Is it strange that the highlight of our visit to Kentucky was a factory tour? Not if its the Buffalo Trace Distillery tour. Simply put: the greatest tour we have ever experienced!
The overcast skies were a bit daunting as we drove the tree covered lane to the distillery. Despite the poor weather, it is easy to see that this is a beautiful location.
Endless rows of old buildings, with open windows exposed to the elements, are filled floor to ceiling with barrels of liquid gold. We walked around admiring the buildings and the history, before our tour began, and we were simply amazed at the size of this distillery.
Once in the warm and dry confines of the Welcome Center, we were met by our tour guide. Boy, did we luck out. Freddie is an institution at Buffalo Trace. There are 9 different tours offered several times per day. We were scheduled for The Trace Tour, and Freddie ended up being our perfect guide.
We started walking around the exterior of the buildings just as the rain started to come down. Our first stop was the barrel room, where Freddie spoke so eloquently as to the care and effort that goes into making the perfect barrel.
We then stepped in to one of the many barrel aging buildings, where Freddie talked about the distilling process, and the ingredients that are used to make Bourbon. The most interesting part was the explanation as to why aged Bourbon is so expensive. They had a display of barrels that shows how much actual Bourbon remains in a barrel as it ages. The 2-year barrel has lost 15% of the Bourbon through evaporation. The 18-year old barrel looked almost empty. So, a barrel of aged Bourbon loses a considerable amount to evaporation, thereby resulting in far fewer bottles available to sell.
Our walk along the endless rows of barrels was highlighted by Freddie's explanations of the aging process.
OK. Enough of the rain and the elements. Time for a tasting. Heading back to the beautiful Tasting Room within the Welcome Center, we passed by a wall of honor, that included a mention of our tour guide. Freddie is a 3rd generation employee at the distillery.
The Tasting Room was where the magic happened. Freddie was very deliberate in giving us instructions on how to properly taste and appreciate bourbon. His instructions were so very helpful in maximizing this experience. It was without judgement and without any sense of elitism. He repeatedly stated that each individual has unique tastes, and everyone should drink Bourbon the way they enjoy it the most. Without him, this tasting would have still been great. However, his careful and helpful descriptions really brought out the best in this tasting. This is not a distillery tour. It was a brief course on the appreciation of Bourbon.
We were lucky to try the following samples, including a vodka made here, as well as their own root beer. Of course, Blantons was our favorite.
In the corner of the tasting room was a table, covered with a cloth. Freddie explained that every day at the distillery, only a very few bottles of select bourbon are available for sale. These highly sought-after bottles sell out within minutes of the doors opening. He explained that since we were part of the tour, and as appreciation for us taking the time to visit, they set aside one special bottle of Blantons per tour guest. He then uncovered the table, where there were 16 bottles of Blantons. He invited those of us who were interested to grab a bottle and pay for it downstairs in the gift shop. My wife and I nearly knocked people down running to the table to get our bottles. I was shocked to see that only 5 or 6 bottles had been taken - I wanted to bribe people to buy them for us. In the gift shop, we had to purchase the bottles separately. They asked for our IDs, which they scanned into the computer. They advised us that purchases were tracked, and that we were not allowed to purchase another bottle of Blantons there for the next three months. That is how big of a demand it is to get this Bourbon.
What an amazing tour and experience. We wanted to come back the next day to do another tour, but it is time to go home. And we are returning home with perhaps our favorite souvenirs of all time!
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