Type Bourbon whiskey Alcohol by volume 45.20% Related products | Manufacturer Brown-Forman Proof (US) 90.4 | |
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Country of origin Kentucky, United States | ||
Woodford Reserve is an American brand of premium small batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey produced by the Brown-Forman Corporation. It is made from a mixture of pot still spirits distilled at the company's Woodford Reserve Distillery in Woodford County, in north-central Kentucky, and column still spirits from the Brown Forman Distillery in Shively, Kentucky. Each bottle is numbered with a batch number and bottle number. Woodford Reserve's alcohol content is 45.2% alcohol by volume (90.4 US Proof).
Contents
HistoryEdit
The Woodford Reserve Distillery, formerly known as the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery and later the Labrot & Graham Distillery, is approximately eight miles from the town of Versailles off U.S. Route 60, between Interstate 64 and Versailles.
Distilling on the site began in 1780 and the distillery building itself was erected in 1838, making it the oldest of the nine bourbon distilleries in current operation in Kentucky as of 2010—although the site has not been continuously operational as a distillery during that history. In 1995 the distillery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2000 it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Originally established by Elijah Pepper, the distillery was passed on to his son and was known as the Oscar Pepper Distillery when Dr. James Crow worked there in the mid-19th century. During this time Dr. Crow went about a series of activities that improved and codified the understanding of, and quality of, key bourbon-making processes such as sour-mash fermentation, pot still distillation and barrel maturation. The Pepper family sold the property to Leopold Labrot and James Graham in 1878, who owned and operated it (except during Prohibition) until 1941 when it was sold to the Brown-Forman Corporation. B-F operated it until 1968 and then sold the then-mothballed property in 1971. Brown-Forman re-purchased the property in 1993 and refurbished it to bring it back into operation. The Woodford Reserve brand was introduced to the market in 1996.
The company expanded its product line in February 2012 when it released Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon. Another variation is called the "Masters Collection", which is a series of limited bottlings produced using the older pot still distillation method. In 2015, the company introduced a Woodford Reserve rye whiskey.
Reviews and accoladesEdit
International Spirit ratings organizations and liquor review bodies have generally given Woodford Reserve solid scores. At the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Woodford Reserve's best performances have been in 2005 and 2013, winning a double gold medal each time. It has also won gold (2006–2007, 2011-2012) and silver (2008, 2010) medals at this annual event. The Beverage Testing Institute has given the Reserve scores of between 90 and 91 and Wine Enthusiast awarded it a 90-95 point rating. Spirits ratings aggregator proof66.com, which averages scores from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Wine Enthusiast, the Beverage Testing Institute, and others, ranks Woodford Reserve in its highest ("Tier 1") scoring category.
Marketing activitiesEdit
The Woodford Reserve Distillery offers tours and is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail promotional programs.
In a contract arrangement with Churchill Downs, Woodford Reserve has been declared the "official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby" and is used in a $1,000 mint julep cocktail that is sold to patrons on Derby Day. (Although Woodford Reserve is the Derby's "official bourbon", its sister brand Old Forester serves mint juleps as the "official drink" and is featured in the more moderately priced juleps served at the event.)