Kentucky bluegrass leads to bourbon at Woodford Reserve

 Woodford Reserve Distillery, photo

by Marcia Frost

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The road from Jack Daniel's in Tennessee to Woodford Reserve is full of winding roads and Southern living, but as the Kentucky bluegrass (which is actually the greenest grass you'll ever see) begins to cover the hills, you know you are getting close. 

A trip to Woodford Reserve in Versailles is a true Kentucky experience and certainly a far cry from its brother distillery, Jack Daniel's.  While Jack is about the spectacular, Woodford is about the small -- small batch, that is.

Woodford Reserve is a National Landmark.  It was first started in 1812 by Elijah Pepper as the Old Pepper distillery.  Unlike other distilleries, this one was able to keep selling whiskey through prohibition for medicinal purposes, but it didn't stay with the ownership.  It changed hands and its name twice more before becoming Woodford Reserve  Brown-Foreman, who acquired the company in 1989,  re-furbished and re-opened the distillery on the same land as the original in 1996.

Though Woodford Reserve is on Glen's Creek, it actually gets the water used in its bourbon from the stream below.  Add that to the wood cypress distillers and Kentucky grown corn, and you have the unique taste of wood and spice that is kept consistent by keeping production in small batches -- a limited number of barrels. 

Visiting Woodford Reserve is about so much more than bourbon.  For one thing, there are the horses.  The  Woodford Reserve Stables maintain and train some of the finest horses around. The Woodford Thoroughbred Society is for the owners of these Kentucky racehorses.  If owning a thoroughbred is a bit rich for your blood, Woodford also produces some products with lower tickets (though also finely produced) like chocolates and coffees, available online and in their gift shop.

If you are looking for a batch of bourbon your own, Woodford Reserve is also a place for that. Check into the Woodford Reserve Personal Selection program where you can pick your own barrel, have 180 one liter bottles produced and labeled with you as the owner.  As a member of the Personal Selection program, you'll also receive the empty barrel,  a private tour and tasting with lunch, and a number of other amenities.
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Before we get back on the road for more of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, the next story will bring us to Louisville, Kentucky, to the 21C Museum Hotel , one of the most unusual hotels in the world that was just voted one of the best by Conde Nast, and the Pendennis Club, where we learn all about bourbon in a Bulleit tasting conducted by the man himself.