The Barton Rumors.

[Bourbon Boiler]

Just got back from Bardstown and 3 nice highlights.
1) New Barton tour seemed a bit out of sync. Hit the warehouse 500ft away first, then rolled through the grain dump/fermenters and distillery next, then through bottling and shipping. Think it makes best sense for tourists to see the facilities in order (distillery, warehouse, bottling) since not everyone knows the process for making whiskey like the back of their hand. I love the Barton facility because you see spirits making industry in the raw, with no beautification (think MM). BUT, there were still a decent number of trucks that rolled by on that road in between the VC and the warehouse and distillery AND the shipping area forklifts were busy... it might not take a big imagination to imagine a bad-enough tourist incident somewhere, some how, some day. Interested to hear what Bourbon Boiler thought of tour. His tour (or tour leader) may have been less disjointed.
2) Long live Liquor World.
3) I took a chance on the Moby Dick (since I'd seen it here somewhat positively reviewed, I think) and the bar area alone was jaw-dropping (from a control state). Up scale restaurants in Cincinnati don't have the impressive array MD displays. I've never been that close to an open bottle of Pappy23. (And the fish wasn't bad either.)

I'm still a few weeks away from my trip, but I'll be sure to report. It's been on the calendar since December, but it seems like it isn't getting any closer.

[cowdery]

The Barton tour is very new and a work-in-progress. I'm sure they would appreciate any feedback.

They are planning to plant some flowers and pretty it up a little, but I don't think it will lose any of its rawness as a result.

[Bourbon Boiler]

I hit Barton last Friday. We were in two cars that got sperated, and none of us know Bardstown that well. Both cars had trouble finiding the distillery, and ended up coming in different entrances and had to sign in and different guard shacks. This wasn't a big deal, but it shows that they're not really pushing the tour to make people stop in impulsively.

First of all, all of the employees in the gift shop and on the tour were EXTREMELY friendly. We had five people in our vacationing group, and we were the only ones going on our tour time. They held the tour up for 5 minutes at our request to accomidate another friend coming into town to see Barton.

There was nothing about the tour that really stood out from the other 7 distilleries we saw in a 30 hour span, particularly as they were in a shutdown. (They seemed to imply that the shutdown would be much shorter than what has been reported elsewhere, but I didn't press them on the statements.)

As said above, the tour seemed a little rough. There were no designated "tour areas" as denoted by lines on the floor or anything. One member of our group is actually pricing shrink wrap equpiment for his manufacturing plant, so he was able to watch the equipment at Barton for a few minutes without being hurried along. It was very relaxed and flexible, but I think they would be unable to accomodate a larger group in this format.

The tasting was excellent as well. When my brother was asked what he thought after sampling 1792, he replied, "I feel confient and more handsome," drawing a good laugh from the employees.

[cowdery]

The Village of Bardstown is notoriously restrictive about signs, which may be why the official entrance was hard to find. They even give people a hard time about signs on their own property.

[Bourbon Boiler]

The Village of Bardstown is notoriously restrictive about signs, which may be why the official entrance was hard to find. They even give people a hard time about signs on their own property.

Interesting. I understand the desire to reduce clutter, but you'd think advertising something that encourages travel into the city would be welcomed.

[Josh]

Interesting. I understand the desire to reduce clutter, but you'd think advertising something that encourages travel into the city would be welcomed.

Did they tell you the story about the giant bourbon barrel? According to Pam, it was moved to Barton after a lady complained about it being positioned right at one of the roads into town. "We don't want our town known for just bourbon!"

Because Stephen Foster: The Musical is an international phenomenon.

RIP Rascal

[Bourbon Boiler]

Did they tell you the story about the giant bourbon barrel? According to Pam, it was moved to Barton after a lady complained about it being positioned right at one of the roads into town. "We don't want our town known for just bourbon!"

Because Stephen Foster: The Musical is an international phenomenon.

RIP Rascal

I caught half of the story. It was being told as I was trying to direct our late arrival in.

[Flyfish]

The Village of Bardstown is notoriously restrictive about signs, which may be why the official entrance was hard to find. They even give people a hard time about signs on their own property.

We drove right past Barton's two days ago on our way to Heaven Hill. Did not realize they gave tours because the most recent info. I had was from some old book called Bourbon, Straight. Will be headed back that way in October and give it another shot (so to speak).

[mosugoji64]

A friend of mine just found a bottle of Barton with Frankfort as the address on the label instead of Bardstown/Owensboro. Was there a period of time when VOB was distilled at BT?

[cowdery]

Nope. Most likely that's a new bottle. The label location usually indicates where bottled and companies often list all of the locations where something might be bottled. Sazerac now has five bottling facilities.