The WV Great Barrel Company

Between the WV Great Barrel Company and Smooth Ambler Spirits here in the Greenbrier Valley, the entire bourbon process, from barrel to bottle, is at your fingertips.

WV Great Barrel Company is a working cooperage in Caldwell, a manufacturing plant that builds whiskey, bourbon and wine barrels. On Mondays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the plant opens for guided walking tours, and in about an hour, you'll follow a barrel from raw stave to finished vessel.

The plant employs about 25 people who can build up to 800 barrels in an eight-hour shift.

You'll see how it comes together. White oak staves are locally harvested, arrive milled and sit outside to air-dry for months. It takes about 28 to 29 staves to make a single barrel, each one narrower at the ends and wider in the center, cut on curved angles so they assemble almost perfectly. A finished barrel stands 35 to 36 inches tall, with heads (the lid and bottom) 22 inches in diameter.

The toasting is where the character comes from. WV Great Barrel Company uses an exclusive infrared process with precise time and temperature control. This char gives a spirit its amber color, and the darker the color, the longer it's spent in the barrel.

A bourbon barrel is only used once for bourbon, then it goes on to serve other purposes. The plant also refurbishes used barrels, with about a half dozen coopers making sure every barrel that leaves is ready to be filled.

Tours are $10 per person, up to 8 people per tour. Reservations are required.

Wear closed-toe footwear. Earplugs and safety glasses are provided.