Thanks for all the help!

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Just wanted to let the members of this board know how invaluable their posts have been in helping me plan a very successful visit to bourbon country this past weekend. Thanks to all of you (and a special nod to Mike Veach) the thing was better than I could have expected and I'm already planning another weekend to see more.

On Friday, my friend, Bill, and I drove to Lawrenceburg from Nashville and started at Wild Turkey distillery since that was the one that started the madness for us years ago and they don't give weekend tours. After an incredible tour, we returned to the gift shop to find Jimmy Russell waiting for us. After the more casual members of the tour had drifted off, Bill and I sat down with Jimmy, and he chatted with us for twenty minutes. I have rarely encountered such a generous spirit. Not only did he share his time and knowledge but he seemed to genuinely enjoy doing so and acted like he would have sat there for hours if we had wanted.

We next visited the Four Roses Distillery. The National Historic Landmark building was stunning, and the new visitors' center was lovely. Since there was no one else there, Bill and I got a personal tour that was made even more special when the woman who was filling the fermenters took a break from her work and walked us around, filling us in on her part in the process. The experience was completely different from that at Wild Turkey and yet equally rewarding. And believe me, after meeting Jimmy Russell, that's saying something.

After an hour drive to Louisville, we met Mike Veach at the Bourbons Bistro for a perfect ending to a perfect day. Mike was waiting at the bar with a bottle of UD Old Grandad from the mid-80s and that was just the starting point. We were treated to great bourbon, great food, and, above all, great company. Among many other things, Mike shared his personal theory on the REAL story of the invention of bourbon. He couldn't have been a more gracious and informative host, and I left knowing that I would have to return and spend much more time in Louisville.

Tomorrow, Day Two.

[ratcheer]

Sounds like a most excellent journey! I hope I can do something like that, some day.

Tim

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We awoke the second day to snow in Frankfort and made our way carefully down to Buffalo Trace. We were part of a very small group that did a modified tour to avoid the outdoor areas. Nevertheless, it was incredibly interesting and, once again, completely different in tone from the previous distilleries we had visited. In addition to the most atmospheric of the rick houses we had yet seen, we were walked through the building where the hand bottling for all Buffalo Trace single barrel and small batch bourbons is done.

The end-of-tour tasting included both Buffalo Trace and Rain Vodka, which I hadn't realized was one of their products. Alas, no Pappy 20 was offered, although there was a single bottle signed by Julian van Winkle for sale in the gift shop. The visitors' center was filled with historical photos and labels and would have been worth the stop even without the tour.

Our tour guide, Teresa, went way beyond the call of duty and provided us with handwritten directions to the Old Crow and Old Taylor distilleries and to Woodford Reserve beyond. Driving the snowy backroads, the abandoned distilleries were even more ghost-like shrouded in white. We got out and took photos and imagined a world where these buildings might be returned to something like their previous condition if only as historical treasures.

At Woodford Reserve, the gates were locked, and the snow clearly had kept workers away for the day. It was already getting late, and Bill and I headed back for Lawrenceburg approaching Wild Turkey distillery from an impressive vantage point that we hadn't seen the day before, across an S-shaped bridge. It was a fittingly circular end to our visit, and we hit the highway for Nashville.

I simply can't overstate how terrific this trip was. I knew I would enjoy it, but it exceeded even my high expectations. I will definitely be returning to visit Heaven Hill and the Getz Museum and Woodford Reserve. I know many folks on the board have already made the pilgrimage, but I encourage those who haven't to do so as soon as possible.