Kentucky Bourbon Affair - Stitzel-Weller Distillery

My birthday gift from my wife and daughters was a great one this year. They gave me a day at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery with a friend. This was part of tours and events included in the Kentucky Bourbon Affair which is a promotional for the bourbon industry. When I received the gift it didn't take a minute to know who I would ask to join me. My old college pal, Greg, has been a friend since we met over 40 years ago. I knew that he enjoyed good bourbon as much as me and would enjoy a walk through at the historic distillery.
By standards of Kentucky bourbon distilleries, the Stitzler-Weller

Distillery is relatively new, opening on Derby Day in 1935. The Stitzel-Weller Distillery was owned and operated by Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle and W. L. Weller where many iconic bourbons including W.L. Weller, Old Fitzgerald, Rebel Yell, and Cabin Still were made. After repeated downsizing, the distillery closed in 1991 moving many of the distillery employees to the Bernheim Distillery. The distillery is now owned by Diageo who also owns Captain Morgan, Johnny Walker and Crown Royal to name a few. At the present time, Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey, Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon and Bulleit Rye Whiskey are aged at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery. Mike Veach has an excellent historical timeline of the distillery on BourbonEnthusiast.

Greg and I left after work on Wednesday and drove down I-64 to Shivley, Kentucky, near Louisville, where we stayed at the Day's Inn near the airport. We were very pleased that our room was clean and quiet. It was also very large and had two king sized beds. As we turned in for the evening, we sipped some excellent W. L. Weller Antique 107 Bourbon which was very appropriate for the distillery we were planning to visit the next day.
We woke early on Thursday, anxious for our visit to the distillery.

When we arrived early at the gate to Stitzel-Weller, we were met by a friendly guard who chatted with us and directed us to where we should park. We walked around the grounds some, took a few snapshots and enjoyed the cool spring day. As 9 am approached, we were met by Brittany Allison, who is Bourbon Ambassador with the Kentucky Distiller's Association who gave us a lot of information about the Stitzel-Weller facility and products. Our group was composed of a really nice bunch of people who love bourbon and bourbon history. There was a couple from Saskatoon,

Saskatchewan, three friends from Dallas, Texas, a couple from Memphis, a lady from Maine, a couple from Northern Kentucky, a lady from San Francisco and others. We also met Molly Wellmann who is the largest retail seller of Bulleit Whiskeys. Molly owns three bars in the Cincinnati area; Japp's, Neon, Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar and a new punch bar, Myrtle's Punch House. We also learned that Andy Cororan in our group has quite a connection to the distillery. His father and grandfather were both master distillers at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery. The others in the group made the visit very interesting.
We were met by the owner of Bulleit Bourbon, Tom Bulleit.

We found him to be very pleasant and engaging. We enjoyed an

excellent breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes and fruit. We moved to the custom bar trailer where we were treated to a punch made from a mix of Bulleit whiskey, juices, liqueurs and bitters. It was quite good.

Tom Bulleit and the guides took us to the cistern room where barrels were filled prior to aging in the rickhouses. We walked past the old steam engine that powered many of the processes at the distillery and along the rickhouses. We circled around to the visitor center where Tom Bulleit has his office in the same room where Pappy Van Winkle once had his office. The new visitor center was very nicely decorated with many interpretive displays and information on the history of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery. 

We finished the day in the tasting room with Tom giving us his impressions of Bulleit Bourbon, Bulleit 10 Year Bourbon and Bulleit Rye. Each of these was very good and everyone had their own preferences. Although I generally do not like rye whiskey, I found the Bulleit Rye very pleasant which is surprising since it has 95% rye in the mashbill. The rye had a very complex flavor that really developed after a couple of drops of water was added to the glass.

As we left the visitor center and prepared to drive home, Tom gave each of us an embossed Bulleit rocks glass and an engraved Bulleit mint julep cup. Both will be excellent reminders of the good time we had on this trip. We also learned that our small group was the first group of visitors other than employees and industry representatives to tour the Stitzel-Weller distillery since it has been reopened.
We got back on I-64 and drove east toward home, stopping at Maria's Cocina for a tamale lunch. I arrived back home around 5 pm after dropping Greg off.

We both had a fantastic time on the trip and enjoyed the visit as well as each other's company. I knew that Greg would share my affection for good bourbon and the history of the old distillery. We hope to come back to the area with our wives once the visitor center and distillery are open for public tours.

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