With the Kentucky Derby being run this weekend, we thought it would be fitting to explore the history of the Mint Julep, the traditional drink so closely tied to the race.
Juleps are the ancestors of centuries-old drinks from the Middle East known as julabs, which were made with water and rose petals. Juleps at some point made their way to the U.S. where their heritage dates to the 1700’s when the drink was probably made with brandy or rum or other spirits that were readily available.
In the early 1800’s, Henry Clay, a popular Senator from Kentucky, helped change the face of the Mint Julep to the bourbon cocktail we know today: mint leaf, bourbon, water and sugar prepared and served in a highball glass with a straw. He took Kentucky Straight Sour Mash Whiskey with him to Washington, D.C., where he introduced friends and colleagues to his drink at the Round Robin Bar inside the Willard Hotel. The Mint Julep was a hit and grew in popularity from there.
Willard Intercontinental Hotel, Washington D.C.
Decades later in the late 1800’s, Marvin Stone was sipping a Mint Julep and was dissatisfied with the natural rye grass straws used at the time. Those straws fell apart, imparted additional unwanted grassy flavors and left a gritty residue in the drink. He experimented by wrapping a piece of paper around a pencil and gluing the ends together, an invention that caught on. After several improvements to the initial design, including making a more sturdy paraffin-coated manila version, his drinking straw was patented in 1888. The invention was so successful, he turned his cigarette paper holder company into Stone Straw Company by 1906. Bourbon and the Mint Julep survived Prohibition and in 1938, the drink was officially promoted by Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.
Brown-Forman’s Early Times Mint Julep Ready-to-Serve Cocktail has been “The Official Mint Julep of the Kentucky Derby” for over 18 years. Brown-Forman also makes Woodford Reserve, “The Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby.” Woodford Reserve has been used to make $1000 ultra-premium Mint Juleps served in silver cups since 2006, with proceeds this year benefiting the Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Center charity. And the Mint Julep is as popular at the Derby as ever, selling tens of thousands each year. So whether you actually make it to the Kentucky Derby or are watching from the couch with a few friends, a mint julep is the way to go. Here is a mint julep recipe with step by step instructions (start the night before). Let us know how it turns out!
September is “National Bourbon Heritage Month” across the U.S.A. as the U.S. Senate declared September as “National Bourbon Heritage Month” back in 2007.
In celebration of this great American spirit, we thought it would be fun to interview some of the key personalities in the bourbon world — to accomplish this we partnered with a loyal Florida customer (and prolific beer and spirits blogger) Rob Steward. Rob describes himself as a passionate beer junkie that started wandering into the spirits aisles.
Here’s Rob, craft beer and bourbon lover
Rob contributed some great questions and and we received some fun and informative responses!
Rob’s interview is with Chris Morris, Master Distiller at the Brown-Forman Corporation’s Woodford Reserve distillery in Kentucky. Chris also serves as their global brand ambassador and is an avid historian of bourbon and Kentucky heritage.
The oldest and smallest distillery in Kentucky traces its origins to 1797 when Elijah Pepper began distilling in Woodford County. This National Landmark crafts Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select, the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby!
Rob: Some bourbon makers, including Woodford Reserve, I believe, have matured their bourbons in other barrels. Port and wine barrels have been tried. First, is it still OK to call those bourbons? Or are there bourbon-making rules that put those in different categories? What has been the most experimental additional aging that Woodford Reserve has tried? What’s the craziest barrel that no one has done yet? Why not?
CM: As you note a “bourbon” can only be matured in a new, charred oak barrel. Therefore technically a bourbon “finished” in a second barrel that does not meet that criteria is no longer a bourbon, it becomes a “spirit specialty”. The product descriptor will identify was it is – such as it did for Woodford Reserve’s Sonoma-Cutrer Finish. That Masters Collection expression’s descriptor was “Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished in a California Chardonnay Barrel”. That is what it was, a finished bourbon and no longer simply a bourbon. We have experimented finishing mature bourbon in fortified wine barrels, still wine barrels, other spirit type barrels and exotic wood barrels. No other distillery has experimented with non-oak barrels. Some of the woods we have used have created some spectacular results but they are probably too costly to use in a meaningful way.
Rob: I understand the heritage that Woodford Reserve has with horse racing and the Kentucky Derby. Woodford Reserve even has its own stable of race horses, right? Have any of your horses ever won the Kentucky Derby? Are any of your horses named with bourbon-themed names? What are they? What are some of Woodford Reserve employees’ favorite horse names?
CM: We are extremely proud of the fact that Woodford Reserve is the first and only “Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby”, to have been associated with The Breeder’s Cup, the Belmont Stakes and many other prestigious thoroughbred races. Our Woodford Reserve Stables was an exciting aspect of our continuing relationship with the horse industry. However the program is now suspended. A number of our horses suffered a spate of injuries so we decided to leave horse racing to the experts and concentrate on what we do best – crafting Woodford Reserve. All of our horses had industry related names – my favorites – Angels Share and Reserve My Heart.
Rob: Speaking of the Kentucky Derby, I know they make a famous Mint Julep with Woodford Reserve. How do you feel about mixing bourbon in general? Aren’t high-end bourbons such as Woodford Reserve like other high-end spirits, usually enjoyed without the other ingredients?
CM: Bourbon is one of the most versatile spirits there is. It can be enjoyed neat, on the rocks, with a splash of water, in highballs, sours, smashes (juleps) and many other drinks. And the better the bourbon the better the drinking experience. The fact that the “cocktail” concept was created in America with American whiskey as its base makes me very comfortable with the use of Woodford Reserve in many styles and types of drink. We craft Woodford Reserve for people to enjoy responsibly and if that entails sipping a “Woodford and Ginger” or a Woodford Manhattan we can only respect that as the consumer’s choice.
Rob: If you and I were just chatting about the future of Woodford Reserve and what new cool innovative products were in the works, what would you tell me? Yes, I’m asking what secrets you might share.
CM: Innovation is part of Woodford Reserve’s DNA. We have a number of products in barrel, in warehouse, waiting to take their place in the Masters Collection’s line-up. We also have some new Woodford Reserve expressions biding their time as well. That is as much as I am allowed to reveal!
Many thanks to Brown-Forman and Chris Morris as well as Rob for his great questions!
September is “National Bourbon Heritage Month” across the U.S.A. as the U.S. Senate declared September as “National Bourbon Heritage Month” back in 2007.
In celebration of this great American spirit, we thought it would be fun to interview some of the key personalities in the bourbon world — to accomplish this we partnered with a loyal Florida customer (and prolific beer and spirits blogger) Rob Steward. Rob describes himself as a passionate beer junkie that started wandering into the spirits aisles.
Here’s Rob, craft beer and bourbon lover
Rob contributed some great questions and and we received some fun and informative responses!
Rob’s interview is with Chris Morris, Master Distiller at the Brown-Forman Corporation’s Woodford Reserve distillery in Kentucky. Chris also serves as their global brand ambassador and is an avid historian of bourbon and Kentucky heritage.
The oldest and smallest distillery in Kentucky traces its origins to 1797 when Elijah Pepper began distilling in Woodford County. This National Landmark crafts Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select, the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby!
Rob: I understand the former distillery name was Labrot & Graham and it’s very interesting that you tie your bourbons to that history on your bottles. Where does the name Woodford Reserve come from?
Chris Morris, Master Distiller for Brown-Forman
CM: Our distillery site is on its 4th name over 200 years of distilling activity. From 1812 until 1838 it was the Elijah Pepper farm, grist mill and distillery, one of thousands like it scattered over Kentucky. Pepper’s son, Oscar, built our current distillery building in 1838 and named it after himself, The Old Oscar Pepper Distillery. His son, James, sold the operation to Labrot & Graham in 1878. It operated on and off under that name for 126 years.
Our parent company, Brown-Forman, purchased the distillery and renamed it, “Woodford Reserve”, after the county in which it is located – Woodford County, Kentucky. It follows the Scottish single malt distillery tradition of naming the distillery after its location.
Rob: I think the history of your distillery is very interesting and the fact that it’s a National Historic Landmark if very cool. What do you think the founders of the distillery would do and say should they magically start working for the distillery tomorrow? Would they need years of lessons? Would they be shocked or impressed? Would they immediately try to innovate new products?
Oscar Pepper and his distillery team would be amazed at how we have modernized the processes they used to craft bourbon. They would recognize them in the broadest sense – The Five Sources of Bourbon Flavor (grain recipe, water, fermentation, distillation and maturation) – have not changed, but the way they are applied have. They ground their grains with stone grist mill as opposed to a modern hammer mill. They mashed by hand in small mash tuns – adding buckets of water boiled over and open fire, and stirring in the “cracked” grain by hand.
Today we boil in the cooker with steam heat and drop grain in from the scale hoppers. They distilled in small pot stills that were heated over open wood fires. Today we use pot stills 20x larger that are heated by steam coils. They worked all day to produce 6 to 12 gallons of whiskey while we craft over 1000 gallons a day. They matured their barrels in small, single story warehouses. Today we mature in multi-storied open rick warehouses (patented in 1879) that hold thousands of barrels. Oscar Pepper sold his product by the barrel, never bottling it for sale. Today we have a modern, automated bottling hall. I think it is a safe bet to say they would have needed comprehensive training.
Unique copper pot stills
Rob: I’m a craft beer guy turned spirits enthusiast. I know that Woodford Reserve barrels are used in aging some craft beers and that Woodford Reserve has even gone as far as to donate barrels to a group of home brewing clubs.
What do you think about the bourbon barrel-aging trend within craft beer circles? Have you had the opportunity to try some beers that were aged in your barrels? Were you able to pick up distinct Woodford Reserve nuances or was it just a more generic bourbon flavor?
CM: We are flattered that a number of craft breweries seek out used Woodford Reserve barrels for their barrel aged products. I have been fortunate to try a number of them and they have all been delicious. While you don’t taste Woodford Reserve specifically in them you can taste the impact that our barrels make. Our barrels are uniquely crafted according to flavor focused standards at the Brown-Forman Cooperage. Brown-Forman is the only spirits company in the world that makes barrels for its own brands. The Woodford Reserve barrel is made from 9 month open air dried wood that is toasted prior to the charring process. This softens the barrel’s tannic acid profile and gives it a buttery, creamy vanilla note. This makes a Woodford aged craft beer so soft and smooth. Several craft breweries I have visited use various bourbon distillery sourced barrels and you can sure tell the difference between the beer aged in those and a Woodford barrel.
Rob: This may be a strange question, but is bourbon your favorite spirit? If so, what takes second place? Do craft bourbon makers often drink and promote each others’ products? Is it a tight-knit group like craft brewers? If so, if the liquor store just ran out of Woodford Reserve, what are the top 3 craft bourbons that you’d hope they had available?
CM: Bourbon (including Tennessee Whiskey) is my favorite spirit followed by single malt scotch. If Woodford Reserve wasn’t available I always look for the other Brown-Forman whiskies, Early Times 354, Old Forester or a member of the Jack Daniel’s Family. I prefer fully matured whiskey products and I have yet to find a craft bourbon that meets that criteria. This is due to the fact that most of these distillers have only been in business for a few years. I do not consider those brands that are using aged bourbon that they have purchased from established distilleries.
With the Kentucky Derby being run this weekend, we thought it would be fitting to explore the history of the Mint Julep, the traditional drink so closely tied to the race.
Rob: I understand the heritage that Woodford Reserve has with horse racing and the Kentucky Derby. Woodford Reserve even has its own stable of race horses, right? Have any of your horses ever won the Kentucky Derby? Are any of your horses named with bourbon-themed names? What are they? What are some of Woodford Reserve employees’ favorite horse names?
