Partial Bourbon with Friends

After the excitement of watching the record setting Rich Strike at the Kentucky Derby we moved across the Ohio River to stayed at the Charlestown State Park campground meeting up with Jeff and Molli Wills.

Katrina found pickleball courts not too far away where we were able to get some practice play in while we waiting for the Wills arrival back from a family visit.

Our goal was to visit some of the distilleries on the Bourbon Trail.

The next day we started out playing some pickleball

before stopping at Torchy’s for lunch. Torchy’s is a chain (unbeknownst to us) that Keenan turned us on to in Houston.

Apparently they got their start in Austin. We spent of the rest of the day relaxing until Molli brought over some homemade stuffed peppers. They were delicious! We play games until the wee hours of the morning.

The next day we headed out on our tours/tastings with a stop at Evan Williams in downtown Louisville.

Evan built this place about a decade ago to “bring bourbon back to Whisky Row”. In the late 1800’s Whisky Row was where all distilleries and related businesses resided.

Evan Williams was the first back in the area and they rehabbed an old building to house different rooms staged from the 1880’s to portray what the area was like way back when. They also built a small distillery to show how bourbon is created.

The entire tour was very interesting and they did a nice job! The tasting room was built like a 1960’s bar, check it out:

BTW: The bourbon was good as well!

From there we had to drive to Maker’s Mark outside of Loretto, KY. We had enough time in between tours to stop in Bardstown for lunch at Bardstown Burger.

The food was good and we sat in the very small courtyard outside in the middle of the buildings.

I was excited to tour Maker’s Mark as that is my bourbon of choice and I’ve heard that you can dip your own bottle in the red wax. The grounds were beautiful:

And the tour was informative:

We were somewhat disappointed with their pricing at their shop. More expensive than local liquor stores plus they charge an extra $25 to dip your own bottle! They had a sign posted by the cash register that explained that they wanted to be competitive with their retailers. Other distilleries have had their products cheaper than at the stores because you took the tour.

Back to the coaches, we let Bear out to play and then ate the rest of the fajitas that Katrina had made. We spent the rest of the evening playing games. It is satisfying being with another couple and let them continuously win all the games. It really builds their self esteem! LOL!!

The following day we had a morning tour scheduled at the Bulleit Distilling Company located near Shelbyville, KY.

It was interesting seeing how they char the barrels. They touted their technology. Beautiful setting and a newer tasting room and giftshop. Here’s the tasters:

It was interesting to smell different aromas and then tasting the bourbon over. Very nice! We were able to print a personal label because we did the tour and bought a bottle. Check it out:

We stopped for lunch at the Bluegrass Sabor located in Lawrenceburg which is on the way to Four Roses Distillery.

Nice little place where we got to eat outside along the main drag street of the old town.

Four Roses was another beautiful location with a good tour. Here are the grounds:

And the distilling process:

And the tasting:

We got to keep one souvenir glass each!

Four Roses can actually make ten different types of bourbons depending on the recipes:

Two different mashes and five different yeast strains. If you are ever trying Four Roses look up the type you are drinking. Good bourbon.

We drove back to the coaches for another night of food, drinks, fun and games. We played one game of Yahtzee and Jeff threw a yahtzee on the first roll! The rest of us never had a chance since he ended up rolling 2 more Yahtzee’s!!

The following morning John and Sherry Murphy joined us at the campground for a few days. Since Molli wasn’t feeling great she didn’t go on our last scheduled tour of Angel’s Envy in downtown Louisville. Therefore the five of us headed out and found this:

Angle’s Envy was an unexpected delight. A newer distiller in a revamped building and it was scenic. They called the wood beamed ceiling the bourbon cathedral.

Angels Envy finishes their bourbon in port wine barrels. This extra step adds up to six weeks for the bourbon and special cask and up to 6 months for the rye.

This was the best tasting that we had! Our guide really knew how you are supposed to taste bourbon and informed us of the way the critics do it.

We followed his guidance and truly enjoyed every drop. I highly recommend this tour.

For lunch we walked across the street to the Against the Grain Brewery located in the Louisville Slugger Field building.

We all split a bbq platter and enjoyed the food while washing it down with beer. We headed back to the coaches where we spent the remainder of the day relaxing.

So, what did we learn about bourbon from completing a portion of the Bourbon Trail?

1. Bourbon is a type of whisky.
2. Bourbon must be made in the United States.
3. Kentucky makes 95% of the bourbon.
4. Bourbon must be at least 51% corn.
5. Bourbon cannot be transferred into the barrels unless it is under 160 proof.
6. Bourbon must be stored in new oak charred barrels.
7. Bourbon must be stored for at least two years.
8. Bourbon cannot be higher than 125 proof once it is bottled.
9. Only six distilleries were licensed to produce bourbon during Prohibition for medicinal purposes.
10. Bourbon cannot have any artificial coloring or favoring added.

In 1964 the United States Congress enacted some of these as bourbon laws.

Here’s our collection after touring six bourbon distilleries:

Since Jeff wasn’t feeling good and Molli was still out, the Murphy’s and us went to the pickleball courts for some practice and games. Afterwards we had lunch again at Torchy’s. The Murphy’s loved the place and looked along their scheduled travel over the summer for other locations. We spent the rest of the day getting things done around the coach.

The following day the Murphy’s headed out and that left the Wills and Busse’s with a day of doing absolutely nothing. Katrina and I took in a hike on the property and ended up on Rose Island. Rose Island was destination location 100 years ago when David Rose built an amusement park in 1923 with a swimming pool, dance hall, hotel, dining hall, boat rentals, and cabin rentals. Attendees would take a steam ferry from Louisville and spend the day or weekend. Once the Great Depression hit and then the Great Flood of 1937 the place was abandoned. There were some remnants remaining that left us understanding the grandeur that David Rose envisioned.

We both left the next morning heading off to see a mammoth cave – guess where?