Bourbon Trail

A couple of years ago we visited Bardstown, KY and took in three distilleries on the Bourbon Trail in that part of the state.  Today we visited three distilleries on the Lexington end of the Bourbon Trail - Wild Turkey, Four Roses and Woodford Reserve.

But first I attended a Cowboy Church service held here in the campground.  I was expecting maybe 10-20 people but as I walked up to the pavilion there were only two men and a van with the Cowboy Church logo on the back.  One man was the ‘choir’ and the other man was the minister and there was me as the lone member of the ‘congregation’. An interesting 45 minutes.

Wild Turkey Distillery was our first stop.  Located on the Kentucky River we crossed over it on an ’S’ curved bridge, one of only two in the US. Next to it was a neat looking, but rusted out, railroad bridge.  We found out later that a private company purchased it so they could reinforce the bridge for the business of bungee jumping. So if you ever want to bungee jump a couple hundred feet over a river this is your place.  We took the whole tour and then tasted four of their bourbons.

I’ll remind you that all bourbon is a whiskey but not all whiskey is a bourbon.  Fifty one percent of bourbon must be made from corn and the rest is rye and barley grains. (Whiskey can have less than 51% corn). It must be cured in a new charred oak barrel and the barrel can only be used one time. You cannot call the spirit ‘bourbon’ until it has been in the barrel for a minimum of 4 years.  One of our tastings was actually not a bourbon but a blend of bourbon and rye whiskey. Our other tastings were of small batch or single barrels. John liked one of the single barrel bourbons while I did not like any of them.

Our next stop was at Four Roses Distillery.  We chose not to tour but just to do a tasting. They had only three styles of bourbon - their yellow label is a young spirit, then they had a small batch and a single barrel. John liked their single barrel. I did not like any of them.

After a picnic lunch under the Four Roses gazebo we traveled to Woodford Reserve. This is one of the oldest distilleries in the US. Again we chose to forgo the tour and just taste their bourbon.  Their claim to fame is that they distill their alcohol three times in copper pot-style stills while the other distilleries only distill once and use a more modern stack-style still.  They only make two bourbons - one is the regular bourbon aged 8-10 years and the other is called a double oaked bourbon because they take the bourbon from the original oak barrels and aged them for an addition 12-18 months in another oak barrel that has been toasted (baked) as apposed to charred or burned. John liked their regular bourbon and I did not like either one.  

Did you see a pattern here? I really do NOT like bourbon. I’ll take an Irish whiskey any day! 

All of these distilleries were located in the heart of Kentucky Bluegrass Country where rolling hills are lined with black or white fences and a number of Irish style rock walls and many horses. Some of the stables were architecturally nicer than many homes and the huge homes were beautiful southern mansions. It was a beautiful afternoon for a drive in the country.

We ate supper at the Red State BBQ restaurant. Some very, very good BBQ.