We add demineralized water to our 158 proof (79%) product to bring the product down to "entry proof," which is 110 proof (55%). To move the filled barrels from the Distillery Building to our warehouses, we use a barrel run, a small-gauge set of rails. The barrel run at L&G is 500 feet long and allows one person, with the help of gravity, to easily move a barrel weighing 500 pounds from the distillery building to the warehouses to begin the maturation process.

This is Warehouse C, the oldest surviving stone aging house in the U.S., built in the late 1880's. And it's where we mature our whiskey and where the "magic" of turning whiskey into Bourbon takes place. The whiskey in the barrels goes into Warehouse C clear and leaves some years later a rich amber liquid called Bourbon. How does this happen?

During our hot Kentucky summers the whiskey in the barrel expands, forcing its way through the toasted and charred layers of the barrel and into the wood where it stays until the cold winters cause the whiskey to contract. When this happens, the liquid is pulled back through the layers a second time. This passage in and out of the wood is referred to as a "cycle."  With each cycle the product in the barrel picks up more color, aroma and taste. Normally Mother Nature gives you 4-5 cycles a year.

To ensure the quality of the product throughout maturation, we sample every barrel annually. Because we mingle only 24 barrels in each bottling, we must be confident every barrel meets our exacting standards with regard to color, aroma and taste.