ELEVATE bartenders had been handled to a tour of James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, KY. The interactive expertise took attendees by the corporate’s complete bourbon-making course of, providing a behind-the-scenes take a look at how the model has been churning out whiskey for greater than 200 years.
It’s a technique that begins with a particular mash invoice and Kentucky’s limestone-filtered water, and wraps up in an growing older course of that’s twice so long as the regulation requires. Giving it at the very least 4 years within the rickhouse — versus the mandated two — permits the bourbon to extract its caramelized sugars, oak taste, and golden-brown shade.
Attendees additionally obtained a peek into Home of Suntory’s Dojo program. Corey Galotta, model supervisor of Courvoisier and Home of Suntory East, defined that the unique program covers the artwork of Japanese bartending, hospitality, craftsmanship, and tradition.
As a part of this hands-on preview, Hidetsugu Ueno, world-renowned bartender and proprietor of Bar Excessive 5 in Tokyo, traveled to Kentucky to present ELEVATE attendees a dwell ice carving tutorial. After Ueno demonstrated hand carving an ice ball and shared ideas and methods of the commerce, bartenders threw on gloves and used their very own units of instruments to craft an ice sphere. The balls had been served in a glass with Legent, so attendees might style the one-of-a-kind Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey.
“Legent is the newest addition to the Home of Suntory portfolio,” Galotta stated. “It’s a Kentucky bourbon [made] with Japanese craftsmanship and mixing ideas.”
Partially completed in wine and sherry casks, Legent is a collaboration between two trade legends: Jim Beam’s seventh-generation grasp distiller Fred Noe, and Suntory’s fifth-ever chief blender, Shinji Fukuyo. The results of their joint effort is a balanced and rounded bourbon that begins off wealthy, heat, and oaky. However like a Japanese whisky, it additionally options advanced layers and a clean end.
