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The
bonded
warehouses
are
the
same
as at
any
other
dis-
tillery.
The
old
stone
warehouses
are
rapidly
giving
way
to
modern
rack
warehouses.
Today
no
connoisseur
will
believe
any
whiskey
is
properly
matured
unless
maturity
is
evidenced
by
an
increase
in
proof
over
and
above
the
proof
at
which
the
whiskey
was
originally
entered
into
bond.
And
most
distillers
of
sour-mash
whiskies
heat
their
warehouses
in
extreme
cold
weather.
To
hold
tem-
perature
of
warehouses
too
high,
is
also
disadvantageous,
as
it
deprives
whiskey
of
its
natural
development,
impregnates
them
with
too
much
tannin
or
tannic
acid
and
deprives
them
of
part
of
their
bouquet.
Sour
mash
whiskies
are
full
of
essential
oils.
Ninety-six
iiours
of
fermentation,
primitive
methods,
all
add
to
make
the
sour
mash
whiskies
heavier
than
other
whiskies.
They
take
in
consequence
longer
to
mature,
and
are
hardly
fit
for
drink
until
about
four
years
old.
From
that
time
on
they
become
mellower
in
taste
and
finer
in
flavor.
Some
of
the
re-imported,
exported,
sour
mash
whiskies
are
as
fine
as
any
Old
Cognac
Brandy,
in-
finitely
more
wholesome,
and
pure
beyt)nd
doubt,
and
doctors
prefer
to
prescribe
them
for
medicine.
The
greater
part
of
the
morning
was
taken
in
my
investiga-
tion
of
the
distillery
and
warehouse;
a
long
and
loud
blow
on
the
horn
indicated
dinner,
and
we
soon
found
ourselves,
after
a
wash,
at
the
hospitable
table
of
the
distiller.
Oh,
these
Kentuckians
are
a
lovely
people.
They
are
gross-
ly
slandered
when
people
believe
they
do
nothing
but
shoot
and
kill.
There
are
rufiians
any
place
you
go,
the
world
over,
but
for
genuine
true
friendshi]),
that
is
all
wool
and
a
yard wide
and
will
never
fade,
I
like
to
think
of
the
friendship
of
some
of
my
Kentucky
friends.
N.
B.^
—
Many
drops
of
water
have
gone
down
the
stream
many
drops
of
sand have
marked
the
hours, the
days
and
years,
since
the
above
account
recorded
the
pleasant
reflections
of
a
de-
lightful
period.
Thirty
years
have
gone
by.
The
author's
hair,
such
as
have
been
spared
to
him,
are
gray.
Changes
in
business
conditions
are
marked
with even
more
distinct
ditt'erences.
From
an
honest
eft'ort
for the
temperate
use
of
liquors,
to-
day
the
trade
is
harassed
by
fanatical
prohibition
in
many
places.
The
lengthening
of
the
bonded
period
to
eight
years;
the
permission
granted
to
the
distiller
to
bottle
in
bond
;
have
brought
about
many
changes
in
the
methods
of
fermentation
and
distillation,
so
that
today
primitive
methods
as
described
in
the
above
account
are
rarely,
yes,
very
rarely
found.
Notwithstand-
ing,
the
eflervescence
of
youth,
the
author
himself
is
now
oper-
ating
a
model
distillery,
employing
with
good
results
the
ad-
vanced
methods
and
apparatus
which
science
and
experience
have
produced.