KENTUCKY BOURBON TRAIL - DAY 1

From northern Tennessee, we drove north on I-75 into Kentucky.  After a lunch stop and a fuel stop, we arrived at Elkhart Campground in Frankfort Kentucky ( just outside Lexington) about 3:30.   Lucky to get another campsite backing onto a river (the Elkhorn) where our campsite neighbors are enjoying fishing, swimming and kayaking.  We met up with Melinda and Joe to spend the week here and use it as a homebase for our visits to the  Kentucky Bourbon Trail.  Melinda and Joe joined us for happy hour at our campsite and we planned our visit to Jim Beam distillery. 

Melinda had a wonderful smoked brisket dinner (thank you Joe for the brisket) with all the sides for us at their campsite.  Looking forward to our first bourbon tour tomorrow at Jim Beam!

 

 

A one hour trip to Clermont, Kentucky for our Jim Beam tour took us to a vast campus of multiple buildings.  We started our tour in the gift shop and were amazed at the number of people and the amount of merchandise - this was a way bigger tourist operation that we expected. 

Chocolates, hats, everything bourbon!

 

Our tour started off on a a mini-bus with a guide who gave us a history of the family (seven, or is it eight? generations!) of the Beam family.  We visited multiple buildings on the property where we learned first what the requirements are for calling a liquor "bourbon" and how it is produced.  We learned a LOT!  One of the most interesting things for me was learning that the tannins are removed from the oak staves before the oak barrels are assembled (as opposed to wine that want the tannins) by seasoning the wood outside for 6-9 months.  Then the barrels are charred to crystallize the sugars in the wood sap where the bourbon is aged.  These charred barrels are used only once for bourbon,  They are then resold/recycled to age multiple products from Louisiana hot sauce to wine and rum. 

The requirements for "bourbon"  Made in USA, aged in charred oak barrels, max 125 proof.

Melinda and Joe help to "pour" a glass of bourbon from a 53 gallon, 550 lb. cask.

The differences in proof between basic Jim Beam, Knob Creek and Basil Hayden.  

The vast mash production vats

We visited the warehouse where the barrels are stored while the bourbon is aging and learned that the exact center of the warehouse both vertically and horizontally is the sweet spot where the temperature and humidity is the best - and so this is where the specialty bourbons are aged.  The regular bourbons are composed of a mix of the various areas in different areas of the warehouse.

Joe affixing his thumbprint into his personalized bottle of specialty bourbon.

After the tour (would it ever end so we could get to the good stuff?), we had a tasting of the core Jim Beam bourbons plus one of our own choosing.  We each had our opinions on what we liked and had the opportunity to purchase our favorites.  We came away with only one bottle, but we saw others with many, many more!

Tastings of Jim Beam, small batch Basil Hayden, Knob Creek and one of our choosing.

Had a nice lunch at the Kitchen Table restaurant on the Jim Beam grounds, then headed back to the campground, just in time for happy hour.

A wonderful day - great weather, good friends, a few drinks, lots of stories.  Life is good.