Jim Beam Distillery Tour & Custom Bottle
Since Jim Beam is pretty much my go-to whiskey these days, it seemed only appropriate for Jim Beam Distillery to be the final tour (9/2022) on our trip through the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Out of the three we visited, it was definitely the biggest, most corporate, but polished experience compared to the other two we stopped at. On the tour, you actually get driven around to various locations since their operation is so massive and spread out. One crazy thing we learned was that while some of the buildings were painted black (Jim Beam trademark color) most of the barrelhouses are tarnished black because they are covered with a “whiskey fungus” that is attracted to the ethanol vapor given off by the production operations. We noticed this at most of the other distillers we drove by or visited. Also, I had no idea Jim Beam was responsible for creating so many other brands and not simply because they were bought/acquired: Maker’s Mark, Baker’s, Basil Hayden’s, Bookers, Knob-Creek, and a bunch of others but those were the ones I’ve recognized because I’ve had them in the past.
Anyway, the highlight of the experience I only discovered once the tour started was I would have an option at the end to bottle my own single-barrel Knob Creek bottle and have it custom engraved and smoosh your fingerprint into the hot wax cap which of course I did and I still have the bottle (which I just refill with regular Jim Beam occasionally). We had hoped to eat at their top-rated restaurants onsite too but unfortunately, they had closed early for a private function. Overall very cool experience!
