It was on a very hot afternoon of June 14, during the National Bourbon Day, at 119 W. Main Street Louisville, KY, that many people and officials gathered for a unique occasion. This was the Grand Opening Ceremony of a long awaited new facility just feet away from the famous KFC Yum! Center: the Old Forester brand-new distillery and visitor center. It has been a three-year long project requiring a $45 million investment from Brown-Forman, an ambitious step in their strategy, that eventually became a reality. The new distillery is expected to produce 100,000 cases of bourbon a year, which would double the current production level.

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THE CELEBRATION

All the most prestigious people came to add a comment, always positive, to this ceremony. There was a palpable enthusiasm in each speaker’s voice, shared cheerfully by the crowd.

You can watch parts of the speeches delivered by all critical players before the final drum rolling:

Introduction:

Paul Varga, Brown-Forman CEO:

Greg Fisher, Mayor of Louisville, KY:

Terry Gill, Secretary of KY economic development, representing the governor Matt Bevin:

Stacey Yates, VP of Marketing Communication, Louisville Tourism Bureau:

Campbell Brown, President and and Managing Director of Old Forester, 5th generation descendant of company founder George Garvin Brown (whose signature remains on the bottle today),

THE DRUM ROLLING and THE OPENING of the DISTILLERY

There was no ribbon-cutting here, but rather something that reminded the rolling of the barrels when moved . The opening remarks ended with an innovative collective drum rolling:

 

The GO signal was then given, to allow the first barrels full of spirit created in the distillery to be loaded in a truck, before being driven to the rickhouse.

 

THE PLACE

The result is at the level of the investment: it is a state-of-the-art place to visit with no hesitation if you are around.

  

This is an impressive 70,000-square-foot facility that will allow for the first time to look at how Old Forester is produced. Previously, Old Forester was made at the Shively distillery which was not open for visits.This new facility is offering to visitors the opportunity to watch the entire operation of a distillery from mashbill to bottling.

One can see the Old Forester name placed on the historic brick wall: the facility is housed in their former historic building back in the early 1900s.

THE VISIT

The visit is organized around seven chapter, providing the visitor with an extensive view of the whole process.

 

1-THE HISTORY

A tour introduces guests to the history of the brand beginning with multiple interactive touch screens followed by a fast paced movie. Bourbon story and prohibition are in the menu. As the movie ends, the wall opens up and visitors walk into the working distillery.

 

2-MASHBILL AND FERMENTATION

The mashing and cooking of the blend of corn, rye and malted barley takes place down the road at the company’s larger distillation facility. It’s then shipped to the Whiskey Row location for its five days of fermentation before it makes its way to the column still.

  

 

3-THE COLUMN STILL

A glass elevator ride gives you a close look at the tall copper column still from Vendome Copper & Brass Works in the middle of the building. A sizable column, weighting 4,700 lb., 44′ tall, and 24″ in diameter.

  

 

4-THE COOPERAGE

There is a fully operating copperage inside of the building. Not very common, so go to have a look. Of course it is a small place that yields 14 barrels a day, as compared to the 2,500daily that are build at their bigger facility.

But you get to see the barrels made from A to Z.

    

From staves to “mise en rose”, hooping, and then the charring process.

 

5-THE WAREHOUSE

You are then encouraged to walk through a metal catwalks to go around the five-story barrel storage warehouse backside of the distillery. It’s quite unusual to see a rickhouse made of steel, but at least you don’t get the same challenge that Barton’s distillery experienced just few days after this grand opening.

You can check the incredible images and story on this link!

Collapse in the Barton’s warehouse

From the basement to the buildings roofline, the riskhouse can be filled with up to 900 barrels.

  

 

6-THE BOTTLING

  

 

7-THE PRODUCTS

You’ll come across historic bottles of Old Forester and get a tasting of the current releases.