Jim Beam

It rained almost all night again and it was extremely dark and overcast again this morning.  I did several loads of laundry, then we decided to check out the Jim Beam Distillery.  This one is only about twenty miles from Radcliff.  It was a good choice as they do not have a tour of the distillery (though there will be one in 2012), but take you through the warehouses instead.  Since we didn't get a chance to see inside a warehouse yesterday, it was a good choice.

Jim Beam is the largest of Kentucky's bourbon distilleries.  They said they make over 50% of the world's bourbon. Twenty-seven of their seventy-two warehouses are at this distillery in Clermont which is one of three.

At the beginning of the tour, we were taken to see an 1800 copper still, believed to be one of the oldest in America.  In 1788, Jacob Beam and his family settled in what would be known as Kentucky.  He began distilling bourbon for his personal use and sold his first barrel in 1795.

The bark of the trees around the distillery all have this deep black color, as do many of the buildings.  The color comes from the "angel's portion" of the bourbon -- the evaporation of the liquid through the charred barrels.  They said that was one of the ways the revenuers could spot an illegal still --

Jacob's great grand-son, James B. Beam, rebuilt the family distillery by hand after Prohibition ended, and from then on, the bourbon was called Jim Beam.  We were taken to Warehouse D, the oldest rack house, which was built by Jim Beam after Prohibition in 1934.  It holds 20,000 oak barrels of aging bourbon --

The barrels are placed in "racks," three high and fourteen barrels deep where they will remain for at least four years --

Looking back down the hallway to where we entered the rack house at the racks of barrels on either side --

And then looking up -- fourteen stories!

Each barrel is stamped on the end with numbers and letters that identify the contents and when it was barreled.  The liquor begins to be taxed from the moment it is poured into the barrel and is taxed every year for the next four to twelve years or however long it is aged.  They told us that 3/4 of the cost of bourbon is tax.

Outside on the grounds is this statue of Booker Noe, Master Distiller, enjoying a glass of his own product along with his dog, Dot.

This is the Beam family home where three generations of distillers oversaw the distilling of the family's bourbon --

At the Jim Beam Tasting Room, we were each given a taste of Black Label Jim Beam and of one of their Small Batch Bourbons, Baker's.  The Baker's was served with bourbon chocolates.  Yummy!