Bourbon’s best friend

What began as a chance meeting over a water tasting at a Kentucky Distillers Association conference in the spring of 2018 culminated this month at the opening of Michter’s new Fort Nelson Distillery. Visitors saw a Louisville Water display incorporated into the visitor’s center.

When Andrea Wilson, Master of Maturation, Executive V.P., G.M. for Michter’s, heard Kelley Dearing Smith and MarySusan Abell talk about the importance of water to the bourbon recipe, learned about the science behind our water and participated in a water taste test, she immediately saw the connection between the two brands and wanted to learn more.

Over the course of many discussions, the idea of creating a piece for the Fort Nelson distillery came to life. Wilson wanted to tell the story of how the quality of our water plays a role in creating the perfect bourbon. The display highlights how the limestone in this area helps increase the calcium and lower the iron — two important qualities to the bourbon recipe — as well as our one-of-a kind riverbank filtration method.

“Louisville’s high-quality water is a fundamentally critical component of making high quality American Whiskey,” said Wilson. “We teamed up with Louisville Water Company to create a beautiful display for Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery that helps educate consumers about all of the incredibly unique and special attributes of Louisville Water that all play a part in making Michter’s whiskies.”

We are honored to partner with Michter’s and to have created a piece that highlights the important relationship between the two industries. After all, water is bourbon’s best friend.

Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery offers tours, which include our display, Thursday through Monday (closed Tuesday and Wednesday). For more information and to book a tour, visit michters.com.