Only 1 more day to go and it’s the weekend for us!!!  The internet works better when 200 campers leave.  So to continue on with last Thursday’s journey, we went to Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, KY for their tour (cost $7.00).  It was a beautiful drive thru horse farms to get to the distillery, which is also a National Historic Landmark.  The tour was excellent, as we were able to see a few things we have not experienced before.

Woodford Reserve -Versailles, KY

One nice part of the tour was everyone was given headphones, so we could clearly hear what the tour guide was saying.  He started out discussing what makes a bourbon, and the 5 sources of flavor (grains, water, yeast, copper pot distilling, and aging in barrels).  Woodford Reserve has one recipe, and one bourbon, all distilled in small batches.

5 sources of flavor

Woodford Reserve is the only distillery in Kentucky that triple distills their bourbon, which creates a smoother taste.

triple distilled at Woodford Reserve

We were able to watch an employee hand stamp all their barrels with their logo, as well as the date, as they were filling the barrels while we were there.

in 6-8 years, todays barrels will be ready to drink!

filling the barrels at Woodford Reserve

After the bourbon goes thru the 3 copper pot stills, it goes into a barrel.  The barrels are then sent down what looks like railroad tracks, to the only surviving limestone aging warehouse in the United States.

barrels go down these rails after bottling

from filling to the warehouse

only limestone warehouse in Kentucky

limestone barrel warehouse

Inside the warehouse are hundreds of barrels, just waiting for the right time, usually 6-8 years.

barrel warehouse – Woodford Reserve

When the master distiller determines the bourbon in the barrels has reached its full maturity, those barrels are taken from the warehouse and brought into the bottling area.  An employee uses a lift to place the barrels on a trough, and then drills out the barrel stop, rolls the barrel over, and the bourbon drains out.

drilling out the cork – barrel is ready to bottle!

You can see the bourbon pouring out of the barrel below on the right.

bourbon fresh out of the barrel

The bourbon then goes to these large tanks for filtering, mixing and then on to bottling.

from barrel to blending/filtering tanks

bottling, labeling, packaging

The tour was great, and we really enjoyed the Woodford Reserve bourbon.  Plus, we got to keep the RV friendly acrylic glass that our sample came in!

bottoms up!

After Woodford Reserve, it was off to our final stop for the day, at the Town Branch Distillery in Lexington, KY.  This distillery is new to the Bourbon Trail for 2013.  They have both whiskey, and craft beer.

Town Branch Distillery in Lexington

We toured both the brewery, and then the distillery, which is only operating part-time now, as it is new.  The brewery uses an old 1940’s bottling machine for their beer.  It reminded me of an old episode of Laverne and Shirley.

1940’s bottling machine

Their bourbon was okay, but they had excellent craft beer.  The best that we tasted was Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale.  They take their Ale beer, and then put it into used bourbon barrels, for 6 weeks of aging.  It was one of the best tasting beers we have ever had.  They said they are now selling their beer in Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin.  So if you have a chance to purchase their beer, I would recommend it!  It comes in a 4-pack, and was a bit pricey down here at $11.99.  But it was very tasty.

They also have a Kolsch-style beer, regular Kentucky Ale, and a hoppy IPA.  We also liked the Kolsch-style beer (can’t be called just Kolsch, as it was not made in Germany).  It was a lighter style of beer.

All in all, it was a good day working our way around Kentucky.  Only 2 more distilleries to go, to complete our passport.

Quote for the day:  “I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” Lucille Ball

This weekend at the state park was sold out, due to their annual Halloween festivities.  I knew it was going to be an interesting weekend when our neighbor came over and asked Dan for help moving his coffins!

Friday night they had a folk singer and a storyteller for the kids, plus hot chocolate and a bonfire.  Saturday was the big day for the kids.  In the afternoon, they had a lot of games and craft activities.  Plus a costume and decorating contest.  We had to work, but did make it home in time for trick-or-treat.  Makena wore her Packers jersey, and received many compliments.  We really didn’t know how much to plan for candy, and we did run out.  Duck Hunters seemed to be a popular costume for the boys, and there were two girls that dressed up as I-phones, and they had photos of each other on the corner of the phone (face-time!).  Very creative costumes.

At night they had a DJ playing music, and “spooky golf” in their mini golf area.  The big event for the adults was the decorating contest.  These folks really go all out with their decorating.  Enjoy the photos of some of the rigs:

Quote for the day:  “A grandmother pretends she doesn’t know who you are on Halloween.” – Erma Bombeck

Probably the number one question that we have received, is “how will you get your mail?” Since it was just Columbus Day, and you didn’t get mail, I thought we would have a topic on mail.  When we decided to change our residency to South Dakota, we set up a service with a Mail Forwarding Company.  There are a number of companies in SD, Texas and Florida that work with full-time RV’ers to handle their mail and other paperwork.   After searching several companies, and talking with the people who work at those companies, we went with MyDakotaAddress.com, in Madison, SD.

downtown Madison, SD

We have been very happy with the service that we have received so far.  As with all the companies we checked into, they offer several options for service.  We chose to receive our mail once a month, as we already receive and pay all of our bills on-line.  We have switched several magazines to an IPad app, so we do not receive much important regular mail anymore.  We pay $76.00 for 13 months, plus actual postage costs.  Once a month I send an e-mail requesting our mail, and give them our current address, and about 3 days later we receive a large package from the post office.  If we needed something quicker, they will send the mail via FedEx or UPS.

You can also have your mail sent twice a month, weekly, or have them send you an e-mail each day that you receive a piece of mail.  It’s whatever you want to spend, as each level of service costs more.  In addition to the mail service, they will also take care of our vehicle and RV registrations, and helped us set up our voter registration and change in residency/drivers license forms.

When we arrived in South Dakota, it took us a grand total of 1 1/2 hours to set up our new mailing address, register to vote, change over vehicle titles, get license plates and new drivers license.  It was a very efficient process, and Terri Lund at MyDakotaAddress was a huge help in completing all the paperwork for us.  I would definitely recommend them if anyone is in need of a mailing service.

Just to update what we have been up to:

Makena wants to thank everyone for their comments and e-mails regarding the blog post she did.  She wants everyone to know she has agreed not to stand on the kitchen table.  We also have a couple that is letting her out while we are on our 10 hour days, Saturday – Tuesday, 6:30am – 5:00pm.  We let their dogs out, as they work 2nd shift, which is from 5:30pm – 3:30am.

no table…while they are home

The park has been filling up on the weekends, and is booked solid these next 2 weekends for their Halloween festivities.  After that, it is closed to the public.

Amazon is up to 310 workampers that have started, and has 5 more groups to bring in, about 50 a week.  As pickers, we are expected to do 85% of what a regular full-time picker does.  In other words, if they pick 100 items an hour, we are expected to pick 85 items.  They give you until your fourth week to try to get up to speed.  Yesterday, after week 3, they posted our numbers.  Dan is at 108%, and I am at 125%.  We are both fast walkers, so I think that is why are numbers are so high.  Everyone has been very nice, and helpful.  The hardest part is just getting to know where everything is.  I am also having a hard time when my scanner has me picking automotive parts (what is a solenoid?), and some hunting/fishing items.  Now when my scanner has me picking housewares, I just grab the item without hesitation!

It’s raining today, so we just are having a leisurely day.  We are looking at some brochures to see what to do the next few days.  We hope everyone is doing well.

Quote for the Day:  I  also hate those holidays that fall on a Monday where you don’t get mail, those  fake holidays like Columbus Day. What did Christopher Columbus do, discover  America? If he hadn’t, somebody else would have and we’d still be here. Big  deal.  John  Waters
 

Yea, it’s our day off, so we went back into “tourist mode”.  Kentucky is the Bourbon capital of the world, so we visited two of the many distilleries in the area.  They now have “micro” distilleries as well.  First, a little history on Bourbon.  Back in the 1780’s, one of Kentucky’s first counties was named Bourbon County.  When they whiskey was being shipped to other areas, Bourbon was stamped on the barrels, to identify the point of origin.  People then started asking for that “bourbon” whiskey, and the rest is history.  All bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon.  By law, bourbon can only be produced in the US, made with at least 50% corn grain, and aged a minimum of two years in brand new charred, white oak barrels.  The barrels can only be used once, and then most of the bourbon barrels are sent to Scotland, to make Scotch whisky.  Notice I left off the “e”.  Now comes the English lesson.  The general rule of thumb in spelling Whiskey/whisky is based on the origin where it is produced.  If there is an “e” in the country (like United States, Ireland), then there is an “e” in whiskey.  No “e” in the country (Canada, Scotland), means no ‘e’ in whisky.  There are exceptions however, as in our first tour, to Makers Mark.  They do not use an ‘e’.  I have inserted a lot of photos below.  As with all the photos in the blog, you can double-click them to make them bigger for viewing.

Makers Mark, Loretto, KY

Makers Mark is a widely known brand, but it is still made in small batches.  They age their barrels just under 6 years, and blend the barrels to make a smoother product.  They offer tours with tastings for $7.  Now for the cooking class lesson on how bourbon is made (trying to keep these blogs educational!) In simple terms, the grain (always 50% minimun corn, and then other grains depending on the brand) is placed into mash pots, to grind and cook the grain, which becomes mash.

the “mash” pots @ Makers Mark

From the mash, the liquid is placed into fermentation pots and mixed with yeast for 3 days.  By day 3, the pot looks like oatmeal, but has a distinctive whiskey taste.  (and yes, they do let you stick your finger in for a sample!)

fermenting the mash – yummy

From the fermentation room, the liquid goes to the copper pots for distilling.  The remainder of the leftover grain mash goes to farmers to feed their cows.  I think there a lot of happy cows in Kentucky!

the distillery pots @ Makers Mark

The liquid in the pot starts at 140 degrees, and is cooled to 120 degrees at Makers Mark.  Right now, the product that goes into the barrel is commonly known as moonshine.  It is during the barrel aging process, that it becomes bourbon, and over time develops the caramel coloring from the charred wood barrel.

barrel aged bourbon @ Makers Mark

From the barrel, the liquid goes to bottling, labeling and packaging.

Bottling, labeling and dipping @ Makers Mark

Boxing up the goodies

(Pudge, I tried to put a mailing label on one of the boxes for you!!)  After all this, it was on to the tasting room!  Makers Mark has a big area designated for this, and goes in to the proper way to drink their product.  We sampled the “pre-barrel” whiskey (aka – moonshine or white dog), a regular Makers Mark, a whiskey that was aged too long (several folks said it tasted like scotch), and Makers 46, which they have been making for a few years.  It is a little smoother tasting because of the added wood they put in the barrel.

sampling room @ Makers Mark

tasty treats!

sampling at Makers Mark

Makers Mark is known for their signature hand dipped wax bottles.  After the tour is done, they do let you dip your own bottle that you purchase.  The below photo is from last year when we did this tour.  However, last year, they were shut down for cleaning, so we did not get to see the whole process, so we came back this year.

safety first – goggles, gloves, apron

hmm, a potential workamping job?

After Makers Mark, we headed to the Limestone Branch Distillery, in Lebanon, KY.  This is a new micro distillery that started in 2010.  Their entire operation is in one building.  The tour is free, and consists of going into the distillery, then going back out into the tasting area/gift shop.  Unlike Makers Mark which takes about 2 hours, this was 20 minutes!  This distillery was started by Steve and Paul Beam, and yes they are related to Jim Beam.  Cousins, I believe.

Limestone Distillery, Lebanon, KY

A micro-distillery. This is the entire operation!

The fermentation barrels hold 80 gallons, unlike the 1100 gallon barrels at Makers Mark.

tasting the fermented mash

We were the only people on the tour, a bonus of going to a micro-distillery.  They distill small batches of whiskey, in this 150 gallon copper pot still.

150 gallon still at Limestone Distillery

tasting room at Limestone Distillery

decisions, decisions…

Right now, they do not have any bourbon whiskey at this distillery.  By law, it must age a minimum of 2 years, and it will be late this year when the first barrel will be ready to taste.  They have “moonshine”, a sweet-shine, which is whiskey with sugar added, and they had several very tasty flavored whiskeys, including a seasonal pumpkin whiskey.   This place is only 9 miles from Makers Mark, so it is well worth the drive to do both together.  It was very interesting to see how the product is made.  And with the smaller distillery, you get a more personalized tour.

Quote for the day:  “Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake” – W.C. Fields