Wild Turkey Distillery is perched 300 feet above the Kentucky River. I highly recommend viewing the distillery from this vantage point on Rt. 62, just east of the distillery.

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Jimmy Russell, Master Distiller at Wild Turkey. Jimmy has worked at the distillery since 1954! It is not unusual to find him relaxing on the visitors center porch talking with the visitors.

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The distillery buildings as you approach from the visitor's center. Many of the buildings were built in the 1880's.

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The column still and spirit safe. The completed distillation, or distiller's beer, is pumped into the top of the column still. Live steam enters at the bottom. As the beer flows down the still through a series of perforated plates the stream rises past it, stripping off the alcohols and esters. These are condensed and, now called 'low wines', pass through the spirit safe seen here.

Wild Turkey runs one shift a day. After each shift the still is shut down and cleaned for the next day.

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The 'low wines' spirit safe. This ornate equipment is traditional in the whiskey industry. The distiller can open this box to take a sample of the spirit coming off the still to check for quality. Notice the turkey engraved into the glass and the lion's head on the latch.

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Fermenter room.

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A fermenter being filled will distillers beer. Notice the small hose in the background adding backset.

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Wild Turkey uses a three day fermentation. This batch is nearing the end of the fermentation cycle. The grain cap is thick and chunky. As the fermentation completes this cap will break up and sink.

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Barrell filling station. Here new charred American white oak barrels are filled with spirit. They are filled through a 'bung hole' drilled in the widest barrel stave.

Once full a poplar bung is hammered in to seal the barrel. The full barrels (now weighing over 500 lbs) are rolled or trucked to a rickhouse for aging.

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Barrel aging warehouse, or 'rickhouse'. Whiskey matures in these barrels until it reaches the age and flavor profile needed for one of Wild Turkey's products.

Barrel aging is enhanced by seasonal and daily temperature swings. Wild Turkey does rotate barrels between the top and bottom most floors if they are deemed to be aging too slow or fast.

The top rick on some floors is left empty, as seen here, to aid in even air flow.

The warehouses are not heated in winter and the sprinkler system contains antifreeze for the cold winter months.

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Wild Turkey Visitor's Center. The center was converted from a farm house on the property. Distillery tours start here with a video. It also contains a gift shop. When the current distillery expansion is complete it will include a new larger visitor’s center.

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Wild Turkey does not use any grain that is a genetically-modified organism (GMO). Their process is very traditional and they pay a premium for the natural grain. They are also worried about any future repercussions of using GMO's. The whiskey distilled today will not become a bottled product for another 4 to 15 years. If a GMO grain is discovered to have an issue 5 years from now, or if the government decides any GMO products must be labeled as such, then the distillery would be in quite a bind with all that aging product now affected. The premium they pay for non-GMO grain is considered insurance against any possible issues later.

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A railroad trestle crosses the Kentucky River adjacent to the distillery. No longer in use, it used to carry most of the rail traffic through this area.

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Farmland surrounding the distillery.

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Bridge over the Kentucky River as you approach the distillery from the east on Rt. 62. The river gorge is 300 feet deep.

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Grain is received in this area and stored in the adjacent silos until needed.

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