Woodford Reserve Distillery (Labrot & Graham)

Status: Operational

Established: 1812

Owner: Brown-Forman Corporation

Capacity: Not supplied

Visitor Policy: Not generally accessible

Tel: Not supplied

Website: http://www.woodfordreserve.com

Woodford Reserve is aged at the Labrot & Graham Distillery, established in 1812 by Oscar Pepper with Scottish distiller, James Christopher Crow, making it the oldest distilling site still operating in Kentucky. Pepper chose the site due to the abundant supply of pure iron-free, calcium-rich limestone water, a critical ingredient for bourbon production.

Aside from age and water quality, the Labrot & Graham Distillery is known as the home of some of the greatest advancements in the art of distillation. Pepper himself perfected the sour mash distilling process and insisted that his bourbon was aged in charred oak barrels. Both practices are now a requirement for an American whiskey to be called bourbon and, as a result, Pepper has been credited with helping to raise the standards of American whiskies.

On top of being the smallest bourbon distillery, Labrot & Graham is also the slowest, taking a full seven days (against the usual three) to distil its whiskey due to a prolonged fermentation of the mash. The bourbon distilled at Labrot & Graham is also distinguished by being triple rather than double distilled.