Originally opening on Derby Day in 1935 and reopening to the public in 2014, the historic Stitzel-Weller Distillery has a beautiful old campus. Most of the buildings are from the 1930’s.
The family sold off all of their brands after “Pappy” died. Currently, the distillery is primarily used for experimental bourbons and Blade and Bow. They produce only 5 barrels a day.
The distillery sells one bottle of a prohibition era Blade and Bow daily for $960. Talk about limited and rare. And… someone purchases that single bottle every day. No, I didn’t let Mark buy it.
The tour guide said you have to be waiting outside at 8:30 in the morning and typically several people are waiting and vying for the bottle.
We were placed with a group of military spouses from Fort Knox. They welcomed us to their club and gave us a set of Blade and Bow souvenir glasses for being good sports.
They no longer use the historic cooperage but has been left untouched for reference on how barrels were once made and repaired.
After a quick lunch, we ventured to Shelbyville to visit Bulleit. A very different distillery. Very modern and little is left to chance. Electronic monitoring, warehouses verses Rickhouses and environmentally conscious.
The tour was average, but the tasting was exceptional. They had scent jars with each sample. You would taste first, then - smell, taste, smell. Very interesting. The taste changed with the introduction of scents.
They invite you to graffiti their bourbon barrels- so of course we did!
We move the RV to Lexington tomorrow.
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