Eclectic Kim Review: Woodford Reserve Distillery's "Path to Flavor" Tour and Whiskey Tasting

When I told my friend Amy that I was adventuring along Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail, she had two suggestions. The first, was that she was surprised by how much she enjoyed the James B. Beam Distilling Co: Beam Made Bourbon Tour and Tasting – to which I promptly booked to experience for myself. The second was how much she loved and raved about the Woodford Reserve Distillery’s “Path to Flavor” Tour and Whiskey Tasting.

So, as someone who value’s Amy’s opinion, as we share similar tastes, I made it a priority to visit the Woodford Reserve Distillery before I made my hours long drive back to Nashville for my afternoon flight home.

Location

The location of the Woodford Reserve Distillery is absolutely stunningly gorgeous. As I drove from my stay at the Hotel Bourre Bonne Louisville, Curio Collection, I couldn’t help but think that this drive was what the landscape of Kentucky was about. Woodford County was absolutely stunning – with farmland and beautiful barns everywhere I looked.

Checking In

Arriving, I accidentally parked in front of the gift shop. A kind shutter driver noticed my confusion and drove me up to the proper place for tour check ins: across the road and up a few yards. As it was rather warm, I greatly appreciated the short lift.

Checking In easy. I’d arrived well ahead of schedule and it was too far for me to go get a quick breakfast. So, I relaxed in the bar and ordered some extremely light pre packaged bites and a cold brew coffee before my tour was called,

I even sat a bit in the comfortable Adorandack chairs, watching the time pass by.

Once my tour was called, my group checked in and we slowly boarded the shuttle bus. Our tour guide, Micheal, introduced himself and we were off.

Making Whiskey: Water, grain, germination, maceration, & distillation

Woodford Reserve Distillery is a relatively new operation, built on the legacy of the original Oscar Pepper Distillery, founded in 1812 by Elijah Pepper. The distillery passed through several owners over the decades before being reestablished in 1994 as Woodford Reserve.

Inside the fermentation room, Michael walked us through the grains that shape whiskey’s character: rye adds spice, corn supplies fermentable sugars, barley contributes the enzymes essential for fermentation, and wheat softens the profile with subtle fruit and floral notes.

After each distillation run, what’s left behind in the still is known as the setback – a nutrient-rich, acidic liquid. Rather than discard it, distillers mix some of it into the next mash, linking each new batch to the one before it. What’s not used is sent to local farms.

The yeast that Woodford Reserve Distillery uses dates back to the 1920s. Another aspect I found interesting is that they use open fermentation, utilizing huge vast built from wood from the Cyprus tree.

The life span of a wood fermentor averages about 30 years.

Fermentation is a 7 day process. At terminator 5, Micheal had us put out our hands and whiff a scent of the fresh batch of fermented mash. I smelled distinct aspects of green apples.

At terminator 3, Micheal had us contrast what we’d experienced previously, with an older and much less active batch. Here, I caught scent of sour apple. It was all fascinating. It was also extremely cool to see how active the yeast was doing what it does best: eating.

Distillation Room

We continued into the Distillation room. Here, Micheal taught us that Woodford Reserve Distillery utilizes triple distillation and filtering through the copper pot stills. The stills, made in Scotland and shipped over, allow the liquid to filter through in about 18 – 24 hours.

He pointed out the “spirit safe,” which allows readers to see what the spirit being distilled looks like, in real time.

The Rickhouses

When Michael mentioned that Woodford Reserve was the first distillery to toast and char their barrels, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes – every distillery makes that claim. The barrel contributes all of a whiskey’s color and nearly 80% of its flavor, but as I’ve learned from other tours, each place has its own version of the story – a few “tall tales,” so to speak.

At Woodford, the barrels receive a 25-second char. Inside the warehouse, conditions are carefully controlled: during winter months, the air is steamed, pushing temperatures above 90 degrees at the top of the rickhouse before being released down to around 60 degrees – a process known as steam cycling.

In the maturation house, the barrels remain fixed in place on the same racks throughout aging, spending between five and nine years developing their character. During that time, the whiskey draws sweetness from the wood’s natural sugars — what distillers fondly call “distiller’s candy.”

Tasting room

After. few more questions and a short drive in the van later, and we were back to the gift shop building for the tasting experience. We tried five expressions of whiskeys from Woodford Reserve Distillery. Plus, our sweet treat was a BOURBON BALL.

We tasted five expressions:

WOODFORD RESERVE BOURBON WHISKEY
Released in 1996, It is made from a blend of column-still and pot still bourbons.
Perfectly balanced taste comprised of more than 200 detectable flavor notes, from bold grain and wood, to sweet aromatics, spice, and fruit & floral notes.

WOODFORD RESERVE DOUBLE OAKED
An Innovative approach to twice-barreled bourbon creates the rich and colorful flavor of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked. Uniquely matured in separate, charred oak barrels – the second barrel deeply toasted before a light charring – extracts additional soft, sweet oak character.

WOODFORD RESERVE RYE WHISKEY
Woodford Reserve Rye uses a pre-prohibition style ratlo of 53% rye in Its mash bill to pay homage to history’s original rye whiskeys, making spice and tobacco the dominant note among a sea of fruit, floral, and sweet aromatics, which yelds a nice sweetness and overall balance.

WOODFORD RESERVE WHEAT WHISKEY
Using all four grain types, which is unique In the Industry, our Wheat Whiskey Is fruit forward with apple and cinnamon.

WOODFORD DISTILLERY SERIES – 12 YEAR AMERICAN SINGLE MALT
Masterminded by our Master Distiller, an eclectic line of one-of-a-kind expressions, Distillery Series pushes the creative boundaries of whiskeys to the extreme.

Overall

My top picks were the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey, and the Woodford Distillery Series. I loved the rich smoothness of the Double Oaked — it had a deep, layered character that stood out. The Wheat Whiskey was soft and approachable, offering bright notes of green apple and cherry on the palate. The Distillery Series reminded me of a scotch, but without the earthy undertones.

When I asked Michael about pairings, he mentioned that he enjoys the Rye in classic Manhattan cocktails. Someone else suggested that the Wheat makes an excellent addition to hot chocolate.

In the gift shop, I bought a bottle of the 12 YEAR AMERICAN SINGLE MALT. As it was a bottle that could only be purchased at the distillery, I greatly appreciated tasting it during the tour.

As I drove away, winding through Kentucky’s backroads toward Nashville and the flight home, I found myself thinking about how often people hold back from experiences like this. Perhaps worried about how they might be treated, whether because of race or gender. I had been aware of that possibility too. But what struck me most was that my time there had been marked not by discomfort, but by warmth, curiosity, and connection.