Kentucky is known for its Bourbon distilleries, and with good reason. If you enjoy this quintessentially American spirit you really should carve out a bit of time to see it made, have a tasting, and learn a bit about it. Between Laine and I there is no contest that I am the whiskey drinker; she is more of a wine spritzer drinker (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Therefore, I greatly appreciated her obliging my taste for fire water.
There are many different distilleries in the state but most are situated around a triangular area bounded by Louisville, Lexington, and Bardstown. In that area you will find the “Official” Bourbon Trail, replete with passport book to get stamped at each listed distillery. Collect all the stamps and you get a free tee shirt. The distilleries on the Trail all are large ones, and give good tours for around $10-12 which of course include a Bourbon tasting and stop in the gift shop.
These frankly can feel a bit commercial, particularly during busy times when they are focused on running people through. Distilleries are not very different from Wineries and Breweries it seems, and with good reason. There is a similar pattern or formula present amongst all of them that works pretty well, but I have to say that too many of these places start to look alike. To a Virginian like myself its remarkable how similar the layout and landscaping of Kentucky cave country Distilleries is to Wineries back home in the Piedmont of Virginia. Both are even set up the same to cater to weddings and Millennial Hipsters and Bros out from the cities on drinking bus tours.
Now before I go further, let me just say that there is nothing wrong with that, and I strongly support the bus idea over driving if people want to make a day of tastings. But it goes to show that if you want to get a good sampling of what out there you may need to venture a bit off the standard tourist path and industry tour list. The smaller Distilleries, will have a different vibe to them than the big guys and are definitely worth seeing. They are also more likely to be free of charge we found, as they work to expand their businesses.
I am someone who likes the small independent outfits, where a passion for the work and business really comes through. To me the best tours are ones where you feel invited in to share the workplace of the tour guide on a personal level, like a Sam Adams commercial, but you know, real. Where the itinerary is a bit open depending on what is going on in production that day and how big the tour group is and what they seem interested in.
When Laine and I toured the Barton Distillery, we were in a group with two other young couples on a blustery day. Having never visited a distillery before, Laine kept commenting that the smell around the place made her hungry for a ham sandwich – I explained to her that smell was from the mash being cooked which contains yeast. Our tour guide offered that since we were a small enough group we could take stretched golf cart and see more of the facility.
We walked through the still house up and down cat walks and sampled the “high wines.” This is basically moonshine that is ready for barreling with a very high alcohol content and an aroma of the “distillers’ beer” mash that it is produced from. It will put hair on your chest, and disinfect your hands.
We walked through a traditional wooden Rickhouse built in the early part of the twentieth century, replete with an earthen floor and an old wooden elevator for shifting the barrels from the hotter top floors to the cooler lower ones. Here the liquor traditionally ages in what is little more than a oversized barn, exposed to swings in temperature with the seasons. This is obviously different than Scotch Whiskey which is traditionally aged in stone walled rackhouses that hold a more constant temperature and humidity.
Having the benefit of the golf cart we zipped up the hill behind the distillery works and offices to some newer warehouse space with a much less rustic effect look (with the exception of the deer grazing nearby. Here was one of the largest (perhaps the largest, I can’t remember from the tour) Palletized Rackhouses in the US. I know this puts a damper on the small scale distillery angle, but though the brand is owned now by Sazerac Company and expanding, the folks in
Kentucky come off as very down to earth.
Besides the Barton brands aren’t yet distributed in all fifty states, so they can’t be that big. If you have never walked through a warehouse so expansive that the motion sensor lights turn off behind you as you pass
through each section, and stacked floor to ceiling with Whiskey and Brandy giving off the sweet smell of the Angels Cut evaporating through the wooden barrel staves, well, you haven’t lived. I could spend the rest of my life in that environment.
Makers Mark is certainly one of the bigger, put together and commercial feeling distilleries. But that shouldn’t mark off the list of places to visit. The grounds and setting here, while feeling a bit artificial and designed for tourists, are really nice.
To start with, the rolling country they are located in is gorgeous, and they aren’t
right on the highway or in town. The dark stained buildings at Makers Mark with their signature red shutters are laid out in what feels like a an office or commercial campus. Paved pathways with manicured landscaping knit all of them together. On a sunny day, it is all quite lovely.
The tour makes several stops in the scattered building with the guide discussing the processes happening in each area, approximately following the steps of distilling.
From the polished copper spirit safes at the start of the tour to the wooden vasts of mash which depending on the stage of fermentation, taste of cereal or bitter mush. While walking around the premises, Laine told me the smell made her crave pretzels with lots of salt.
During our visit, we got to see the exhibit of Chihuly Glass pieces positioned both inside and outside the distillery buildings. Makers Mark also has a permanent installation commissioned in 2014 and called “Spirit of the Maker.” The outdoor pieces added great color and vibrancy to the already well-designed gardens and landscaping.
The bourbon tasting at the end of the tour included multiple samples of bourbon – Laine wasn’t a big fan and I liked some more than others, and it was enjoyable to try them all. Another element of both distilleries bourbon tasting was their signature bourbon chocolate treats, which were delicious and triggered our purchase of Barton’s Chocolate Bourbon.
There are many things that define Kentucky – the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky bluegrass, Kentucky Fried Chicken, etc., but Kentucky bourbon is well worth a visit to the state.