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How Bourbon Is Born

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With that first sip, I couldn’t wait to begin our “spirited” quest—a tour of eight distilleries along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Like California wine country is to oenophiles, Central Kentucky is a mecca for bourbon aficionados.

1. Ingredients: Bourbon consists of at least 51 percent corn, rye, or wheat, plus malted barley. The calcium-rich and iron-free water that flows through Kentucky’s maze of limestone caves provides a perfect medium.
2. Cooking: Following the distiller’s recipe, grain, water, and backset from the previous batch are combined and cooked into mash.
3. Fermentation: Yeast is added and converts the sugars into alcohol.
4. Distillation: Alcohol is separated from the mash and the proof is raised.
How Bourbon Is Born
5. Container: White oak barrels are charred to enhance the flavor of the soon-to-be stored bourbon.
6. Maturation: Barrels are filled and transported to the warehouse to mature for at least two years.
How Bourbon Is Born
7. Tasting: The master distiller evaluates the contents.
How Bourbon Is Born
8. Bottling: Once the bourbon is determined ready by the master distiller, bottles are filled.
9. Drink: Enjoyed neat or on the rocks.
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