Jefferson's Ocean — Bourbon and Barns

Woodford Reserve: A Bourbon Dream Comes True

Located among the rolling bluegrass hills of Woodford County, Woodford Reserve is located in the heart of horse country and is less than four miles from the home of Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify. Bourbon and Barns caught up with Elizabeth McCall, Woodford Reserve's Master Taster and Senior Quality Control Specialist, to learn more about this unique bourbon.

Bourbon & Barns: How did Woodford Reserve get its start?

Elizabeth McCall: Woodford Reserve was the dream of former Brown-Forman CEO, Owsley Brown II. He wanted to make the world's most balanced and complex bourbon on the market, one that would appeal to any palate and a home place for visitors to come and see where and how the product is made. The Woodford Reserve Distillery opened its doors in 1996 and is now one of the most visited distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and is the #1 selling bourbon over $30.

BB: How has the distillery changed over the years?

EM: The distillery has grown significantly since 1996, not just in production, but in our footprint as well. Woodford once only set one fermenter a week, now we are setting fermenters daily, and distilling spirits around the clock. We started out with four fermenters and added two more a few years ago. Our bottling line has expanded. Every drop of Woodford Reserve product is bottled on site with the exception of our 50mL bottles. Warehousing has expanded - we have four new large warehouses on the top of the hill on the property we purchased a few years ago. We are currently building more warehouses in Midway. With all this growth and expansion, Woodford Reserve has not lost its charm and has only continued to improve in quality and innovation. I am so proud to be a part of this brand and production team.

Want a once-in-a-lifetime adventure? Well, here you go! Jefferson's Bourbon is giving a fan and guest the opportunity to see how their unique Jefferson's Ocean products are aged as well as join a team of marine researchers as they catch, tag and release sharks. (You don't get to do that every day).

First, let's discuss Jefferson's Ocean.

Five years ago, Jefferson's Bourbon founder Trey Zoeller had an idea to put bourbon barrels on board a marine research vessel (called the M/V OCEARCH) to test his theory that bourbon aged at sea would mature in a unique way. He was right. At sea, bourbon is impacted by the salty air and temperature fluctuations while the natural movement of the ship on the water causes the bourbon to come into contact with the barrel's wood more often. While researchers studied great white sharks on the M/V OCEARCH, the three barrels of bourbon aboard the ship achieved a unique color and flavor that is known today as Jefferson's Ocean.

The experiment was so successful that Jefferson's now has hundreds of barrels aging aboard ships around the world with each crossing the equator multiple times and visiting five continents. You can learn more about Jefferson's Ocean at http://jeffersonsbourbon.com/jeffersons-ocean.

Now, Jefferson's Bourbon is giving you a chance to see how it all happens. Fans can enter the Jefferson's Shark Encounter Sweepstakes for a chance to see where Jefferson's Ocean is aged as well as join the OCEARCH team as they catch, tag and release sharks. Registration ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on October 31.

Fans can enter the Jefferson's Shark Encounter Sweepstakes at http://www.jeffersonssharkencounter.com/.

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Woodford Reserve: A Bourbon Dream Comes True

Jefferson's Bourbon Offers Unique Shark Adventure