Every year that Dad comes to Kentucky for Christmas we go to a different bourbon distillery tour. This year we went to Buffalo Trace and took their "hard hat" tour. Casey and Matt came along with us. Although no hard hats were actually involved, we did spend time outside, in noisy factory areas, and climbing up and down flights of stairs. It was a fun tour and smelled like delicious bread cooking half the time. During the tour he poured White Lighting (moonshine) into our cupped hands to have a taste and then rub into our hands so we could smell it as well. At the end of the tour you always get a taste or two. They have a new drink - bourbon cream (like Irish cream). So we got a taste of that in addition to the usually higher end (single batch) and lower end (blended) bourbon. The cream was good, so I bought a bottle : )
Glasses set up for the next tasting.
Casey liked the creative use of used bourbon barrels to make a Christmas tree.
Heading out on the tour, all the buildings except one are red brick. Casey's in the purple jacket in the middle - you can just see Matt to her left. Dad is on the right in the blue jacket with the knit cap on.
Matt making faces because he realized I was taking his picture.
The very large barrels they "cook" the mash in. Total capacity is 92,086.82 gallons
Pouring the mash into the barrel
This cute little kitty seemed to be a stray but tolerated as they need lots of rodent control with so much grain around
Casey and Matt listening to the tour leader. It looks like Casey is signing something in response to what he is saying, she often signs as she talks.
One of several old log cabin buildings on the property that was re-furbished and used, this one for the director's office I think.
Bourbon, of course, is all about the water (and the corn) and the Kentucky river is right there. This is a decorative pond mostly but at the top left of the photo you can see the river.
Casey making faces during the tasting (because of the photo, not the taste)
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