IN
IN DANVILLE HAS BEEN PUT ACTING IT'S BOURBON AND THE EXPERIENCE
YOU GET WHEN YOU VISIT.
>> IF BOURBON IS YOUR THING,
YOU HAVE TO ADD WILDERNESS
TRAIL DISTILLERY YOUR TO DO
LIST IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE
VISITING THE DANVILLE, BOYLE
COUNTY AREA.
COUNTY AREA. I AM JOINED BY THE BRAND
MANAGER HERE AT WILDERNESS
TRAIL.
TRAIL.
TRAIL. JARED, TELL ME EVERYTHING, FROM
THE HISTORY, TO WHAT IT IS LIKE
TO GO ON TOUR HERE.
>> WE HAVE BEEN IN BUSINESS
SINCE 2013, MAKING BOURBON HERE
IN DANVILLE.
IN DANVILLE. WE HAVE SCALED UP A LOT SINCE
THEN.
THEN.
THEN. WE
THEN. WE STARTED OFF DOING ONE BARREL
A DAY.
A DAY.
A DAY. NOW WE ARE DOING OVER 200 A
DAY.
DAY.
DAY. WE
DAY. WE ARE ON PACE TO DO OVER 7000
BARRELS THIS YEAR.
WE ARE PUTTING OUT A WHOLE LOT
OF WHISKEY.
OF WHISKEY. WHEN YOU FIRST VISIT US, WE ARE
ON THE KENTUCKY BOURBON CRAFT
TOUR.
TOUR.
TOUR. IT
TOUR. IT IS A MUCH SMALLER AUDIENCE.
IT WAS JUST ABOUT THREE OR FOUR
LITTLE TERNS, AND THEN YOU
VISIT THE WHOLE DISTILLERY, WE
HAVE A BIG BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS, WE
ARE ON THE TRAIL WITH THE BIG
GUYS AND YOU GET THE FULL RANGE
OF TALKING ABOUT THE
FERMENTATION, WE HAVE THE
SCIENCE BEHIND WHAT WE DO.
DURING THE TOUR, YOU GET TO
VISIT THE DISTILLERY.
YOU SEE WHERE IT IS ALL MADE.
IT IS ALL REALLY NEED.
YOU GET TO SEE ALL OF THE GRAIN
THAT WE USE, EVERYTHING THAT
GOES INTO THE FERMENTER.
BEING KENTUCKY PROUD, THAT LETS
US HIGHLIGHT WHAT WE DO HERE IN
KENTUCKY, WE DO A LOT OF GREAT
THINGS.
THINGS.
THINGS. THE BOURBON MAKING PROCESS IS
ONE OF THEM.
BOURBON IS DEFINITELY AN
AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY.
AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY. WE ARE TAKING START FROM THE
GROUND, WHETHER IT BE THE
GRAINS OR THE TREES AND USING
THAT TO MAKE OUR PRODUCT.
HAVING THAT VERY, VERY HIGH
QUALITY PRODUCT, KNOWING THAT
THE BOURBON INDUSTRY IS HERE IN
KENTUCKY IT IS BECAUSE OF THE
GREAT CORN, THE GREAT WHEAT.
THE GREAT RIDE.
ALL GROWN BY THE SETTLERS.
WE HELP TO CONTRIBUTE TO THAT
LEGACY.
LEGACY.
LEGACY. WE CAN TAKE THOSE KENTUCKY
PROUD PRODUCT AND PUT IT INTO
THE BOURBON THEY GET SENT ALL
OVER THE WORLD.
WE DO HAVE A GREAT EXPERIENCE
WHEN YOU VISIT US HERE.
>> HAS YOUR TOUR CHANGED SINCE
COVID?
COVID?
COVID? >>
COVID? >> LIKE EVERYBODY, I WAS HIT
RIGHT IN THE FACE, WE DID NOT
KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, IT HAS
REALLY BEEN KIND OF A BLESSING,
HAVING A MUCH SMALLER AMOUNT OF
PEOPLE REALLY LETS US GET INTO
AN INTIMATE SETTING WITH THESE
FOLKS.
FOLKS.
FOLKS. INSTEAD OF HAVING MAYBE 20 IN
THE GROUP, IF YOU HAVE A
QUESTION OR ARE A LITTLE BIT
NERVOUS, YOU DO NOT WANT ASK
THE TOUR GUIDE, NOW MAYBE FOUR,
FIVE PEOPLE, YOU FEEL MUCH MORE
COMFORTABLE IN DOING THAT AND
YOU CAN GET A MUCH LONGER
ANSWER.
ANSWER.
ANSWER. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT ON THE
GROUP TO CATCH UP.
SO IT DOES ALLOW FOLKS TO LEARN
A LOT MORE ABOUT BOURBON.
YOU CAN FEEL THAT INTIMACY OF
WHAT WE DO HERE.
WE ARE LOCALLY-OWNED, FAMILY-
OWN COMPANY.
OWN COMPANY. IT IS A VERY INTIMATE WORKING
EXPERIENCE AND WE WANT TO
REFLECT THAT AS MUCH AS WE CAN
WITH THE TOUR EXPERIENCE.
>> WHAT MAKES YOU ARE DIFFERENT
FROM THE OTHER GUYS ON THE
TRAILS?
TRAILS?
TRAILS? >> WHAT REALLY SEPARATES US
FROM OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS
ON THE BOURBON TRAIL IT IS
REALLY OUR EMBRACE OF SCIENCE.
WE REALLY LOVE THE SCIENCE
HERE.
HERE.
HERE. EVERY OTHER FACILITY DOES AS
WELL, BUT WE HAVE WONDERFUL
TRADITIONS THAT ARE DECADES, IF
NOT CENTURIES, ALL.
WE STARTED UP IN 2013, WE MAKE
A GREAT TRADITIONAL BOURBON.
BUT WE HIGHLIGHT THE WAYS THAT
THE INDUSTRY IS COME AROUND, SO
YOU SEE OUR LABORATORY ON THE
TOUR.
TOUR.
TOUR. WE
TOUR. WE DO HAVE A LABORATORY THAT IS
WORLD-CLASS, WHERE WE ARE DOING
INDUSTRY-LEADING RESEARCH ON
YEAST AND FERMENTATION.
OUR CO-OWNER, PAT HEIST,
TEACHES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
LOUISVILLE, HE IS AN ADJUNCT
PROFESSOR IN THE UK.
AND HE IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S
LEADING BOURBON PROFESSORS.
IT IS WHEN IT ALL STARTED, HAVE
TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS,
REALLY NOTHING IS OFF LIMITS
WITH WILDERNESS TRAIL, ANY
QUESTION YOU HAVE, WE TRY TO
EXPLAIN IT TO IN A FACTUAL
ANSWER.
ANSWER.
ANSWER. THAT IS BECAUSE IT WAS ALWAYS
DONE THIS WAY, BUT BECAUSE THAT
FACTUAL ANSWER IS SO
INTERESTING.
INTERESTING. WHETHER IT BE, YOU KNOW, THE
PHYSICS OF BOILING POINTS WHEN
YOU ARE DOING DISTILLATION.
OR THE CHEMISTRY OF, YOU KNOW,
YOUR FERMENTATION.
YOUR FERMENTATION. HOW MANY NUTRIENTS HAVE TO BE
IN THERE.