Distillery – Enchanted Eagle

Four Roses Bourbon Distillery is located on Bonds Mill Road, a narrow two lane road in Lawrenceburg, KY. Click here for Google Maps.

Four Roses Distillery was built in 1910 on the banks of the Salt River in Lawrenceburg, KY.

Another image of the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY

Four Roses mashbill – the ingredients that make Four Roses.bourbon. With five different yeast strains and two mash bills or recipes for the three primary grains grains Four Roses produces ten distinctive bourbon variations.

One of several cypress vats containing fermenting mash.

The proof box or tail box is usually at the output of the still. The master distiller and quality control sample the white dog or raw whiskey.

A full barrel of bourbon is estimated to weigh up to 450 pounds. The longer the barrel ages the more bourbon is lost and shared with the angels, thus the barrel will weigh less and less.

Rour Roses rick houses are unusual to most of the major distilleries in that they are only one story in height.

All bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon.

In 1964 the United States Congress declared bourbon to be a “distinctive product of the United States”. Certainly grain distillates consisting of at least 51% corn can be aged in new oak barrels anywhere in the world – and ne’er-do-wells can stoop so low to label their swill bourbon – but it isn’t bourbon. Bourbon is an American spirit and only an American spirit.

If you want to know how bourbon is made – go to Kentucky where 95% of all bourbon is bottled. Take the time to tour the distilleries, from the established to lesser known small craft distilleries. A true appreciation of the craft of making great bourbon begins to develop when the smells of the cooked grains, tasting the mash from a finger dipped in enormous vats, the mesmerizing sight of the flow of clear raw alcohol from the stills and the sight of barrel upon barrel of aging whiskey in the rick houses with the unique odor of the angles share.Without a doubt sampling of various bourbons is educational, important and frankly most enjoyable.

A view of the distillery from a rooftop on the Hard Hat tour. — A view of the distillery from a rooftop on the Buffalo Trace Hard Hat tour.

A true class act among all the distilleries is the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Here is a link to Google Maps.

Tours of the distillery are complementary and include tasting of some of their labels. The tour guides are passionate about their products, the people and their employer, which makes the visit all the more enjoyable. With the exception of the Trace Tour all other tours require reservations. Five tours are offered:

The Trace Tour,
Hard Hat Tour
National Historic Landmark Tour
Bourbon Barrel Tour
Ghost Tour

Buffalo Trace_ 20151008__DSC7670 — E.H. Taylor, Jr., Microstill where unique and award-winning experimental collection whiskeys are produced.

The Hard Hat tour takes the visitor behind the scenes and into the heart of the industrial facility. The walking tour includes stairways along with the sights and sounds of a hard working factory environment. One stop is at the E.H. Taylor, Jr., Microstill where unique and award-winning experimental collection whiskeys are produced.

Buffalo Trace_ 20151008__DSC7665 — Sweet mash being added to one of the massive processing vats.

Buffalo Trace_ 20151008__DSC7657 — This vat contains about 92,000 gallons of sour mash. In three to five days the work of the yeast is finished and the mash is moved to the next stage for future bourbon.

By federal law;
• Bourbon must be made of a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn
• Aged in new, charred oak barrels
• Distilled to no more than 160 proof
• Barreled for aging at no more than 125 proof
• Straight bourbon the distillate must be aged a minimum of two years
• Bourbon must be bottled at no less than 80 proof

Rick house Copyright - all rights reserved — Buffalo Trace rick house
Copyright – all rights reserved

Over 1.4 million barrels are in production and the current Kentucky bourbon inventory is over 5.8 million barrels. The 2014 tax-assessed value of all barrels aging in Kentucky is $1.9 billion.

Blanton Bottling House — Albert B. Blanton Bottling Hall

Buffalo Trace_ 20151008__DSC7701 — Blanton’s Original Single Barrel Bourbon bottles are hand inspected, labeled and boxed.

The Buffalo Trace Distillery is not listed as a member of the Kentucky Distillers Association – Bourbon Trail and the distillery does not show up on the various maps and promotions by the KDA. None-the-less a visit to this distillery is highly recommended. Forbes listed Buffilo Trace as 2012Top 10 American Whiskey Distilleries To Tour

The Buffalo Trace Distillery is located in Frankfort, Kentucky. The distillery is a component of the Sazerac Company, Inc., an independent, family-owned, private company. (Click here for a map to Buffalo Trace.)