Skip to main content

Wild Turkey

We arrived at Wild Turkey in time for the last tour of the day. I got my ticket and then browsed the small gift shop and the wall of Wild Turkey history. Jimmy Russell, Master Distiller, sat near the entrance chatting with visitors. I had no idea what to say to a legendary Master Distiller so I just meandered through the visitor center until it was time for my tour.


Our group got into the tour bus for a drive up the hill to the distillery. We went through the distillery itself somewhat quickly, which made sense as most of it was loud and hard to hear. The fermentation room was impressive but that was about it. We walked back down to the bus and drove to a rick house. It was interesting and would have sufficed if it was the only one I saw, but was nothing special.

I wasn’t impressed with this tour. If you want to see a distillery and this is the only one you can do for whatever reason, it would be worth it. There wasn’t anything unique about it, though, and I found it lacking in information and proximity to the process.

The bus then went back to the visitor center for the tasting. I wasn’t a fan of the whiskeys that we tried (and wasn’t familiar with Wild Turkey whiskey before this visit) but I imagine this could be a highlight of the trail for Wild Turkey fans. The glass that we got to keep was bigger than I’d expect for whiskey but it’s a nice take-home gift. I would have liked a little more time at the tasting.


The view of the Kentucky River from the rear of the visitor center was the perfect way to end this long first day of the drive. I stood there for a while watching the water go by while I thought back on the day. If I were to drive through the area again I’d stop by for the view but pass on the tour.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

American Whiskey Drive Review

When I started planning my distillery drive, I didn’t find many lists that reviewed the distilleries as in-depth as I would have liked. So, I pieced together what I could find and decided that when I was done, I would write the review that I wished I had. This review will cover the ten distilleries (five on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail) that I visited over three days. Though I wasn’t able to hit them all, I hope this can be helpful for anyone else thinking about a similar trip. 
Post a Comment
Click Here for Full Post »

Prichard's

I hadn’t heard of Prichard’s before, but their original location in Kelso wasn’t too far from Jack Daniel’s so we decided to stop and maximize our time in Southern Tennessee. We parked in a small lot in front of the little school house and walked inside. Two other people were waiting for a tour so once we got there, the staff got the four of us started together. The tour started with a video of Prichard’s history and then a run through of all the products (mostly rum) they offer. The variety was impressive but also a little overwhelming. It was quite the contrast after some of the distilleries we had visited that only produced one product that was differentiated by the time it spent in a barrel. Next, we walked to the bottling room and then the small garage where distillation occurs. It was cool to see what production looked like on such a small scale after some of the giants that I had seen throughout the week. We finished up with a free tasting where we got to choose four of...
Post a Comment
Click Here for Full Post »

Maker's Mark

I almost skipped this stop. I was afraid it would be too sterile and it’s a bit out of the way. It was worth it, though (and we got to see a Foodland! I haven't seen one of those in years) It can be difficult to find as the entrance has changed. Upon arriving, you pull up to a parking lot across a driveway from a mansion. I read somewhere that they don’t have any outside events on site which surprised me because I could imagine people would want this for weddings. I walked inside and got my ticket for the next tour which, thankfully, was in ten minutes. I perused the rooms and grounds outside while I waited.   The tour itself winds through the different buildings on the distillery grounds which, at times, feels like a small village. You don’t actually see where the fermentation and distillation occur like at the other sites, but you get an explanation of the process while standing in a loud demonstration room. I would have preferred to hear the explanation outside before ...
Post a Comment
Click Here for Full Post »