Liquor Stores & Other Advice Requested

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Are there any noteworthy liquor stores in the Louisville, Lexington, and Bardstown areas for great bourbon selection, price, etc. Also, where are the best places to find rare and lesser known bourbons?

Are there any particular restaurants or other tourist places worth seeing besides the distilleries and Whisky Museum?

Thank you,

Aaron

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Aaron said...

Are there any noteworthy liquor stores in the Louisville, Lexington, and Bardstown areas for great bourbon selection, price, etc. Also, where are the best places to find rare and lesser known bourbons?

Toddy's liquor store, about half a block of the main street between the square and Spalding Hall, is always one of the first places I stop. They have a good (not great) selection at reasonable (not the cheapest) prices. But the folks there are very knowledgeable. So are their regular customers. It's a good place to lose an hour or so in conversations.

You're not likely to find any "unpicked-over" liquor stores in any of those areas, although there are probably some in regions of Lousiville and Georgetown where you don't want to go alone. Your best bet (but it takes a lot of time) is to head out into the countryside in the western part of Kentucky, or Tennessee, or Indiana (not Ohio -- we have State-controlled liquor here) and stop in every out-of-the-way liquor store you find. You're looking for places where the eight people in town who buy whiskey always buy the same brand as their daddy and always will no matter what, so even though that hot-shot salesman left a couple bottles of Old Whatever back in '67 no one's ever actually bought 'em and they're still down there on the bottom shelf gathering dust. And probably still for sale at $3.95 as well.

Are there any particular restaurants or other tourist places worth seeing besides the distilleries and Whisky Museum?

Actually, quite a lot. Despite the admittedly narrow interests of us bourbon affic.., afecianad.., uh, freaks, and the fact that histories of Bardstown and Bourbon are so tightly interlinked, the town would have been an important historic attraction even without the whiskey industry. Bardstown is the second oldest settled community in Kentucky, which basically makes it one of the oldest settlements in the frontier wilderness. Only a few miles away is Hodgenville, where Abraham Lincoln was born. There is a re-creation of the log cabin there. Even closer, at Knob Creek, is the cabin where Lincoln spent the part of his life he remembered as a child (until he was seven). The log cabin there is also a replica, but this one was built by the grandson of a neighbor, who was familiar with the original, out of logs from his own family home (contemporary with the Lincoln's).

In Bardstown itself, they make a big deal Federal Hill, an antebellum mansion where Stephen Foster once visited and claimed to be the inspiration for his anthem, "My Old Kentucky Home". Whether that's true, or important, notwithstanding, it's an excellent example of Kentucky history and they put on a elaborate show there all summer. There is also the old Talbot Tavern where presidents and foreign statesmen have stayed (Bardstown has always been an important political and social center) and Jesse & Frank James hung out. It was destroyed by fire a few years ago and only recently re-opened. They spent a lot of time carefully restoring it. There is also a Civil War museum, which holds re-enactments during the summer, I believe.

Check out this site http://www.bardstowntourism.com/ for more details.

-John Lipman-

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

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

A very Good Restaurant to visit in Bardstown is Dagwoods on Third Street. It's a great place to go for lunch and sandwiches or for a fancy dinner. One of their specialties is a New York cut steak marinated in 12-year-old Elijah Craig Bourbon and served, smothered in mushrooms, on a charred oak plank with a flaming mushroom cap on the side and a melon garnish. Truly wonderful.

Linda

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

[cowdery]

One point John forgot to mention about Toddy's in Bardstown is that Toddy is Toddy Beam, another member of that famous distilling family.

Liquor Outlet in Louisville generally has the best prices and best selection. Nothing particularly colorful about the store, but it's the best place in town to buy whiskey.

--Chuck Cowdery

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

The Oscar Getz museum of whiskey was good, lots of old interesting bottles. About forty minutes north east of Bardstawn is Fort Knox, KY. One can view the gold repository from the road, and visit the George Patton armor museum, which has an excellent collection of American and some German tanks. The Tiger II with cutaway pannels for viewing the crew was quite noteworthy.

Mark A. Mason, El Dorado, Arkansas

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Correction, Fort Knox is North West of Bardstown.

Mark A. Mason, El Dorado, Arkansas

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

John you're quite a encyclo... enphyscolop... a well versed reference!

Linn S.

[Guest **DONOTDELETE**]

Linda that sounds soooo good. So I soaked (I'm not a chef so I don't marinade) some t-bones in some 4 year old Old Forester and cooked 'em on a Weber kettle grill with Kingsford charcoal & hickory chips. No fancy flaming mushrooms or oak plank. Still pretty tastey!

Linn S.

[kitzg]

Since yours is an old post, maybe no one is paying attention. But, I was just in Bardstown and found the Old Talbott Tavern well worth visiting. While destroyed by fire in 1998 it is beautifully restored. Their Bourbon Bar is, to me, a perfect place to sample a glass of the local product -- and I believe I counted about 20 choices.

[brendaj]

If you're in town at the Tavern, one block over is a small liquor store called Toddy's. Great little place that stocks a bunch of local stuff. You might also want to stop in Xavier's for dinner. They are in the bottom level of Spalding Hall, which also houses the Whisky History Mus. Excellent food. Dagwood's also has a great Bourbon steak, served on a barrel stave. Enjoy!

Wavin'atcha from Bardstown, deep in the heart of Bourbon Country.