This year when my parents came up for "Spring Break," mom's Spring Break actually corresponded with mine, but of course being a staff member, I have to work or take vacation. I've got one trip already planned for May, so I can't exactly blow a whole bunch of vacation days right now. So I'm taking a couple of days off later in the week to enjoy their company. The first weekend started off with beautiful weather. Today, we started off with a small taste of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and went to Four Roses Distillery and Woodford Reserve. | Four Roses is a beautiful distillery, with it's Spanish Mission style architecture. It is located outside of Lawrenceburg, KY, in some wonderful rolling hills. As part of the tour, we got to see where they bring in the grain, the giant vats of liquid fermenting, the distillation setups. Of course, as much of it as possible located in oak barrels. It's fun though, touring the distilleries. I personally like checking out the distillation setups that are much MUCH larger than the ones I've used in O-Chem. |
Woodford Reserve makes the top-of-the-line bourbon in Kentucky. It is STRONG too. Like Four Roses, you can tour the distillery and learn about how bourbon is produced. Unlike Four Roses, Woodford Reserve bottles their bourbon into barrels on site, allows them to set on site, and bottles it on site. You get a much better feel of the full process of production at Woodford, or at least you get to see the oak bourbon barrels in action. On the way we went, one of the employees was even filling the barrels and manually moving them onto the track to be taken out to the barns were they will sit and age. |
Places I've Seen
If I have to drink bourbon, this is one I'd prefer, as it is a smooth and relatively "gentle" bourbon. Don't deny, you know part of drinking bourbon is the burning sensation as it goes down your throat. Four Roses has a wonderful tour, highlighting both the facilty's history and the bourbon making process. Like any other distillery, they of course offer a free tasting with the tour. Extra tid-bit, Four Roses used to be the last place to get alcohol before driving the 120 miles into Tennessee before Kentucky became "wet" again.
My second time visiting Woodford Reserve. The Distillery property is beautifully landscaped and opens on a wonderful creek running though the property. Wooden rocking chairs are spread around the tasting room, so that you can enjoy some bourbon while looking at some of the Kentucky hill country. I can't say I enjoy bourbon, Woodford Reserve in particular is extremely strong. When I have Woodford Reserve, I find it a must to include at least 3 ice cubes in my sample, that is of course if I can drink any of it.