There are a couple of ways to get to Texas from Wisconsin. One route is to go via Illinois to Missouri, and then drop south in Oklahoma to Texas. The second route is to drop from Illinois through Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee to eastern Texas. The more scenic route is definitely the second one, and it will be more of a challenge towing but worth it. What you will find is that the campgrounds are more scenic and there is a distinct advantage when you enter Kentucky – Distillery Tour(s).
Our Campground was located in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, about sixty miles from our first distillery tour at Makers Mark. The trip to the distillery is interesting. The roads are in decent shape. However, you will wind back and forth as you travel upward through the hills of this back country. The trip will take longer than you would think for being sixty miles. That is primarily due to the winding roads and occasional encounters with logging trucks. On the bright side, this is a very beautiful ride. In October with the trees dressed in full fall colors, you will probably be tempted to skip the tour and just keep driving.
Makers Mark is a small batch distillery, which means they are brewing in less than 1000 gallon batches. Unlike other bourbon makers they use no rye in their batches, just winter wheat. Their bottles of 90 proof bourbon-whiskey are all sealed with a red wax which differentiates them from their competition and they actually have a patent on this red wax seal.
Makers Mark Beer – Never Happening!
Tour spots are granted on a first come-first serve basis, so it will be wise for you to book your visit on-line. The cost of the tour is $9.00 USD and will last around an hour. Quite a bit of the tour will take place outside so dress appropriately for the season.
For those of you who have done brewery tours of the beer variety – this is nothing like that. You will be much more up close and personal with the process.
Open Fermentation
During the tour you will walk right up to the large wooden containers of mash. These are openly fermenting and you can see, and smell, the yeast converting the sugars to alcohol in front of your eyes.
Makers Mark Distillery
Makers Mark Distillery
Barrels of Bourbon Aging
After seeing the batching process you will get a chance to see how barrels are constructed. They also have huge areas they use for aging the bourbon. There is a great deal of information on how the aging process is handled; and how they determine when the process is complete and ready for bottling.
Lastly, and most important is the tasting room. Prepare to be surprised at how much you may enjoy this part of the tour.
Tasting Room
This was not a rushed tasting by any means. The person that led the tasting gave a great deal of background on each of the four different varieties we tried. In addition, to tour members only, you could purchase a clear variety that was similar to “moonshine”. This really was an informative part of the tour.
The final stop on our tour was a part of the distillery where we could dip our own individual bottles in red wax and then purchase and pick them up in the gift shop as we left. I can’t say enough good things about this tour. It’s as up close and personal as you are going to get on any tour with great guides and beautiful grounds.
Next it was on to the Jim Beam Distillery which for us was on the way back to the campground.
The Jim Beam distillery tour was what I would describe as a little more “Corporate” than Makers Mark. I’m not saying that to take anything away from the tour. It is just a different approach on how to conduct a tour. Tour spots are first come first serve, you don’t need a reservation. The tour is $5.00 USD and lasts for fifteen minutes. You will see a lot more of the stainless type equipment surrounding their distilling process; but I didn’t feel it was as up close and personal as Makers Mark. The employees that conduct the tour though, are every bit as friendly as those at Makers Mark.
Distillery – James Beam
It got a little stranger when we got to the tasting room and exchanged our tickets for what looked like a credit card. The credit card is then used in dispensers around the room. Here you can select two varieties of shine per card. Tammy and I made sure that we selected different varieties and then shared them. They have some interesting varieties including Honey, Cinnamon, and Maple flavors. They are all good!
All in all it was a great day on the Bourbon Trail not only because of the tours but because this part of the country all by itself is beautiful. Even If you are not interested in bourbon or bourbon related tours; don’t cheat yourself out of a beautiful vacation by bypassing this area.
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