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Woodford Reserve Distillery Visit

This spring I visited eight American whiskey distilleries, including Woodford Reserve. 

Woodford Reserve's distillery is in a charming setting, nestled down next to a stream in a little valley. The distillery is in a grey stone building dating to 1838, though everything inside it is new. Like most American whiskey distilleries, it changed names and owners many times over the years, changing to the Woodford Reserve distillery in 2004.

Woodford Reserve is made from a mashbill of 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malted barley. They use limestone-filtered well water to ferment the grains in Cyprus wood fermentation vats. They ferment for six days - quite a long time. The fermenting grains taste very sour, kind of like sour green beer. 

The sour mash process is where you take leftover grains that have been fermented back into the new batch of grains that are going to be fermented. Here at Woodford Reserve, they "sour in the cook" as opposed to souring in the fermenter. That means they add the last batch's spent grains to the new grains when it is being cooked, previous to when yeast is added for fermentation. Sour mash is known for keeping consistency between batches, but also it is acidic and helps reduce bacteria in the new batch.

Woodford Reserve is unique in that they make a portion of their whiskey in pot stills. The stills look much as they do in Scotland, but here there are three of them. In Scotland, after the grains have fermented they separate out the grain solids from the sugary beer and only distill the liquids. In bourbon, solids and liquids are put together into the column still. So at Woodford Reserve, they put solids and liquids into the first pot still and distill it only up to 20 percent alcohol. For the most part they are just separating out the solids in this step, taking care not to burn them into the inside of the still.

The second and third distillations bring the alcohol up to 55 percent and 78 percent (this is just under the legal limit of 80 percent maximum distillation percent for bourbon), and then it is put into barrels. The spirit goes into the barrels at 55 percent alcohol. 

The rickhouses for the aging spirits are heated for Woodford Reserve. They put a temperature sensor in a barrel on the ground level. When it reaches 60 degrees Fahrenheit, they heat the warehouse until the spirit reaches 85 degrees and then turn off the heat. This makes for faster cycles of the spirit moving in and out of the barrel wood. 

Woodford Reserve is aged for an average of 7.3 years, and when they take it out of the barrel, they've lost about 50% of the whiskey to evaporation. 

After aging, the pot distilled spirit is blended with column distilled spirit (distilled elsewhere) to make the final bottling blend. They do not say at which ratio these two spirits are blended for the bottle (and they didn't mention the column spirit at all until it came up in conversation), but say that it changes depending on flavor.  

Visiting Woodford Reserve

Tours of the Woodford Reserve distillery cost $7. It is the most visited distillery on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, despite the fact that they only sell 165,000 cases of bourbon annually- a tiny fraction of what Jim Beam sells. For more information, visit the Woodford Reserve website.

Call for Entries: Wine Country Cocktail Competition August 6, 2012

I'm helping judge the third annual Wine Country Cocktail Competition, sponsored by Charbay and Perfect Puree. (That would be California's wine country, in case you were wondering.)

Please see the info in the flier below for contact information to sign up. Hope to see you there!

 

Best Business Bars in Entrepreneur Magazine

I contributed a few write-ups to Entrepreneur Magazine's annual Best Business Bars story. It is the July issue, hitting newsstands now.

I wrote about Azucar Lounge in San Francisco, Drago Centro in Los Angeles, and ROOF at TheWit in Chicago. 

Pick it up at the newsstand or read it online here.

 

A Vermouth Spritzer

For this week's Fine Cooking blog entry, I created a super low-alcohol cocktail made with dry vermouth, grapes, soda water, and simple syrup. It's not brain surgery but I like it. 

Cocktail Menu: Brasserie S&P in San Francisco

Brasserie S&P is the new bar in the Mandarin Oriental in San Francisco. Bar manager Priscilla Young created this menu with a focus on gin and Gin & Tonic cocktails. 

Project Gin and Tonic
Hendricks Gin and Q Tonic Water | Cucumber 13.
Beefeater 24 and Sensei #1 Tonic Water | Lime Twist 13.
St. George Botanivore and Fever Tree Indian Tonic Water | 13.
Lime Twist
Blade Gin and Sensei #1 Tonic Water | Orange Peel and Thai Chili 13.
Tell us your favorite combination. It might make it to the list.
Be a part of Project Gin and Tonic.
 

Classics and Concoctions
The Victorian Drop 14.
purity vodka • rose water • fresh lemon juice • sugar •
rose hibiscus sugar
Garden Envy 15.
celery and green apple cold‐infused hendricks gin • square one
cucumber vodka • lime juice • galliano
Indian Summer in Mt. Tam 14.
st. george ‘terroir’ gin • sensei saffron tonic water
Redo ’22 15.
charbay blood orange vodka • smoked scott’s 1987 scotch •
vya sweet vermouth • luxardo cherry liqueur
Madame Genever 14.
organic coconut cold‐infused st. george ‘botanivore’ gin •
orange zest • fresh lemon juice • angostura bitters • egg whites
Farmer’s Gin Martini 13.
oregon’s all organic farmer’s gin • dolin dry vermouth •
angostura orange bitters • lemon peel
Diablo’s Whisper 13.
herradura silver tequila • blackcurrant hibiscus • muddled fresno
pepper • fresh lime juice • agave nectar • bacon salt
San Franciscan 13.
jameson • grand marnier • angostura bitters
Formation 14.
vanilla bean rapid‐infused bontanist gin • maraschino cherry liqueur •
parfait amour crème de violette • fresh lemon juice
Kimono Kloud 12.
hangar one vodka • thyme • honey water • fresh lime juice •
organic momokawa nigori sake • ginger beer
Picnic in Manhattan 13.
woodford reserve bourbon • lillet blanc and rouge • garden‐fresh
watermelon and mint • fresh lime juice

Concoctions @ Brunch
Pamplemousse 13.
junipero gin • combier pamplemousse rose liqueur • fresh lemon juice
powdered sugar • peychaud bitters • soda
Gin Blossom 13.
g’vine gin • fresh orange juice • orange blossom water • sparkling wine
Ode to Mary 14.
damrak gin • sensei tomato water • thyme • worcestershire sauce •
tobasco • fresh lime juice • bitters

Dessert Concoctions
Grand Finale 12.
coconut milk • grand marnier liqueur • angostura orange bitters •
egg white • dark cacao
Field of Dreams 13.
belvedere black raspberry vodka • fresh strawberries and lime juice •
whipped cream • sugar rim

Zero Proof Concoctions
The English Rose 8.
cassis black iced tea • rose water • fresh lime juice •
pomegranate syrup • angostura bitters
Bitter Sweet Soda Pop 8.
garden‐fresh watermelon • sensei tonic water #1 • fresh lemon juice
Breakfast at Tiffany’s 8.
sensei tomato water • fresh lime juice • dash of grenadine •
black pepper • egg white

 

A Twitter Chat about Cocktails with TGI Friday's on June 28

Join me on Twitter June 28 at 5PM EST for a Twitter chat about cocktails with TGI Friday's. The hashtag for the event is #ItsAlwaysFriday. 

I'm hosting a Twitter Chat Party as a mixology expert in conjunction with TGI Friday's to talk about their new summer drinks and cocktails/mixology in general. The details:

Date: June 28th, 5-6PM PM EST (2-3 PM PDT) 

Hosts: @alcademics, @TGIFridays 

Follow along with hastag: #ItsAlwaysFriday 

Prizes: TGI Friday's will be giving out $25 gift certificates every 10 minutes during the chat, and one chatter will win a 16G iPad! 

The chat follows this week's announcement of new summer cocktails at TGI Friday's made with fresh ingredients like pineapple, watermelon, strawberries, and blackberries:

The Tiki Torch
Embrace the sweet heat of chipotle pineapple in this cocktail featuring Avion Silver Tequila, triple sec, lime juice, fresh pineapple, fresh lime and a sweet & spicy salt rim.

Fresh Watermelon Mojito
This remixed mojito blends Bacardi Rum, lime juice, fresh watermelon, agave, fresh mint and fresh-squeezed lime.
 

Strawberry Rum Smash
Hand-crafted Premium Atlantico Platino Rum, the brand co-owned by Enrique Iglesias, highlights this ultimate refreshment, featuring lemon juice, agave, fresh strawberries, fresh mint and fresh-squeezed lemons.

Blackberry Long Island Tea
Celebrate National Iced Tea Month with this twisted classic featuring Smirnoff Vodka, Bacardi Rum, Bombay Gin, Chambord, triple sec and fresh house-made sour mix now blended with blackberries and Sprite®.

So whether you want to talk about these new drinks in particular or cocktails in general, please join me next Thursday afternoon on Twitter. 

 

Disclosure: My participation in this event is being sponsored by TGI Friday's. 

Wild Turkey Distillery Visit

This spring I visited eight American whiskey distilleries, including Wild Turkey. 

The Wild Turkey brand has been around a while, but the current distillery is just three years old, having moved across the street from the old one. It's clean, modern, and spacious. 

Wild Turkey uses all non-GMO grains in their bourbon and rye, but they don't tell us their specific mashbill. Despite having several products (Russell's Reserve, Rare Breed, etc.) there is just one mashbill for their bourbon, and another one for their ryes.

They ferment the grains for three days before distillation. 

The bourbon is distilled up to 115 proof in the 48-foot tall column still, and then up to 125 proof in the doubler, which acts like a pot still. 

In column distillation, there are actually heads and tails, but they only appear when you first turn on the still (heads) and when you turn it off (tails). However, you can just add these back into the column when you start it up again, so there really is no middle cut from the column still.

The rickhouses for Wild Turkey are 7 storeys tall, and they have a total inventory of about 480,000 barrels. The barrels have a #4 char. 

Wild Turkey was recently purchased by Campari. Previously it was owned by Pernod-Ricard, and in the deal of the sale Pernod-Ricard still gets to buy 90% of their used barrels for the next 10 years. I'm guessing all those barrels go to Jameson. 

They have just released Wild Turkey 81 Rye. It is 81 proof. They have a 101 proof rye, but it was sold out already for the year back in April. 

Visiting Wild Turkey

Free tours are available, and visitors do get tasting samples. Visit WildTukey.com for more information. 

Alcohol and California's Proposed GMO Labelling Law

On the November ballot in California is a proposed law to require labelling of genetically modified foods.

This article in USA Today brought up an important exception to the law:

If passed, the law would take effect July 1, 2014, requiring that all foods containing genetically engineered ingredients be labeled "Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering" or "May be Partially Produced with Genetic Engineering."

Exceptions: alcohol and food sold in restaurants. Animals that are fed genetically altered food, and are then eaten by humans, are also exempt.

This wasn't clear to me- is it "alcohol and food sold in restaurants" or "alcohol" and "food sold in restaurants"?

I looked up the language of the initiative. It is here as a PDF file. The relevant language is that the exception is for:

Any alcoholic beverage that is subject to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act,
set forth in Division 9 (commencing with section 23000) of the Business and
Professions Code.

So I think that means all booze, whether or not it is served in a restaurant.

I was wondering about the reason for the exception. I'd like to know the real logic behind it, but it is in line with the other exception for animals that have eaten GMO foods. Yeast consume the raw materials and produce alcohol, so I guess that's the same thing as cows eating GMO corn.

Whatever the logic for the animal-and-yeast exception, it results in alcohol not being labelled as made with GMO ingredients.

And as I mentioned previously, the government won't allow spirit brands to optionally label their products as GMO-free either.