Visit to Maker's Mark Distillery

Well, I've managed to outlive my "ambassador barrel" at the Maker's Mark Distillery. On almost the last possible day (they give you a ninety-day window), we went Sunday to rescue and bring home a liter bottle from the batch my barrel went into.

This was my third trip to Loretto, John's first. If you've never been to the distillery, by all means pick a nice day and go. It's a beautiful drive through the countryside, the tour is free and informative, and there's a new, expanded gift gallery with a tasting bar. (And though we paid $4.23 pg to fill up on our way out Bardstown Rd, gas was to be had for as little as $3.85 pg out in the country!)



(Click here to see the rest of the photo set on flickr)

Here are a couple very short videos I uploaded to YouTube of sour mash fermenting in vast vats:

Two day mash

Four day mash

Be advised that they don't bottle on the weekend, so you will not see the bottling, packing and dipping in live action unless you go during the work week. But a recent innovation allows you to see little mini-movie loops of the bottling line on pull-down screens that have been installed directly in front of each work station on the corresponding film:

Bottling house mini-movie #1

Bottling house mini-movie #2

Bottling house mini-movie #3

More good news: Maker's Mark Toll Gate Cafe has recently opened in the "Toll House" building at the beginning of the road to the distillery. I believe they are only open during distillery tours (last one each day begins at 3:30 pm), so just lunch, no dinner service. We didn't get a chance to try it out since we were just arriving in time for the last tour of the day, but we'll try it next time we go back. It looks adorable, and there are tables outside with a view of the distillery buildings and warehouses.

For more tour information, times, a map and directions go to http://www.makersmark.com

Darn, Marsha - sorry we didn't make the final arrangements to run into each other there! My lovely bride and I made the trip early Saturday morning. I haven't uploaded any pics yet, but if any are worth I'll do so, as well. My two personally dipped bottles with fancy copper labels are residing in a cabinet at home - who knows if I'll ever crack one open!

I was there on Sunday too! We had a great time. I would definitely recommend it. We decided that next time we'd bring lunch and make a day out of it-the grounds are beautiful. We also went by the Jim Beam distillery. It was pretty as well but their county does not allow sampling or liquor sales on Sunday.

Edited to add-I just looked at your photo set and I'm in one of your pictures!

TP Lowe: Rats, I knew we shoulda planned a group outing! Hope your trip was as nice as ours. I only bought one bottle (Why were they so much more expensive than retail, I wonder?), and I'm going to try to never open it unless an asteroid is heading straight for Kentucky. In that case, all bets are off.

Jesse, which one are you in the pictures? I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves. I think I might have talked to you on the phone last week at Lou Lou, didn't I?

Yep, that was me! pm'ing you...

They were pricey. I'm with you on the asteroid!

I'm going to pick up a bottle or two from my batch soon.

How much were the bottles, if you don't mind...

I'm going to pick up a bottle or two from my batch soon.

How much were the bottles, if you don't mind...

$35 for a liter. Smaller bottles were available to dip, but they were not from "your batch". I think a liter goes for $28.99 most places here in town.

Just curious..... What is your ambassador number? I think mine might be becoming to fruition as well!

For the record I became one on 11/01/02 and my barrel number is 480527...

I have a Buddie coming in from Arizona next month and I'm looking forward to taking on a Pseudo bourbon tour and it would be nice to be able to have some of "my" bourbon when we go down there!

My barrel # is 479231. You can check your barrel's maturity date at the Maker's website.