Green River Distillery

Because we were not accustomed to Central Time, we were up early at the Owensboro Super 8. We showered and did our morning language lessons before I went downstairs to get cups of tea and hot water for us. The breakfast area opened at 6 am so we made our way down for biscuits, eggs and fruit. Most of the people staying at the motel were construction workers who came to the breakfast area to grab something to eat then take off to the job site.

Smother's Park in Owensboro, Kentucky

We left the motel around 8:30 am and drove to Smother’s Park along the Owensboro riverfront. The “Mayor’s Mile” is a stretch of riverfront that has been developed for tourism. Along the walking path there are plentiful benches, small amphitheaters, statues, veteran’s memorials and a tremendous playground. There were a number of work boats on the Ohio River as we walked by the conference center and several hotels and performance centers. The morning was cool in the upper 50s but there seemed to be less wind so the walk along Owensboro’s riverfront didn’t seem as cold. However, after temperatures in the 90s just a few days ago, the day seemed cold to us.

The drive to the Green River Distillery was less than 10 minutes for our 9 am tour. We were the only ones on the tour and met our guide, Nathaniel Thomas when we arrived. Nathaniel is a retired musician from Louisville who has a lot of knowledge of bourbon and the history of Green River Distillery. This distillery opened in 1885 as Medley Distillery, the 10th licensed distillery in the state giving it a DSP of KY-10. Today, DSP numbers for new distilleries are over 20,000. There was no production this week, but Nathaniel took us through where the grain is delivered, tested and stored. Like many area distilleries, the corn and wheat are locally sourced, but the rye and barley are from the Pacific Northwest.

Stills at Green River Distillery

Unlike some distilleries using cypress tubs, the fermentation vats at Green River are stainless steel, making them easier to clean. Distillation takes place in a three-story tall stainless steel Vendome column still that leads to a copper doubler. We were surprised at the scale of Green River Distillery's production.  In 2024, the output of spirits was nearly equal to that of Four Roses Distillery.  Spent stillage grains are given to local farmers at no cost. There are some aging rickhouses on the site of the distillery but much of the bourbon is aged off-site in palletized buildings.

Once back at the visitor center, we enjoyed a tasting of Green River’s spirits with Nathaniel. We had the standard Green River Bourbon (90 proof), Wheated Bourbon (90 proof), Rye Whiskey (95 proof), Barrel Proof Bourbon (117.3 proof) and Barrel Proof Wheated Bourbon (109.3 proof). Of these, we liked the Barrel Proof Wheated Bourbon best. We didn’t buy any bottles from the gift shop since our local Kroger carries a full line of Green River spirits and frequently runs a sale on them. Before we left, Nathaniel recommended Barrel Head Liquor Market as a good place to buy liquor and wine. Barrel Head also has a tasting bar with shots at $1 each. Since the store was on our way home, we decided to stop to see if they might have some John J. Bowman that our friend Steve Minor enjoys.

When we arrived at Barrel Heads, they had a very large selection of wine and spirits at good prices but no Bowman. However, Mary was able to find some dry Reisling wine at reasonable prices, so we picked up three bottles to try. We topped off the gas at the station adjacent to Barrel Heads because gas was about $.40 lower than we had when we left home.

We decided to take US Rt. 60 for much of the drive back east toward home. The drive was relaxing without much traffic. We stopped for lunch at a McDonalds around Hardinsburg, Kentucky, just west of Ft. Knox. We picked up Interstate 64 east of Louisville and arrived home before 5 pm.