Another free day, another bourbon distillery. Again, I'm gonna try to see them all eventually (when you do, you get a free glass!), but I was also excited for stop #2 in and of itself, because I have good memories with Bulleit Bourbon - it's one of the first I had after coming to Louisville.
The Bulleit situation is a bit confusing; they have two facilities you can go to, this one being the newer and farther out one, but both count for the same spot on the Bourbon Trail Passport (the document that you eventually exchange for said free glass), so I guess you only have to go to one of the two for it to count? In any case, I headed down late morning for my tour.
Initially, I was the only person on the tour, and the guide's name was also Matt, but two others showed up about a minute late and joined on as we were still in the first hallway, where a bit of company history was presented:
Next, we got on a bus and drove out to the main facility:
Within that main building, we then went through all the basics of the bourbon making process:
We didn't head into one of their actual warehouses and see the barrels as they aged, which I'd cite as the biggest weakness of this particular tour. You see on the busride all of these huge sprawling buildings, but only visit the front side of one of them.
We then returned to the building we'd started in for the tasting:
They pair each selection with a scent, which really added something to it. Not to mention the bourbon itself is phenomenal. While the "regular" bourbon and rye were simply good, the barrel-strength was incredible. That would be worth going out of your way to get a bottle of. It's a tasty bourbon.
On my way out, I again stopped in the town proper for a quick lunch and to see the classic small town main street vistas of Shelbyville:
I work at a bourbon distillery. As such, I've wanted to see more of the Bourbon Trail, the collection of distilleries in Kentucky that offer tours, for awhile now. Eventually I plan to see them all, though they may not all end up here on this blog - some are just in downtown Louisville, hardly an "excursion" - but several are a significant drive away, including and especially the first one I've checked off, the O.Z. Tyler Distillery in Owensboro, KY.
O.Z. Tyler, as with many spots on the Trail, is both new and old, tracing its bourbon's lineage back many generations but also acknowledging that the distillery itself, the current production, has only been in place a couple of years.
The public-facing area - the gift shop, the starting point for tours, etc. - was recessed back a ways into the complex, necessitating several signs to guide me into the right spot:
Once the tour group had all arrived, we set off, seeing first the open-air building where the still and fermentation tanks are kept:
Then, we headed over to one of the rickhouses to see the barrels:
Those eyeball-looking barrels were actually barreled during the 2017 eclipse, and the paintings show the position of the sun at the moment of their barreling. Neat!
We then went to the building where they house their proprietary sonic-wave technology, which they use essentially as a filter for their bourbon. Sadly, there are no photos allowed in this part of the tour.
Then, of course, we finished off with a tasting:
Our guide, Karen, is behind the bar in the upper right. She did an excellent job corralling us and projecting over the noisiness of the still and fermentation building.
A few more shots as I was leaving:
The tour was fun, and very different from my experience giving tours in a downtown Louisville environment. Having all of these large buildings spread out and having to kind of journey between each one was great. However, I have to say, I was underwhelmed by the actual product. They only age their bourbon one year, far below the industry standard of four, which they say is mitigated by their sonic-wave filtration process, but I can't agree. Everything I drank tasted and smelled like the young whiskey it was.
I also took the time to see some of Owensboro itself, though it was too late in the day to do any museums or things like that. Luckily, there is a beautiful riverfront:
