On The Road with Barb and Brad: Shaker Village and Two More Distilleries

We're coming to the end of our stay in Kentucky. Time has really flown by and I can't believe it is time to pack up and head on up the road! The Memorial Day weekend forecast called for rain and thunderstorms, some possibly severe, so we were anticipating a wash out for touring. As it turns out, the skies, while remaining cloudy, only tried to soak us once and we were safely in the car at the time.

Four Roses Visitor's Center

We made a brief stop at the Four Roses Distillery. I say brief because it is under renovations and upgrades. The walking tour is severely curtailed as many of the areas normally shown are under some phase of construction. We opted for a tasting and a walk around the grounds. True to its name, there are Roses everywhere. The Distillery is located along the rolling hills and the Visitors Center is very classy and well laid out. Our tasting took place outside on the patio and was very informative. We learned a bit about the history of the company and about the ten different recipes that go into the three products bottled. The Distillery was once owned by the Seagram's company but has since been sold and is owned by a Japanese firm. Our tasting included some of the Four Roses Yellow label, an 80 proof 40% alcohol drink. The second product was the Four Roses Small Batch. This Bourbon is 90 proof, 45% alcohol. It was a little spicier than the Yellow Label. The last product was the Single Barrel. This product was 100 proof, 50% alcohol. As the name implies, it is not a mixing of recipes and as such is a bit stronger and bolder than the others. At the end of the tasting, we got to keep our glasses and Barb got a special treat... since her middle name is Rose, they gave her an empty bottle of Single Barrel that she can use to hold flowers.

Main Office Building

Part of the Distillery. Still under renovations.

Our next trip was to the Wild Turkey Distillery. This Distillery produces 20% of all of the Bourbon distilled in Kentucky. It is a very neatly landscaped set of facilities with the Distillery, multiple Rickhouses (also called Rackhouses by some), and a new state of the art bottling plant.

As with all of the tours, Bourbon is made essentially the same general way. The uniqueness comes from the mix percentages of Rye and/or malted Barley and the time spent in aging. So on this tour you saw the tanks that held the Corn, Rye, and Barley, the grinding house where corn is ground and mixed to form Sweet mash. You also see the fermentation vats (which are huge here) and you see the stills where the alcohol is distilled and sent to packaging/barreling.

Just the top 5 feet of the 30,000 gallon fermentation tanks

No surprise here, the cookers

Rick after Rick of Barrels aging in the Rickhouse

Multiple floors and barrel elevator in the Rickhouse.

Above is the beautiful view from behind the Visitor's Center. Far below, the abandoned train trestle runs over the Kentucky River, source of water for Wild Turkey.

Our last stop was a visit to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, KY. Here is a link to their website:
Shaker Village. Shakers, as a group, started in the US around 1775 in New York. They were a large communal society that flourished during the 18th-19th centuries. They embraced technologies and their communities had running water before the White House did. They were pacifists who did not condone violence. In 1806 the first 44 of their order moved to Kentucky and established themselves on 140 acres. By 1823, there were 491 folks on 4,500 acres. You may have heard about Shaker Furniture, Brooms, or Jellies. They are renowned for their excellence and quality. As a group, they were unique in the fact that they were all celibate. Groups of people were housed in large houses on the property. East House, Centre House, and West House were surrounded by all manner of buildings where members performed the tasks necessary to support and sustain the community. The picture above is of Centre House. Men and women were separate and the house was a mirror image of itself, divided down the middle. Men on one side, women on the other. The dining hall was located at the back of the house but, like the house, men sat on one side, women on the other. Today there are two living Shakers in the WORLD but none in Kentucky. This area is being restored and is managed by a group who want to save this aspect of Kentucky history. We could easily have spent days going through the buildings and grounds. This place is on our list of places to return to at some later date.

Just some of the grounds

A collection of Shaker furniture

Something not obvious in the photo above, but common to every room in the House, was the trim piece about 6 feet off the floor. This 1x4 contained pegs mounted about every foot or so. When not in use, furniture, clothing, or other items could be hung on these pegs. There were even examples of candle lighting that was mounted on a board with holes drilled vertically on a board. Thus the candle could be raised or lowered and hung on the peg, depending on the amount of light needed. As you can see from many of the pictures, there are windows everywhere along the walls. They are designed to maximize the amount of available light that is let into the rooms. Closets also have windows, either inside or facing outside, to put light in them instead of using open flames. Good ideas.