Angel Share

This past weekend has been my only chance to visit some of the attractions surrounding this part of Kentucky. My friend R and I decided that this was the perfect weekend to take a trip on the Bourbon Trail. The trail is a route that visits six of the ten distilleries located in Kentucky. Each distillery has a unique tour of it's facilities. We chose to visit Woodford Resrve, the oldest and smallest distillery that traces it's origins to 1797 when Elijah Pepper began distilling in Woodford County. The building and ground are a national landmark and it is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby...

Woodford Reserve Visitor Center

The 100 mile drive from Cave City winded through farmland and pastures pocked with weathered grey barns and silos. A hint of fall was already in the air and a few of the Poplar tree leaves have begun to turn. A two lane twisty road leads along a creek to the distillery grounds with a three foot tall fence of stacked limestone flanking the pavement. The visitor center for the complex is a grey siding building with a wrap around porch furnished with blue-black painted rockers in need of occupants. The inside of the visitor center has whitewashed pine ceilings and large exposed trusses. A dozen displays describe the history of woodford reserve and the process of making bourbon. A gift shop in the corner is filled with wares of every sort and plenty of adult beverage for purchase.

Distillery Building

The facilities had been abandoned in the sixties then purchased and rehabilitated by the same company that owns Jack Daniels in 1990.  There are several limestone buildings on the property that dated back to 1812 and were painstakingly renovated. There is one warehouse onsite that stores 5000 barrels which seems quite alot but in comparison Jack Daniels distillery has 34 warehouses with up to 52,000 barrels in each, hence the wood reserve. (and the higher price). Each barrel contains 52 gallons of the 158 proof whiskey to be aged.

the 3 copper stills

We were taken to the distillery and shown the vats of sourmash and the fermenting process. The mixture of corn, malt, and rye, along with the calcium rich Kentucky water makes for a heck of a smell.  The mash is cured in 10' diameter by 15' deep vats that bubble with the co2 gas created during the fermenting. Woodford is the only distillery that uses copper stills in it's distilling process. 
The guide then led us to the warehouse that stores the barrels for aging. What a interesting aroma, the bourbon in it's charred white oak barrels, the humid Kentucky air.....the barrels are stacked clear to the ceiling in racks, a system of steam pipes runs along the warehouse floor allowing the master distiller to heat and cool the warehouse as needed. The thermal changes are necessary to let the whiskey into the charred oak as it expands and shrinks. This letting gives bourbon the amber color and select taste enjoyed by many. During this process about 40% of the whiskey evaporates, this is called the "Angel Share"