Sippin

Our caravan is on a serious study of bourbon so we started with a master class in this unique American beverage. Jimmy Russell is the Master Distiller of Wild Turkey in the “true American spirit that was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky.” He has worked there since 1954 and has been honored with a bourbon bearing his name (see below). Kentucky distills 95% of the world’s bourbon.

From him we learned that, by law, bourbon must be 51% corn; rye and barley malt come next. The maximum proof must be 160. No flavor or color may be added. Each batch is aged in new oak barrels for a minimum of five years. The old barrels are used for wine and scotch.

Jimmy is an educator who understands that hands on lessons are most effective so he brought six bourbons for a vertical tasting (Andrea wanted to know how much vertical we had to drink to find ourselves horizontal.) The bourbons we tasted increased in proof and smoothness. They were 101, Single Barrel, Rare Breed, Russell’s Reserve, Rye Whiskey, and American Honey. The last was sweet like a late harvest wine. Russell’s Reserve is Jimmy’s and we will be purchasing autographed copies of his label (and the bourbon too).

Expanding on Jimmy’s lesson, we made Wild Turkey our first stop on the Bourbon Trail.

Wild Turkey claims its secret to success is one yeast (over fifty years old), one recipe and one oak. They also use water from the Kentucky River. There our guide took us to the Fermentation Vats each holding 30,000 gallons of mash where the first thing we noticed was the strong scent of the yeast that targets the sugar releasing 6.5% alcohol and carbon dioxide. This process takes three days. The heat of the Still House separates more alcohol out to 130 proof, a clear liquid they call white dog. This is poured into charred oak barrels in the Cistern Room. Each barrel holds 53 gallons, one/third of which is lost during the six to twelve year aging process. The barrels are stored in tall warehouses which hold from 15,000 to 20,000 barrels each. Each barrel remains in place during its aging process. The varieties of bourbon are due to the natural rise and fall of heat and cold during the year and the height that the barrel is kept in the warehouse.

After our picnic lunch, we went to our next stop Four Roses which has been in operation since 1888. The romantic story of the name comes from founder Paul Jones, Junior’s attempts to propose. His future wife finally indicated she would marry him by wearing a corsage of four red roses.

Four Roses’ process is the same and yet different. They get their corn from Indiana (no genetic modified allowed), rye from Germany and barley in the USA. They distill twice to increase fermentation. Their water is from the Salt River. The bourbon is aged in single story buildings and each barrel is labeled with its location. They make ten batches which they blend into four labeled products. They also bottle to order from these barrels. When it was owned by Seagram’s, the bourbon was not sold in the US. New ownership sells to all but three states now.

Our guide said the best test for their corn was how it smells. The word for this is organoleptic. She had us use this test when we tasted three of their labels, Yellow Label which has all ten batches and is 80 proof, Small Batch which uses four batches and is 90 proof, and Single Barrel which is labeled with its exact barrel and is 100 proof.

After our day of responsible sipping,

we dined on salad, chicken and broccoli casserole, strawberry short cake and chocolate goodies made by our leader Ellen. Oh, and the bar is always open for those who want to sit back and relax. Our evening’s entertainment was horse racing. Horse #6 won two races earning its owners several quarters.