The initial reason for my trip to Kentucky was to attend Woodford Reserve's Bourbon Academy. This all day event is held several times a year and features classroom instruction and hands-on experiences around the distillery with Master Distiller Chris Morris. I was greeted at the door to the classroom by Chris who told me that I easily won the long distance award. Asked repeatedly during the day if I came all the way to Kentucky for this class, I said yes, I take my bourbon very seriously :) I have to admit that once I decided to attend the academy it only made sense to stay for several extra days and visit the other distilleries in the area as well.

Most of the day’s activities were led by Chris with the final lesson (and time to sober up) provided by local historian Mike Veach. There were about 15 people in the class. Four people were seated at each table leaving plenty of room for notebooks and tasting glasses. Chris started off with definitions of whiskey and bourbon.

Whiskey Made from grain Distilled to less than 190 proof Transferred into oak Bottles at 80 proof or higher

Bourbon Made from 51% or more corn Distilled to 160 proof or less Transferred into oak at 125 proof or less New charred oak container Bottle at 80 proof or above and add only water Made in the USA Two or more years old is "straight bourbon whiskey" Four or more years old does not require an age statement

Chris then listed what he considers the 5 sources of flavor in bourbon. Mike Veach likes to add a 6th source but Chris argues that it is not a source but a process step that affects the retention of flavors that are already there.

Grain - number, type, and ratio Water - minerals have flavor and also affect fermentation, which produces flavors Fermentation - duration, size of fermenter, yeast strain, %sour Distillation - type of still, proof distilled to Maturation - wood, barrel char level, warehouse type, location Processing - cold filtering, carbon filtering

Chris then described the bourbon making process. The demonstration was about how seemingly small differences can produce a completely different whiskey. He drew a chart overviewing the distilling process for 4 different bourbons. Then he passed around a bottle of white dog for each of these bourbons. (White dog is the spirit fresh off the still, ready to be barreled) This was quite a rare treat and I must say that they tasted nothing like what I expected. They were light, raw, and sweet; but not harsh or objectionable in any way. Two of the four bourbons had nearly identical ingredients and processes but the white dog tasted very different. The remaining 2 bourbons also had a very similar process and tasted very different as well. The lesson learned was that different proprietary yeast strains, water supplies, and small differences in process can create a very different tasting bourbon.

Next we headed over to the distillery buildings. We saw a lot of things that no regular tour ever will and this was to continue every time we ventured out of the classroom. We crowded around the three pot stills while Chris explained the triple distillation process. I could have given the still a big hug, but it was running and that would have hurt.

We moved to the receiving boxes where spirit was passing between each distillation. Chris filled a glass from each box and passed it around for us to see and smell. Spirit from the first box was very oily and raw while each successive box was more refined. We also visited the hammer mill room, grain quality and yeast lab, and the yeast tank.

Our final stop was the barrel filling room. Chris intended to show us how a barrel is filled but ended up drenching himself with spirit as the barrel hit full and spewed out the bunghole. God help him if he got pulled over later that day. One of the students then got to hammer a bung into the filled barrel.

Back to the classroom for a gourmet lunch. We were served a full spread including veal, chicken with squash and mushrooms, cheesy grits, salad, and cookies. The meal was excellent and readied us for the rest of the day.

Class resumed with a discussion of finished bourbons while tasting three different ones. We then tasted three expressions of Jack Daniels. Chris explained how the differences are largely due to what floor on the rickhouse the barrels came from.

Next we headed out to the rickhouse. We weaved our way through some dark passages and a narrow staircase up to the second floor. To my amazement Chris pulled out a cordless drill and ran it into the end of a barrel. As the bourbon flowed he flicked a glass underneath to collect it and then deftly hammered a small plug into the hole. Chris told us that this barrel was two months old and passed the glass around for each of us to nose. Nosing was fine but I wanted a taste, so I took a sip and it was very nice. Chris whipped out the drill and followed up on a two year old barrel. He told us there is a strange phenomenon where the bourbon regresses for a while and then starts aging well. Sure enough, most of us found the two month old bourbon to be better than the two year old.

Chris took us to the bottling house next. We saw the bottling line and where barrels are dumped. Chris tipped a barrel that was sitting at the dump station and poured two full glasses to pass around to the students. This was as straight out of the barrel as you are ever going to get and it smelled and tasted fantastic.

The day wrapped up with a lecture by Mike Veach about the history of bourbon. The distillery had supplied a laptop for Mike's presentation but had unfortunately forgotten to tell anyone the password. Rick Duff came to the rescue by offering up his personal laptop to the cause. The lecture was excellent as one would expect knowing Mike's expertise in this area. A few of the slides can be seen here.

This class received a lovely parting gift of a real Woodford Reserve bung hammer. Make you friends jealous, persuade your boss to give you that big raise, get your bung hammer today! Chris Morris was kind enough to sign our hammers before he ran off to make bourbon, or some such thing. So ended a most wonderful day. A few of us wandered up to the distillery visitor’s center to see the displays and buy a few souvenirs. The Bourbon Academy was a great opportunity to see and taste things that few people outside of the industry ever do. I highly recommend attending if you are able.

Mike Veach Lecture Slides

Woodford Reserve Distillery