OK.....You'll be happy to know this is finally the last of my vacation posts! Makes me think about the cartoons of people who bring out the slide projector and all of their vacation photos to entertain their guests to the point of boredom.
Heaven Hill Distillery and home of the Bourbon Heritage CenterEach of these buildings is packed from top to bottom with barrels of bourbon!
20,000 barrels per building!!!
Here is one row, as we walk along learning about them. 
Plumb bobs hang between rows to help them ballance the entire building as they bring them in and stack them.
Oak barrels with poplar bungs are used here. This is barrel number 5,000,000!
They age their bourbon 8,12,18 or 23 years. At the end of 8 years the barrel has lost 47% of its volume, so by the end of 23 years there are only inches of whiskey left in the barrel....but very good whiskey!
This is a poor picture, but she is holding a cattail! If they find a leak around the head of the barrel, they soak cattail stems or leaves in water to soften them and shove them into the leak and plug it! A bit of nature with the whiskey :-)
The tasting room. Two different bourbons, water, and the two little bottles of stuff to sniff to clear your nasal passages. One smells like orange and the other eucalyptus. We looked at the color, smelled it, tasted it, added 5 drops of water and tasted again. Interesting, but too strong for me straight! We tasted the 12 and the 18 year old. The special old bottles cost $350 a bottle!
This was where the Heaven Hill tour leaves you.
20,000 barrels per building!!!
Here is one row, as we walk along learning about them. Plumb bobs hang between rows to help them ballance the entire building as they bring them in and stack them.
Oak barrels with poplar bungs are used here. This is barrel number 5,000,000!They age their bourbon 8,12,18 or 23 years. At the end of 8 years the barrel has lost 47% of its volume, so by the end of 23 years there are only inches of whiskey left in the barrel....but very good whiskey!
This is a poor picture, but she is holding a cattail! If they find a leak around the head of the barrel, they soak cattail stems or leaves in water to soften them and shove them into the leak and plug it! A bit of nature with the whiskey :-)
The tasting room. Two different bourbons, water, and the two little bottles of stuff to sniff to clear your nasal passages. One smells like orange and the other eucalyptus. We looked at the color, smelled it, tasted it, added 5 drops of water and tasted again. Interesting, but too strong for me straight! We tasted the 12 and the 18 year old. The special old bottles cost $350 a bottle!This was where the Heaven Hill tour leaves you.
At Maker's Mark you get a different part of the process.
The huge vats of mash bubbling away. Maker's Mark uses corn and winter wheat.
The yeast was really working and sometimes it would really boil and bubble while we stood there watching!
Gleaming copper distilling tanks
Mike dipping his small bottles of whiskey in the red wax that is their trademark.
All of their buildings are black with red trim. I liked the shutters with the cut-out of the shape of a Maker's Mark bottle.
The top of a building on the property that I liked.
The huge vats of mash bubbling away. Maker's Mark uses corn and winter wheat.The yeast was really working and sometimes it would really boil and bubble while we stood there watching!
Gleaming copper distilling tanks All of their boubon is 8 years old.
They no longer bottle it on this site except for these small size bottles
Mike dipping his small bottles of whiskey in the red wax that is their trademark.
All of their buildings are black with red trim. I liked the shutters with the cut-out of the shape of a Maker's Mark bottle.
The top of a building on the property that I liked.Now that we've "rolled out the barrel", the fun is over and so is vacation.
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15 comments:
I am going to be sad to say goodbye to your vacation. I have enjoyed my armchair traveling with you and have enjoyed your photographs, every one of them. Interesting about the distillery and about the use of the cattail.
Not boring in the least! I enjoyed every place you went, especially the quilt barns and the bourbon. Learned lots of new stuff too. Good photos also.
Great pictures!! Not at all boring...I think I'd like to go there myself and take the tour!!
Thanks so much for taking us along again Mary. Very interesting. When you can't go yourself all these neat bloggers tours help to extend the vacation season.
About that storm last night. The wind was pretty strong, and there probably was an hours difference between you and me as the wind blows. We had allot of lightening and thunder too. Our poor dog was really upset. He goes into the bathroom and ruffles up the rug I have on the floor in front of the tub. Maybe his mother once told him that during a bad storm you should go to the most interior room of the house.LOL
Sniff. Over already? No!!!
Head back and bring us some more! Now! I so enjoyed your trip!
Cheers, Klaus
An interesting tour! All sparkling clean. I love the old casks. Quite the process ... and what a price for that aged product!!
I have enjoyed the post from your vacation, too...at least the last few. I need to catch up on so many that I missed there for a few days.
I like the top of that building, too and like the idea of everything being black and red.
Thank you everyone. Be careful what you ask for....we have several short trips planned this year, since we didn't take a long distance trip :-) Tomorrow will be back to birds and flowers and home.
Becky:My cats weren't very happy with the storm either! I was pleased to not see any trees or limbs down this morning.
Cicero: Definitely! Can't imagine paying $350 for bottle of bourbon! My taste buds would not know the difference, I'm sure :-)
Very interesting! Did it reek?
Well thanks for pulling out your slide projector and I really enjoyed your "point of view" as to what you were seeing. Great series. Now...did you bring us all back a bottle of bourbon? I'll be out later but you can leave it on the porch.
thanking you in advance...~~~
You are righ about people showing slides of the family being boring Mary, but that is the last thing I can say about what you have posted here. They have been extremely interesting and full of wonderful information. I love this last one, but I would have thought that they put the cattail in dry as the bourbon would wet it and make it expand to fill the hole. This is much the same with sisal which we use to seal taps or water connections. Thank you for sharing your holiday with us, it has been wonderful!!
Boy I would have loved to have been there with you on that little trip!! I would have loved a taste of that! Agreed, the little bit of water is better! Thanks Mary!
Great way to end your trip Mary, really enjoyed reading your posts.
Rod: You could smell the bourbon in the storage houses and they had several demonstration places where you could "sniff" the different years. It was strong occasionally, but you got used to it.
Sandy: Well, unfortunately, I don't know your address, so we will just hang on to your bottle :-).....maybe.
Joan: I think the soaking was just to make it pliable for inserting it.
Eve: Well, actually I'm more of a bourbon and 7up drinker, if I'm having bourbon. I know...wimp.
Mike: We had a good time and I certainly didn't have trouble finding things to post. Now what do I do??
I'm not a whiskey drinker but I would still find that tour interesting. It's also interesting that they use cattails to plug leaks.
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