several years to get that stuff right. This was the old E.H. Taylor that was bought out by what is now known as Buffalo Trace. Then Jim Bean bought the facility and let it go. All grown over and lost in the woods. Castle and Key has bought it and invested millions to bringing it back to life. One of the most magical places I have been. Just stunning.
The old water key on the facility.
Our last stop was the Whiskey Thief. Where you could use the thief and fill your own bottle of your favorite.
I got to go through the bourbon trail this past weekend. Didn't hit everything, but hit some good ones.
Copper still at Willet Distillery. Copper is typically used because it can remove some tannins that may or may not cause headaches or hangovers.
Large vat with fermenting mash.
Only oak barrels can be used for bourbon and the barrels cannot be reused. Outside of the mash bill (recipe), the majority of the flavor comes from the oak barrels. Barrels stored vertically typically are not rotated. The barrels at the top where it is the hottest are usually aged 3-4 years and end up as your cheaper bourbon. Middle section is usually aged 7-10 years while the lower racks where it is the coldest can be stored and aged for over 20 years some less some more. These barrels can lose up to 10% to evaporation the first year. A little less each subsequent year. Barrels that have aged 10 years may only have half the barrel left when they open it. I'll let you decide if it is half full or half empty. A bottle of Pappy 23 may only have the very bottom of the barrel left by the time they open it which is the main cause of longer aging whiskies costing so much. Some barrels that are opened after 20 years can even be empty.
Rickhouse or Rackhouse. These are the storage facilities of the barrels where the aging takes place. A byproduct of this process is a fungus that darkens everything within a mile. Trees especially. Some pressure wash, some paint their Rickhouses black, others just let it go. During prohibition, the authorities could easily tell the buildings that were aging whiskies by the black fungus growing on the outside. So people started painting their sheds black. Eventually, whole communities had black sheds even if they were not aging whiskey to help out their friends and neighbors.
Blackened trees
One of my favorite stops was Castle and Key. Not for the whiskey. They need several years to get that stuff right. This was the old E.H. Taylor that was bought out by what is now known as Buffalo Trace. Then Jim Bean bought the facility and let it go. All grown over and lost in the woods. Castle and Key has bought it and invested millions to bringing it back to life. One of the most magical places I have been. Just stunning.
The old water key on the facility.
Our last stop was the Whiskey Thief. Where you could use the thief and fill your own bottle of your favorite.
