710. The Bourbon Trail

Where: Louisville, Kentucky
When: April 25-27, 2014
With: Dave, Maier, Jillian and friends

Ahh, Kentucky. Home of fried chicken, horses and bourbon. I was so excited when Dave's best friend, also Dave, asked us to join him, his girlfriend and her friends on a Bourbon tasting weekend. Not because of the bourbon, I actually hate bourbon, but because it had been a long time since I had been to a brand new state. I was in!

We based ourselves in Louisville for the trip, though the formal Bourbon trail runs between Louisville and Lexington, about 80 miles across. The trail was founded to educate people on the history of this brown liquor that is exclusively made in Kentucky. All bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon, and it is primarily the oak barrels used to age this whiskey that distinguishes it from other types. 

On our first day, we had a bus pick us up and take us around to a few different distilleries. It was the perfect way to explore the area and enjoy the beautiful countryside of Kentucky in the process. 

Our first stop was at Woodford Reserve, a fancy one I soon learned. The grounds were beautiful, and we got a great tour of their factory to learn about the process of making bourbon. 

The fermenting of the "mash", a combo of grains and corn that is cooked, then cooled and allowed to ferment into alcohol. I was fascinated these massive tubs were just left wide open, but it's all an important part of the process!

We were encouraged to waft the mash. 

Final distilling. 

Barreling the whiskey. 

I loved all the barrels lined up all over the place. 

The liquor is then aged in the oak barrels. 

The bourbon is then dumped and filtered for bottling. 

Pouring into the bottles and putting on the labels. 

I may not like bourbon, but I sure like how it's displayed.

The special Kentucky Derby edition they make each year. 

After the tour, we got to do our tasting. 

It looked so pretty, I thought that maybe I could give bourbon another chance.

But, no, only the chocolate was good, and the rest of my tasting was passed along to Dave and whoever else wanted it. Oh well, it's going to be a long day...for both of us.

As we drove to the next distillery, we got to see some of the bluegrass and horse farms that make Kentucky famous. It was beautiful driving. 

Before our next distillery, and to get some food in our bourbon-filled stomachs, we stopped at this great little sandwich shop that was in the middle of nowhere. 

Next distillery: Town Branch.

Incorporating the horses in.

More mash wafting.

An extra drink for Jillian on her birthday!

After Town Branch, we took a little detour from bourbon to try something completely different: some good ol' fashioned moonshine. And when the outside of the building looks like this, you know it's going to be good. Maybe good isn't the right word. Authentic, you know it's going to be authentic.

Not quite made in a bathtub anymore. Thankfully.

Loved this little bar this guy had, but I didn't love the moonshine. If I thought bourbon was bad, this was like drinking rubbing alcohol. 

The final stop on the tour was at Four Roses. Even at the end, I still couldn't stomach the bourbon, but I could appreciate the inventive ways that roses were used to decorate the tasting room. 

The bartender at Four Roses was very sweet, but she also asked us our advice on whether she should propose to her boyfriend...that night. The girls were supportive, the guys said "no way". I wonder how that turned out for her.

A random stop at a cigar shop in the middle of nowhere. 

After a full day of bourbon tasting, you'd think we'd be done. But not even close. We had a night on the town in Louisville to explore the sights.

More bourbon tasting (not for me, to clarify). 

In this random bar, a rogue penguin decided to join us for our drinks. 

The next day, we did some daytime exploration of Louisville. We found this one great bar that was built from an old gas station. It had a huge open courtyard, with ping pong and benches, and was such a fun place to hang out. 

We also hung out on the banks of the Ohio River for some lunch to enjoy the sunshine. 

And we explored a good old southern hat shop in order to prepare ourselves for...

An evening at Churchill Downs! It wasn't the Derby, but it was the next best thing: Opening Night. 

Tickets were cheap to sit in the grand stand and watch some races right on the finishing line while wearing hats and drinking mint juleps. 

Pretend it's the derby:

After watching a few of the races, we headed back out to the main entrance to see the horses parade around. Perhaps we'd spot next week's Derby winner?

Overall, I'm super happy that I got to experience the Bourbon Trail, even if I am still not a bourbon lover. And more so, I'm really happy I feel like I got a crash course in Kentucky culture. The only thing missing was the KFC!