Bourbon, Betting and Beers - a weekend in Kentucky.

We’ve all heard of Kentucky, but what’s actually there? The Kentucky Derby, Good ol’ southern food….and bourbon. We went for the bourbon (of course), but also discovered that Louisville in Kentucky is a bit of a hot-spot for craft beer brewing. And we were staying right in the middle of the brew district. Bonus.

However, our main reason for going was to visit the Bourbon distilleries. In my head, Bourbon was from Tennessee (Jack Daniels being a favourite when I was younger), but our friend and organiser, Frank, informed us that Kentucky, in fact, is the home of Bourbon. So, off to the city of Louisville, whose outskirts home ‘The Bourbon Trail’ and is where the majority of bourbon distilleries can be found.

Why Kentucky? The area sits on a huge limestone shelf which naturally filters the water, especially of iron which has a bitter taste. This makes Kentucky perfect for whiskey distilling. In addition, the water in the area is high in minerals, which makes it optimal for the yeast in bourbon and distilling the amber liquid.

The Bourbon

Honestly, other than adding ice and some coke, I didn’t know much about bourbon. And other than some of the major distillers, such as Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark, I didn’t know many of the different types and brands. We had a one day tour of the distilleries, which are dotted about 20 – 40 minutes outside Louisville. A car is needed, but better to have one with a driver so everyone can enjoy the tours and tastings to the full. So we had Jerry from Mint Julep, our driver and knowledgable guide of Bourbon County. We managed to visit four different distilleries for tours and tastings as well as a brief stop to see the home of Jim Beam.

What did we learn? There are three rules of Bourbon;

1. It must come from the USA.

2. It must be made from a minimum of 51% corn.

3. It must be aged in a new oak barrel, which has been charred on the inside.

The other grains used to make up the 49% are malted barley, wheat or rye, the mix depending on the recipe for the particular bourbon.

Who knew Bourbon was made from corn? That’s a new one on me. And a new barrel every time, that’s a lot of barrels. When you see the rick houses (below), where the barrels are stored for ageing, it’s quite worrying how much wood they’re using (each rick house can hold around 20,000 barrels). Not to worry. Apparently the used barrels are sold to distilleries for ageing whiskey (Scotch to the Americans) and to vineyards for storing wine. Some are even used to make quirky furniture…souvineer anyone?Our first stop was to Lux Row distillers, producers of Rebell Yell, David Nicholson, Ezra Brooks and Blood Oath and one of the newest facilities in the area.

Tasting lesson number one: – Bourbons have different aromas and flavours. We were taught to take a good sniff first, then a tiny sip. It’s a bit like wine tasting; earthy, fruity, sweet, a touch of orange, salty, even oily…who knew bourbon was so sophisticated.

Lesson number two: – Smell with your mouth open. Apparently you get different smells through your mouth, I’m not sure I was doing it right, I didn’t quite get that.

Lesson number three: – Finally, and this was the best bit, we tried the bourbons with different chocolates (I know, I’m such a girl, everything is better with chocolate), which enhances some of the flavours and is an amazing accompaniment to bourbon.

My new favourite thing since the tours….a glass of bourbon, a cube or two of ice and a side of dark chocolate covered pretzels. Seriously, try it.

Onto our next tour – Limestone Branch distillery, which is a much smaller ‘craft’ distillery, but makes the rather well known Yellowstone, and Minor Case, a straight rye whiskey (I discovered I rather like the ryes) Fact time:

A rye has the same rules as Bourbon, except it has to be at least 51% Rye – a straight rye is one that is not blended and is aged for at least 2 years.

Limestone Branch is run by Steve and Paul Beam, who are related, through some dotted lines and over many generations…to Jim Beam. This family know what they’re doing. What extra titbits did we learn here?

The whiskey is tested straight from the barrel using a ‘thief’ – a long metal pipet type thing. There are rules for the strength of a bourbon, but not for it’s ageing.

When it goes in the barrel it has to be a maximum of 125 proof,.

When it goes into a bottle, it must be a minimum of 80 proof

It can be aged for any amount of time, there are no rules. However, if it is a ‘straight’ bourbon, it must be aged a minimum of 2 years.. If it is ‘bottled-in-bond’ it must be aged a minimum of 4 years.

BTW – ‘Proof in the USA is double the ABV measure (Alcohol by volume).

We felt we should visit one of the bigger distillers, so chose Makers Mark, famous for its red wax dipped top. This was a much bigger affair, which meant it was very touristy and our tour and tasting was in a large group (all our other tours were mostly just us). It was interesting to see the bigger facility and their grounds are amazing, but the tasting was definitely classroom style. We did get to taste 5 different ‘whiskies’ including their totally clear pre-barrelled Maker’s White (basically a light moonshine). Yes that’s five mini shots (very mini – no chance of getting tipsy).

No visit to Maker’s Mark would have been complete without a bit of wax dipping, which you are allowed to do if you purchase a bottle. Donna took on the challenge for our party and is now an expert.

Our final stop, and we only just managed to squeeze this one in (we were picked up at 8.30am, this really is a full day out) was Willet Distillery. Willet’s produces several different whiskeys, and I think they win “Most imaginative bottle’ with their Pot Still Reserve, the bottle being the shape of the original copper pot still. One of Clark and my favourites and the first bottle we bought on returning to Boston.

Their other creations are Johnny Drum, Old Bardstown, Noah’s Mill, Rowan’s Creek, Pure Kentucky and Kentucky vintage. Being the only people on the last tour of the day, we were able to sample anything we wanted (which was of course all of them)…hic.

And finally -“The Kentucky hug” – that warm feeling you get when you take a sip of bourbon. Cute.

The Betting

As a horse racing lover, we had to visit the home of the Kentucky Derby – Churchill Downs. I don’t know why but I half expected the American racecourses to be a bit rustic and not as fancy as English ones. Wrong. Churchill Downs is a beautiful racecourse, with both grass and dirt tracks running alongside each other, meaning we watched races on both terrains. We were able to enjoy Bourbon cocktails from the bar (because we hadn’t had enough the day before), we had a great view from our seats ($12 each – a bargain) and were able to wonder around between track-side, the stands and the paddock area with ease. Betting was very similar to the UK; win bets, a place (your horse can come first or second and you get a return) ,a show (first, second or third), the latter two being a tad different to the UK (each-way doesn’t really exist here).

A small $5 bet on each race made for a very exciting afternoon. We had varying degrees of success between us. Ok, I managed to pick 5 winners and a second place. Drinks on me.

Donna and Frank’s excitement at me buying the drinks.

The Beer

We went for the Bourbon, the beer, however, was an unexpected surprise which we realised existed when we chose our accommodation “Brew and View” in the brewery district.

On arrival we were greeted by a giant map in the hallway of the breweries around us, and very conveniently walking distance. Hitting a few of these was a great way to end our days of bourbon tasting and betting. Cheers y’all!