Taste the “Good Stuff” on the Templeton Rye Whiskey Tour
The rural town of Templeton, Iowa has long been known for distilling whiskey. In fact, their mascot used to be the “bootleggers”. A few years ago, they moved their multi-million dollar facility back home to Templeton, Iowa. Register ahead of time and you can get a tour of the whiskey-making process and get a sample of the “Good Stuff”. Website for making a reservation: https://templetondistillery.com/visit/
Address: 209 E 3rd St, Templeton, IA 51463 (Google Map Location)
Here’s the four main sections of the tour:
Step #1) Introductory video in the grain bin. You’ll step into the grain bin located next to the gift shop for a quick intro video to the history of Templeton Rye.
Step #2) See how it’s made.
During this part of the tour, they will walk you over to the production facility where you climb (or take the elevator) to the 2nd-floor viewing area that overlooks the production area. They will discuss everything from the ingredients to the process for how it is created and distilled.
Step #3) Learn about bootlegging and Templeton history
Your tour guide will walk you back to the main facility to their history section and guide you through a quick tour of Templeton, prohibition, and bootlegging. The bootlegging stories were my favorite part of this section. For example, how the entire town including the priest, police chief, and telephone operators were in on it. Example of where and how they hide the product from the feds. In fact, my father in law was on the tour with me and he remembers doing work at the Templeton Bank back in the 1970s and they always commented “If you a bottle of the Good Stuff, just leave the money on the driver seat and it will be exchanged for a bottle before you leave.” So years after prohibition was over, the folks in Templeton were still operating quietly to deliver the “Good Stuff”. Our tour guide was also able to offer several bootlegging stories from her own family.
Step #4) Taste Testing
After the bootlegging stories, they push the panel of the wall and it will open up a path to the secret taste testing area where you’ll be served samples. We were given a 6 yr whiskey and a 10 yr whiskey sample.
Other photos of the facility and the giftshop…………………
