A day in Bardstown

[jeff]

Leslie and I took her parents to Bardstown last Saturday for a little sightseeing and bourbon tasting. We started out at Maker's Mark, as her parents had never visited there before. It was a beautiful spring day and Maker's Mark is quite easy on the eyes. We got the typical "fluff" from the tour: recipe derived from baking bread, rotating of the barrels, etc. One thing I found interesting and had not heard before is that Maker's puts all of their whisky in the barrel at 110 proof. That's a nice low entry proof. Now if they would age it just a bit longer.

After a nice tour and a bourbon ball, we headed to the Heaven Hill visitor's Center. I have been there a couple of times now, but never for the "tour". We walked in just as a group was leaving for the rickhouse across the street. Our tour guide was nice and quite knowledgeable. We were lectured as we walked all throughout the rickhouse then back across the street for the tasting. This was my third trip to the tasting "barrel" and we were tasting bourbons that I have had many times, but I still can't get over what a nice setup it is there. Leslie discovered that, with a little water, she really enjoys EC18 There is a film you can watch as well, but we had a baseball game to get back to in Lexington, so we passed. It's too bad that the distillery is no longer on the property, but it's a nice presentation nonetheless. Leslie bought some "Mint Julip" hand lotion at the gift shoppe.

We headed into Bardstown for a bit of lunch at Dagwoods. They have one of the best ruben sandwiches anywhere As we were leaving we noticed a classic car show going on down a side street so we browsed (drooled) a bit.

All in all a great day with beautiful weather and bourbon. Only three week 'till the Sampler!

[bobbyc]

Kind of reminds me of the fisherman's lament, a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work, Or something like that. But then again it sounds like you had a good day in Bardstown!