Episode 3 - How is Bourbon Made? | Woodford Reserve Distillery Tour | Bucket List Vlog

I already posted about visting a Gun Range in Episode 2 from me and my girlfriend @azria 's 14 day road trip from New York to Kentucky and back.

The other thing we did, and its not a major one off the bucket list, but I think you guys here on Steemit might enjoy seeing how its made, is the Bourbon making process...

So if you didnt already know, All Bourbon is Whiskey, but not all Whiskey is Bourbon.

We went to the Woodford Reserve Distillery in Kentucky as Kentucky is the birthplace of Bourbon and where 95% of the whole worlds Bourbon is made.

There is a law that defines what constitutes a Bourbon, and thats;

• Must be at least 51% corn
• Must be aged in a brand new, aged, charred white oak barrel, and that barrel can only be used once
• Must be aged in the barrel for at least two years

At the start they told us that there are 5 ways that Bourbon gets its flavour;

• Fermentation - with a traditional jug yeast process
• Distillation - In 3 copper pot stills (where the term triple distilled comes from)
• The one the woman is covering in the picture and that I can't remember :P
• Grain - Rich and Spicy and High in Rye
• Water - Kentucky has special water that is filtered through lots of limestone, giving it a high mineral content, but low in Iron (which gives liquor a bad taste)

Here is one of the huge 7,500 gallon/ 28,000 litre "Jugs" of yeast fermenting.

From the top view. There is a bubbling from the fermentation process, not from heat.

You can see a C02 haze above the tanks, which is a by-product of the natural process.

We got to taste the "sour mash", it already tastes like whiskey at this stage but its not so strong and has a sour flavour.

Next up the mash is filtered and goes through each one of these "stills" made from copper. The copper is meant to change the flavour and draw out impurities. It also goes through heating, condensation and cooling in the stills to increase the "proof", the proof is just a measure double the percentage of alcohol, so 86 proof will give you a 43% alcohol Bourbon.

Bourbon is stored in Oak charred barrels that are only used one time for Bourbon. Bourbon is a clear spirit just like vodka before it is put in the barrel. Its the charring of the barrel that gives it the colour and the flavour. Charring is what it sounds like, the barrel is lightly burnt on the inside.

Barrels are then rolled on a mini train track to to be stored for the next two years.

The bourbon is left to age for at least two years in the barrel in huge racks. The Bourbon sinks into the wood about an inch and a half, really absorbing the wood and char flavours. Used barrels are usually sent to Scotland for Scotch or Mexico for Tequila, or storing coffee, tobacco and beer.

There is only one stage that isn't done in a traditional way, a mechanised production line does the labelling and bottling.

Some Bourbon flight tasting to finish it off at the end..

One bit made me laugh, where she goes, "now take a bite of the chocolate, then have a sip of the Bourbon, notice how the chocolate brings out the cocoa tones in the Bourbon"..

No Shit Sherlock! :P

So far I have ticked off..

Done

1. Get Motorbike License
2. Ride a Stand Up Jet Ski
3. Ride a Supercharged Jet Ski
4. Dune-bashing in the Desert
5. Enter a Motocross Race
6. Enter an Enduro Race
7. Get Hench
8. Deadlift 190kg
9. Stay in the Costa Rica Plane Hotel (Top 100 Hotels in world)
10. Learn to Surf
11. Start a Company
12. Go be a Digital Nomad in Chaing Mai
13. Travel to 10 countries
14. Try LSD
15. Scuba Dive with a Shark
16. Have first flying lesson
17. Do an American Road Trip
18. Go to a shooting range and shoot a Semi Auto rifle and 50cal hand gun
19. Go to Kentucky and Tour a Bourbon Distillery

To Do

1. Drive an F1 car
2. Skydive
3. Wingsuit
4. Basejump
5. Do Route 66 on a Harley or Muscle Car
6. Learn to Backflip a Standup Jet Ski
7. See a Sumo Wrestling Match in Japan
8. Forge my own sword
9. Get a pilots license (light aircraft)
10. Fly a stunt plane
11. Eat at the Fat Duck
12. Do the Gumball Rally in my own car
13. Go Rally Driving
14. Learn to backflip to flat
15. Freestanding Handstand Pressup
16. Squat 180kg
17. Have a professional photo done of me whilst hench
18. Do a full horizontal whip on a motocross bike
19. Do a controlled 5 second wheelie on a motorcycle
20. Go wild camping (i.e Canada)
21. Climb to Everest Base Camp
22. Snowmobile, build an Igloo and see northern lights
23. Own a company that pays me a £10k a month salery
24. Own a company that pays me a £1m a year salery
25. Sell a company for £20m+
26. Be able to retire at 30
27. Have an audience of 50k on a social media platform
28. Have an audience of 500k on a social media platform
29. Own a £500k home
30. Own a £1m home
31. Own a £3m home
32. Give £1000 to charity
33. Give £5000 to charity
34. Give £20,000 to charity
35. Pay for my mums retirement
36. Give Lizzy at least a 10x return on investment
37. Travel to 20 Countries
38. Travel to 30 Countries
39. Travel to Space
40. Go see Cirque Du Solail
41. Go to Berghain in Berlin
42. Go see the big wave surfing in Nazare, Portugal

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@ashleypeat

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