Beam Me Up Scottie!

Unfortunately, we arrived in Louisville too late on a Sunday evening to enjoy any of the Urban Bourbon tours along Whiskey Row.  We decided against spending a night in the city and continued  to the land of Jim Beam!  Just 30 minutes South of Louisville, nestled in the rolling foothills of Kentucky, the distillery offers something for everyone – picturesque views, history and, of course, world-famous Jim Beam Bourbon.

Our distillery tour was booked for early Monday morning.....and from the looks of this place we were going to enjoy every minute of it!  Jenesa wasted no time making new friends as soon as we arrived at the Jim Beam American Stillhouse.  That little guy would be Ash (named for the American-Still-House).

Jim Beam is the largest Bourbon producer in the world. They roll out 1700 barrels daily over seven days a week. However, as they are very automated, there's not that much to see on the actual tour..... but we would still recommend it!  Our awesome tour guide kept us highly entertained and laughing throughout most of the morning.  And, Jenesa had some fun "catching whiskey" from a barrel.

Now it was time for Leonard to have some fun.  With the help from the Stillhouse staff we could bottle our own Knob Creek single barrel whiskey from start to finish.  We labeled and filled our own bottle and watched it move by conveyor from the filling station to the checkout counter. 

We further personalized the bottle by putting our THUMB PRINT in the hot wax that seals the bottle's top.  It also comes with a specialized label to commemorate the experience.

We wound up paying a little extra to have the bottle engraved with our name and bottling date in the gift shop.  This experience was quite similar to our opportunity a few years ago in Ireland when we filled a bottle of cask-strength Jameson whiskey straight from the barrel.  You can see those pictures by clicking on this link to our Irish Souvenir Experience. 

We ended the tour with a final tasting.  They offered everyone a pour of their popular Jim Beam Black which is the World's Highest Rated Bourbon and double-aged up to 8 years to give it full-bodied flavor with notes of smooth caramel and warm oak.  I drink this stuff regularly at home....so I will also endorse this Bourbon as a winner!  Our tour guide then offered us the chance to sample two additional pours of our choosing.  I've always wanted to try the $85+ Booker's cask-strength Bourbon and also the Jim Beam Single Barrel.  I also convinced Jenesa to choose wisely......basically, do NOT pick the cheap stuff during our "free" tour tasting!