Woodford Reserve ("Tier 1") scoring category. The Woodford Reserve Distillery offers tours and is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail promotional programs. In a contract arrangement with Churchill Downs, Woodford Reserve has been declared the "official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby" and is used in a $1,000 mint julep cocktail that is sold to patrons on Derby Day. (Although Woodford Reserve is the Derby's "official bourbon", its sister brand Old Forester serves mint juleps as the "official drink" and is featured in the more moderately priced juleps served at the event.) Woodford Reserve Woodford Reserve is a
Jim Hewes Willard about craft cocktails, prohibition and other related subjects, specifically historical subjects pertaining to Washington. A collector of Washington and cocktail history ephemera, Hewes owns a Mint Julep recipe handwritten by Henry Clay. Hewes oversees the bar's cocktail program, which includes creating new thematic cocktails and reintroducing classic cocktails. He aims to create cocktails that guests can make easily at home. Hewes makes classic cocktails that reflect history and the cocktail's original recipe. He opposes the use of what he calls "secret ingredients" to craft cocktails. In a 2016 interview with "Vice" Hewes shared that "the key to a correct