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2000 Kentucky Bourbon Festival


cowdery
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John:

Thanks for letting the rest of us eavesdrop on your picture to Chuck - so that's what you all look like! You know, it may be the toasts but you all have disreputable auras...except for Vicki and Linda, and they look like they've spent the day trying to herd cats...

Ralph Wilps

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Guest **DONOTDELETE**

Linda and Vickie (and you can certainly include Jo Kitzmeyer, even though she and Greg missed that particular dinner) are equal contenders for the title of "most patient and forgiving woman on earth".

Not to mention that all of 'em can knock back a shot or three with the best of us!

=John=

http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey

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Thank you John, and all, for your kind thoughts. I'm sorry I missed it. That picture with my helmeted image ghosted in the background is a little frightening, but it looks like a group with which I would have fit in just fine.

--Chuck Cowdery

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Since the one distillery we visited this weekend was Maker's Mark. And since there have already been comments about their tour on this forum, I shall be brief. Keep in mind we were there on a sunny fall day (no rain in site) and we were nestled in the rolling hills of Kentucky.

The setting is absolutely charming and the physical facilities are also. Of course, that is part of the cachet of the brand. This is not Brown-Forman (though B-F tries the same approach with Jack Daniels). The Samuels' have done a nice job of setting themselves apart with the color scheme. This is good tourism, good marketing, and good business.

The historical significance of the Quart house (I assume this is historically accurate and substantiated) is certainly worth seeing.

The tour itself was nice and I noticed only the certain absense of full information on some points as opposed to incorrect information as reported in this forum before. For the average tourist I'm sure our guide said more than they'd want to know. I'd certainly take someone on this tour if they were a fan of the product! I probably will go back on a weekday sometime so I can dip a bottle as a gift to a relative.

Our guide was cheerful and the bourbon candy was delicious. Well worth the trip as far as I'm concerned.

Greg

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Ralph herding cats might have been easier than finding distilleries ( or spelling for that matter). We drove up in my wife's LeBaron Convertable with the top down of course. The weather was very pleasent, so we got a lot of sun and wind. Add in a lot of fun and a high degree of bourbonization and well there you have it. Very rugged (looking) individualism. We sure wish you could have made it. I just added up my VISA charges and I don't feel so rugged anymore. It's going to take me a year to pay that sucker off!

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

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I thought readers of this forum might be interested in the Assoc. Press story released Saturday on the Festival:

"Thousands of bourbon lovers have made a trip to the center of the bourbon universe this year. Their journey took them to Bardstown for the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival, which is an annual five-day event that celebrates anything bourbon.

Patrons can sample sour mash pancakes with bourbon syrup; visit the Oscar Getz Museum of Whisky History or watch as craftsmen construct the barrels in which bourbon must be aged.

"It's a unique event," said Pam Gover, the festival's executive director. Gover said they started the festival nine years ago with a simple bourbon tasting event and now this year they had 30 events that drew more than 30,000 people.

"I think most people enjoy the taste and then, when they start doing a little digging, really fall in love with the history and romance associated with it. Once they start learning a little bit about it, they're hooked," said Gover.

Bourbon has been produced in Kentucky since the 1780s and is arguably America's only "native spirit." Congress even declared it so by resolution in 1964.

More than 95 percent of the world's bourbon is produced in Kentucky."

source: AP

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Here is the related story (one of 2 - the longer version) from the AP:

In the heart of bourbon country, a celebration of the spirit

By STEVE BAILEY

Associated Press Writer

09/23/2000

Associated Press Newswires

Copyright 2000. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

BARDSTOWN, Ky. (AP) - Marvin Franz remembers the day he became a bourbon connoisseur. He was 14.

"You know how kids will be," Franz recalled with a grin. "My dad always kept a bottle or two around. ... One time we just decided to see what that bottle of golden liquor was all about. So I took a quick sip and passed the bottle around.

"I knew right then that I liked it. One of the other guys gagged and another spit it out. But I grabbed the bottle and took another swig. It was sweet and there were so many different tastes. I can tell you that wasn't the last time me and that bottle got acquainted with one another."

For Franz and thousands of other spirit lovers, a trip to the bluegrass of central Kentucky places them squarely in the center of the bourbon universe. Many make the journey for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, an annual five-day event that celebrates anything and everything bourbon.

Patrons can sample sour mash pancakes with bourbon syrup and bourbon coffee; peruse the Oscar Getz Museum of Whisky History; watch as craftsmen construct the charred oak white barrels in which bourbon must be aged; cheer as distillery employees go head-to-head in the World Championship Bourbon Barrel Relay; and, of course, taste a wide array of some of the finest spirits the world has to offer.

"It's a unique event, and one that has just exploded in popularity," said Pam Gover, the festival's executive director. "We started nine years ago with a simple bourbon tasting event that drew about 250 people. This year, we had 30 events and drew more than 30,000 people from all over the world."

"I think most people enjoy the taste and then, when they start doing a little digging, really fall in love with the history and romance associated with it. Once they start learning a little bit about it, they're hooked."

For the uninitiated, bourbon has been produced in Kentucky since the 1780s and is arguably America's only "native spirit." Congress even declared it so by resolution in 1964. To be called bourbon, a spirit must be made in the United States, contain at least 51 percent corn in the mash, be distilled at 160 proof or less and aged a minimum of two years in new charred white oak barrels.

More than 95 percent of the world's bourbon is produced in Kentucky, with most of that distilled and bottled within a stone's throw of Bardstown, a quiet, history-rich town of around 8,000 residents about 30 miles southwest of Louisville.

"Bardstown is known as the bourbon capital of the world, and we're very proud of that," said Bernadine Strange, a 58-year-old billing agent for Heaven Hill Distillery. "When people come here, they see history - the history of bourbon and also the history of our country.

"I don't think you'll find any place in the world where the people are friendlier. When you make eye contact with folks here, they'll actually say 'Hello' and start a conversation. People find that Southern hospitality is alive and well when they visit Bardstown."

No sooner were the words from Strange's mouth when a stranger tapped her on the shoulder and inquired about her hat - a simple straw hat plastered with the colorful labels of many rare Kentucky bourbons, including Mound City, Old Governor and Fighting Cock.

"It's just something I threw together this morning," Strange said with a laugh. "I figured some of the out-of-towners would get a kick out of seeing some of these old labels."

A stroll through the nearby tent village, packed with folk artists and the region's distilleries hawking their wares, overloads the senses.

The sweet yet sharp aroma of sour mash emanates from every corner, mixing with the hearty smell of barbecue sizzling on huge steel pit grills. Goats, llamas and donkeys beg passersby for food and attention from the children's petting zoo. A band belts out funky Reggae tunes that have many in the village bobbing their heads and tapping their feet.

Not far away, Franz has joined about 1,000 other spectators to watch the World Championship Bourbon Barrel Relay. One of the festival's signature events, it has competitors rolling the 500-pound bourbon barrels on wooden rails and into a large rack as is still done to this day in most distillery warehouses.

"Is this a show or what?" said Franz, a Cincinnati resident who over the years has collected 175 different types of bourbon. "You don't see things like this anywhere else in the world. And where else can you go to smoke cigars, chat with nice people and taste the best bourbon around?

"It's the people, and of course the bourbon, that keep me coming back. My wife and I come down here every year to celebrate our wedding anniversary. This is our 36th one. For the past nine years, this festival and the people in this community have made each one very special."

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Guest **DONOTDELETE**

Marvin Franz, by the way, is the fellow in the front row at the auction who was helping make sure I didn't get away with anything too cheaply :-)

Mike introduced us, I think at the auction, although it could have been the day before. Marvin is also from Cincinnati. He and his wife (Evelyn?), and their friends John & Brenda (also Cincinnati bourbon fans) shared our table at the Bourbon Tasting and Gala event. We haven't gotten together yet, but you can bet we will. I pointed them in the direction of this forum and they may be lurking out there right now. They'd fit right into Mike and Linn's proposed motel tailgate party. By the way, how 'bout if those of us who live less than an overnight away also bring bourbon-soaked steaks for the grill -- it could be the StraightBourbon Marinade Marathon!

=John=

http://w3.one.net/~jeffelle/whiskey

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Guest **DONOTDELETE**

Splendid & generous gesture Golden Dudester! I can just smell 'em a-smoken now. 12 year old Elija Craig perhaps? Nude drunken trollips dancing in the fire light! ***YES LORD!***

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

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Guest **DONOTDELETE**

As I'm sure you noticed John; Greg, and I all brought our own blondes, however I've found that when the bourbon is flowing freely drunken trollops oft times appear as if by magic. Perhaps Betty Jo & Connie know some local tarts that would like to join in on the fun.

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

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Guest **DONOTDELETE**

I work all week at the museum with their part in the festival so this sound like just what the doctor ordered. We will have to work on this idea and maybe call it the straightbourbon.com fun raiser.

Mike Veach

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  • 11 months later...
Guest **DONOTDELETE**

OK Folks here is the original idea for the StraightBourbon.com fun raiser & tailgate party. Go back about five posts and start. We never did pick out a party spot.

Linn Spencer

Have Shotglass. Will Travel.

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The organizers of the KY Bourbon Festival and the Ky Distillers Assoc are meeting at 5 pm local time (EDT) Tuesday to determine if the Ky Bourbon Festival will continue as planned. You may wish to check the web site this evening to see if they have posted information.

www.kybourbonfestival.com

If I get further information and can post I shall do so this evening.

Greg

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