Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select combines two approaches to bourbon-making: batch distillation in copper pot stills and continuous distillation in columns. The whiskeys are married before bottling at 43.2% volume. MASH BILL & MATURATION: Corn accounts for 72% of the grain recipe, with 18% rye and 10% malted barley. The barrels are made at the producer’s own cooperage, where the new white oak is toasted and charred. The casks mature in warehouses that are heated and allowed to cool during winter. SUGGESTIONS: Serve it straight, on ice, or in an Old Fashioned with sugar, aromatic bitters and orange peel, stirred over ice. For a food pairing, serve neat with aged Parmesan.
Tasting notes
Clear amber with a honey-gold hue.
Dried fruit and orange peel, followed by mint, cocoa and a trace of tobacco. Vanilla underneath.
Round and supple, with toffee, caramel and chocolate. Citrus and cinnamon cut through the sweetness.
A smooth, warming finish, with gentle spice and lingering oak.
In the 1830s, Scottish distiller James Crow was measuring temperatures and alcohol strength at the Oscar Pepper distillery near Versailles. His work helped establish a more consistent way of making bourbon. The site, now home to Woodford Reserve, has a distilling history dating to 1812. Brown-Forman restored the stone distillery in the 1990s; it is now a National Historic Landmark.
Difford’s Guide: Woodford Reserve Bourbon
