Jim Beam Distillery and Roaring 20's Exhibit

Good morning, my friends. I'm writing fast because we have a tour scheduled at the Maker's Mark Distillery today. Yesterday, we visited the Jim Beam Distillery.

Before we left, we saw this woman out walking her cat here in the campground. The cat was very bold, and not at all afraid of anything...unlike Captain Courageous, who lives with us.

And there wasn't much time for anything in the morning. We took off early to go to the distillery.

There was a barn just through the entrance gate. It was never mentioned during our tour, and so I don't know its purpose.

We parked and walked to the visitor center and gift shop.

That's a bronze statue of Jim Beam there on the left side of the image. Here's what it says on the plaque below him.

Inside, we picked up our tickets, and we were given a glass for tasting. That was ours to keep. (I really like it when they give me a glass like this.)

There were some t-shirts and hats inside the gift shop. We wandered around while we waited for our tour to begin. Their bottles looked pretty on display.

They had a showcase of commemorative bottles. Of course, you needed to see the cat.

When our tour started, we boarded a shuttle that would take us to the workings of the distillery. That's our guide there. He was a kick. He did a good job narrating and keeping us entertained.

In the first building, the first thing we noticed was this vintage Cadillac that was once driving by Jim Beam.

He kept his yeast in the front seat with him. If you rode in the car, you would have to sit in the back.

These are the three grains Jim Beam uses in its whiskey: corn, rye, and malted barley.

And these are the requirements for a beverage to be called "bourbon." It has to be made in the United States...the state doesn't matter. It must be aged in American white oak barrels. It must be made of at least 51% corn. It was be 125 proof going into the barrel, and 80 proof when it's bottled. Finally, only water can be added to change color or adjust the proof.

And then we were given a small pour. I tasted it. It tasted just as nasty as I thought it would. Mike likes "brown" liquids. I've yet to find one I'd ever want to drink voluntarily.

Water used in this process is "pure Kentucky limestone filtered water." Limestone filtered is preferred because it has no iron, which could impart a bitter flavor. And it contains calcium, which adds to the sweetness.

I took a video of the "waterfall" inside the building. The water was Kentucky limestone filtered.

These enormous tanks were used for cooking the mash.

These cooling pipes cooled the mash before it went into the still.

From there, we moved into this building where the still is located.

The copper tank you see below is the still.

Here's a diagram of how it looks inside.

He gave us a little demonstration regarding the aging process. Here, he wet down the side of the cask, and then asked for a volunteer to wet her hands with it. When it was just wet, she said it smelled like alcohol. When she rubbed her hands together, it smelled more like corn, or even fresh baked bread.

These casks are the three bourbons bottled at this facility: Jim Beam, Knob, and Basil Hayden. The numbers at the second row show the proof when it goes into the barrel and proof when it is bottled. The bottom row shows the number of years it is aged.

This room contained some barrels. I think they were just stored here.

You might have noticed that all the buildings are painted black. It's because the sugar produced in the fermentation process attracts a mold that turns everything black. It's completely benign. Rather than bother trying to keep the buildings cleaned off and painted a different color, they just painted everything black. He told us anything in the vicinity also collects the mold. Trees, for example. It's also been called "tattlemold" because it was a dead giveaway during Prohibition. I took the picture below to show you the painted black buildings, but the telephone pole there has not been painted. It is just blackened with the mold.

At the end of the tour, we were given an opportunity to purchase a custom filled and personalized bottle. Here, the bottles to be used are lined up.

Here, he was demonstrating how to clean the bottle. They are rinsed in bourbon.

Well, Mike wanted a piece of that action, and so he wrote his initials on a little sticker...

That was stuck to the bottle he would be filling.

Then, he rinsed his bottle.

The bottles were all lined up on a small assembly line.

Then they were labeled and filled. You can see one being filled almost right in the middle of the image below.

From there, they were corked.

And then, they moved along to where the top would be dipped in wax.

These gentlemen did the dipping.

While the wax was still hot, we were encouraged to put our thumbprint on the top to personalize it.

There's our bottle.

And there's our lame attempt at using our two thumbs to make a heart-shape.

By the time we left the distillery, I was in quite a bit of pain with my hip. We ended up spending a couple of ours at an urgent care yesterday evening. They took an x-ray that showed nothing, as expected. The best guess is that I have bursitis in my hip. They prescribed some medications, and we'll pick those up this morning. I got a better night of sleep last night, and I'm hoping I'll be more comfortable touring the Maker's Mark distillery today. For now, I'm just gimping around, and hoping it will improve soon. I do believe it feels better this morning, after getting a decent night's sleep last night.

So that's all I have for you regarding the Jim Beam Distillery. Next, I'll show you some pictures from a special "Roaring 20's" exhibit at the National Quilt Museum. There were maybe two dozen of these. I'm only showing you my favorites among them. I'll show the quilt first, and then follow it with the quilter's name.

I love how this next one is made from tiny squares of fabric.

Here's a detail shot with my finger for scale.

And that's all from me for today. Tomorrow, I'll show you more pictures of the quilts from the quilt museum, and I'll take you on a tour of the Maker's Mark Distillery.