What is that smell? (Vacation part 3 of 3)

On one of the last days of vacation we went with some friends (The Pellacks) to the Maker's Mark Distillery. No, Aaron and I are not bourbon drinkers but since it is the only distillery of it's kind we thought "why not?".
Marker's Mark is nestled far away in Loretto, KY. It took so many twists and turns to get there, I thought for sure we were lost. The reason the distillery is so far out in the country is because they use pure iron free limestone spring water drawn from their own lake.

Maker's Mark was first made by Robert Samuels in 1780. He would make jut enough for family and friends. However, in the 50's a new recipe was created by Bill Samuels Jr. His recipe is the one used today to make the distinct Maker's Mark taste.

The first thing I noticed when we arrived was the smell in the air. You could smell the yeast and stuff used to make it. The tour guide explained to us the whole bourbon making process. Although, I couldn't remember it if I tried. But here are the barrels the bourbon sits in for 6 years until it is taste tested and ready for bottling.

We did get to see inside every part of the distillery. We watched it get bottled and dipped. The name was the brain child of Marge Samuels (Bill Samuel Sr.'s wife). It is said that she collected pewter and always 'looked for the mark of the maker', hence Marker's Mark. She also is responsible for creating the signature red wax top on each bottle.

Each bottle is hand dipped. The tour guide told us that everyone working in that building of the distillery switches jobs every 30 mins to prevent carpal tunnel.

Here are the bottles on their way to packaging. It is actually all the same line.

And here is an up close shot of a bottle ready to be sold. It takes about 2 minutes for the wax to dry without the aid of a dryer.

After the tour there was taste testing in the gift shop. I am not a bourbon drinker so it wasn't my favorite part of the tour. But I did try the bourbon chocolates and they were pretty good. I think Aaron liked those the best too! We also got to dip our own bottle of Maker's Mark which was a lot of fun. It sits on our shelf in the kitchen dated and signed.

The last hurrah of the vacation was a ride on the Harley. The ride started out cold and dreary but ended up warm and sunny. It was a great end to our little vacation!