We started the day driving through downtown Lexington and then driving through horse farm country. Very picturesque. We made it to the Woodford Reserve distillery and took a tour. Marty mentioned that 95% of the bourbon in the world is made within an 80 mile radius of this distillery (which dates from around 1812). The reason is the water—limestone makes it rich in minerals and poor in metals like iron and that is the best water for whiskey, apparently.
The tour was quite interesting. The bubbling mash was a little scary. Those barrels are 2 stories high! We learned a lot about making whiskey. Bourbon has to be at least 51% corn. Woodfords is 62% corn, 18% rye (which gives it spicy tastes), and 10% malted barley. It is aged in charred white oak barrels which give it color and wood and sweet flavors.
Copper stills were traditional at Woodford.
In the aging warehouse, which is made of local limestone, it smells very whiskey-ish. They call the evaporate “the angel’s portion.” They lose up to 1/4 of the volume of the barrel to evaporation but it turns out that it’s mostly water, so the remaining whiskey is more flavorful.
After the tour, we headed to Louisville and checked into our hotel. We met up with Tricia who showed us downtown Louisville and the Falls of the Ohio on the Indiana side of the river.
The below is not a great picture, but we were part of an art exhibit in a hotel in Louisville. There were letters falling and our projected selves could hold them up. Very fun. Charlie wanted to go back.
Statue of a mayor.
Steamboat on the river with Tricia.
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