My wifes family hails from bourbon country, and over the weekend I had a chance to visit. As it turns out, Jim Beam pays a royalty to the family because the stream to feed Jim Beam goes through family land.

And, one of Marie's uncles went to school with Richard Samuels, the man running Makers Mark. So we got to go over to the tour of the Makers Mark distillery, which had an extra special tweak since there were some family ties to the men who built Makers Mark.

I have to say, I'm thoroughly impressed with the entire operation, and have a new respect and love for Makers Mark bourbon.

Here are a few shots that came off my phone. I have others that you, people who appreciate bourbon, will enjoy on the D80.

MM is really a VERY small operation. Only 900k cases a year. Only two points of automation in the entire making of MM. Those two parts are the bottle filling stations and the machine that applies the labels.

Here are a few shots.
This is the spot in the distillery where the bourbon flows out of the 38 foot tall still. It is pure grain alcohol at this point, heading for the barrels.


These are the vats of "distillers beer". It is the corn mixed with the yeast, which is essentially one big vat of potent cereal. Hot, and nasty tasty. I stuck my finger in, took a scoop, and a taste... bleck...



This is nearly the entire operation for Makers Mark. This shot shows all of the automation for the entire process of getting MM into a bottle. Fill stations and labels. All of the bottles are filled right here and labels affixed.


Then they roll down this line, where someone personally hand dips the bottle into that famous MM red wax, and placed back on the line; where it runs through that drying station you see.





Ready to be placed in boxes.


The clear, white grain alcohol is placed in fresh barrels, and placed up on the top rack of a six story barrel warehouse. The roofs are tin, and the barrels stay up there for three years, and then subsequently move to the lower levels when they're ready to be bottled. The bourbon will draw its color from the barrel itself as the barrel expand and contracts over the years.


Barrel storage:




Your's truly getting ready to personalize my own bottle of Makers Mark:
My daughter in the foreground:












The finished product. Notice the label. Not your typical MM label. It has the Samuel's men on it. The "makers" of Makers Mark.
Personally signed by the Samuels.









The end.
My wife, my daughter, myself, and our tour guide Chase. The guy did a fantastic job on the tour.




And a nice new bottle of Makers new line, 46. Outstanding.

 

Intersting pics. I recently went to Napa for the first time and found the behind the scenes stuff very interesting.

 

That is awesome. Big bourbon and single malt fan here. I have to admit this thread made me go open a bottle of MM.

If you have more pics please post.

 

It was great. Really was taken back at the Samuels family, how nice and welcome they were; very down to Earth and humble.

The care and craftsmanship that goes into MM is really surprising. It really is a small batch operation. Smaller than the others claiming to be so.

I forgot to add! Just as there is a "proper" way to smell and drink wine, there is with bourbon. I have to admit, I had no idea.

when you "smell" bourbon, stick your nose as far into the glass as you can. Then when you inhale, open your mouth and inhale through your mouth. The character of the spirit changes massively. It is very "creamy". For real, that is exactly what it smells like. (I've never understood people who can smell hints of, whatever...)

Then the correct way to drink it, is to take a sip. Swish around in your mouth for about two seconds, swallow and immediately, and forcefully exhale out your mouth. TOTALLY makes a new flavor character. There is no burn, the taste is just mouth watering, literally. And to my wifes surprise (she's not a bourbon drinker), smoooooth... She actually enjoyed it. I can't believe how much of a difference this little trick makes when sipping bourbon. Night and day.

Naturally, I was "sampling", "regular" Makers Mark, but I also got to taste the relatively new "46" by Makers Mark. Wow... talk about good... It literally tastes "creamy" if you drink it the right way. Simply too good.

They make 46 by adding some french pine slats, into the barrel with the grain alcohol, and it changes the flavor to a fantastic, wonderful degree.

 

TT, I'll certainly do that! as soon as I get home and pull the pics from the camera, I'll put those up. I'm in the passenger seat of the caddy at the moment, heading back to Atlanta.

Few bottles all the way in the back that I'm jonesing to get into... I want to practice that sipping technique...

Now I have to just wait a few years for the barrel of Makers with my name off of it, to roll out of that warehouse. That's gonna be a long wait.

 

B - Looks like whoever took the pics was already hitting the bottle!

Man, that's a cool tour you took. Makes me wish I liked whiskey. Thanks for sharing.

 

Sweet. Thx for the pics. Huge KY bourbon fan. Maker's and Knob Creek are my current favs. Nothing like bourbon/rocks as a prelude to a good steak

 

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

Never been much of a Bourbon fan myself, err... but knowing what you can do to me if I upset you - I truly love bourbon and it is the best ever!

*bows
*slowly backs out of thread

 

After sampling the new Makers blend called simply enough, "46", I felt it was important to make sure and validate the samples I had at the distillery....

I can say, 46 is excellent. Simply excellent. I'm by no means someone with a "refined" pallet, nor a spirits geek; but I can actually say, this bourbon as a rather "creamy" finish. Very good. To the point, that I didn't exactly stop with just one toddy for the body last night.

I'll just say, I slept well.
Try this stuff out.

 

Extremely jealous as I am a lover of Makers Mark. Thanks for the post.