KENTUCKY: FAST HORSES, SLOW POURS

I've never had so much fun learning as I did in Kentucky. Of course, 90% of the learning was about bourbon... the other 10% was whiskey. When I posted long ago on facebook asking for places to visit, my dad responded nearly immediately "Kentucky Bourbon Trail". I had never heard of such a thing! But essentially it's kind of like wine row in Fredericksburg, TX, a small area with clusters of distilleries. So we HAD to visit as many as possible! We also happened to be in Kentucky the same weekend as the Kentucky Derby! Not that we ever considered going (tickets were like $400 or something by then) BUT we did watch it on tv that evening!

A little bourbon knowledge I'm gunna spill on you:

- 95% of all bourbon comes from Kentucky

- Bourbon has to be made in America, has to be aged in new charred oak barrel

- Mash bill has to be at least 51% corn (the rest is barley and rye, the only other ingredients are water and yeast)

- After one use, barrels are generally sold back to the cooperage and sold off to Scotland, wineries, breweries and Tabasco!

- Something about a guy named Pappy Van Winkle

- Whiskey and whisky are both correct... but whiskey is more correct

- Tastes good

If you're really curious about the distilling process, there's plenty of things on this internet that can help you, or drop me a line and I'll put in some kind of layman's terms for how I understood it (or ask my pa, he knows what's up).

The distilleries we visited/what I remember: (well first we started with the Independent Stave Company, the cooperage that supplies a lot of the distilleries around KY with barrels), Maker's Mark (they give you free popcorn too!), Heaven Hill (includes Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, Lacerny, many others), Jim Beam (most amazing pimento cheese sammie), Willet, Town Branch (Lexington Brewing Company was included, amazing beers, try them!), Barrel House (they didn't have any bourbon ready but they did have a delicious vodka), Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, Wild Turkey, Four Roses and Bulleit.

The good part. The tastings. My favorite? Four Roses Small Batch. Very smooth, delicious flavor, drink neat/straight up or on the rocks. Also, I have a new found love for bourbon balls.