September 26, 2007

Wednesday Today is a rainy, drizzly day and we are going to tour the Jim Beam Bourbon Plant. (Picture) In 1788 Jacob Beam a farmer, moved his family to the bluegrass hills of what is now known as Kentucky. He raised corn, fruit and hogs and operated a grain mill. Jacob accepted a portion of the mash he ground as payment, using it to distill whiskey for personal use. He began selling his bourbon in1795. Since then there has been master distillers in every generation of the family. There has been 7 generations of Beam's running the business and they are still using the original recipe and process that was created over two centuries ago. The final step in making the bourbon-making process is aging it in new, charred white oak barrels.(picture) Charring the barrel interiors creates a caramelized layer of wood through which the whiskey passes back and forth hundreds of times during the aging process. Federal regulations require a two-year aging period, Jim Beam ages it's bourbon for at least four years to achieve its smooth flavor. We went into the lovely tasting room and tasted their finest bourbon"Bakers". It is 107 proof it burned going down but the after taste was good. We are mostly beer drinkers, but we had to admit the bourbon they served us was pretty darn good. (Picture)