The Bourbon Trail

The adventure started Wednesday morning as we left a cool cloudy snowless Perrysburg. By the time we got to Findlay there was snow on the ground from the storm on Tuesday night. South of Lima, I-75 was reduced to one lane. Fortunately that was only for about 5 miles and after that the roads remained clear but there was plenty of snow through the Dayton/Cincinnati corridor and even into Kentucky.

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We arrived at the Wild Turkey Distillery shortly after 2 PM and were told we could join a 2:30 tour. Wild Turkey is one of the best selling premium Kentucky straight bourbon whiskeys in the US and the world. We took a shuttle from the visitors center to the new distillery production area. Constructed just more than a year ago it is large, clean, and well laid out. I know this now after visiting several other distilleries. It was very interesting to hear the process and see how quickly the production actually takes. Then it was on to the warehouses. It's is where the magic takes place. There are large warehouses scattered throughout the area countryside and we were told they all contain barrels and barrels of bourbon. Wild Turkey ages some bourbons for 16 years. The warehouses smelled wonderful and I could have stayed there but we were bused back to the visitor center for sampling. We could choose 2 of the products for a taste. Steve and I both tasted the Wild Turkey 101 (101 proof) and the I tasted the Honey Bourbon and Steve tasted the Rare Breed. I like the honey bourbon but the 101 I could not finish. Too much burn going down. End of day one touring.