The best place to start the incredible search for “White Dog” and “Angel’s Mist”–and everything in between, is in Kentucky because that is the only place where true bourbon can be made.
Bourbon has the ingredient Iron Free water, water that runs through many courses of shale to naturally remove the iron. Another core ingredient is corn, and by law bourbon needs more than 51% of these bright yellow kernels in it’s recipe. This fermented mixture of grains is distilled and poured into charred white oak barrels, then stacked in Rick houses. Through the years and the changing seasons the liquid is absorbed and released from the inner charred wood, giving bourbon it’s mellow flavor and caramel color. That’s it in a barrel, except the bit that evaporates. The brewers say the evaporated portion is the Angel’s share and they do enjoy their mist.
My search for bourbon and my journey to Kentucky for a combination of work and pleasure. I was fortunate enough to be selected from over 100 artists to paint a mural in Lexington, Kentucky. I worked feverishly for two months in the studio painting the winning design. I painted large and bold image on fabric that was to be installed on site.
This installation was more than one person could handle so I gathered my family; one wife and three kids, the dog stayed back to watch the house. We made the 10 hour trip from Pennsylvania to Kentucky in a day and worked for five days. Within those five days we ate like kings, worked like dogs, and drank like…well we tasted, and we laughed like we had known each other forever. Oh yeah we do, and it was awesome! Below you may read about some of our favorite stops!
Four Roses
1224 Bonds Mill Road, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
A Spanish style villa took me by surprise as we drove up to Four Roses distillery or maybe my awe was due to the fact that it was 9:30am. Despite being so early, I put my mind to work and began a serious mission to learn all I could about Bourbon. Four Roses was bought out by Seagram’s in 1943 and exported to Europe. It is one of the most popular brands of bourbon in Japan.
The tours start on the hour and we caught the 10:00 am one. A movie introduced us to the history of the brand. Our guide explained the process and the recipe that went into making bourbon. We toured the distillery in August, which meant a majority of the machines shut down because its just too dang hot to make bourbon. Understandable, considering it takes a lot of heat to boil and condense mash into pure booze. The tour was informative and went on like everything was in full production except the heat and smell of fermented yeast. As all tours end, we sampled a few varieties of their bourbon. Furthermore, being good sales people, they suggested we keep our rose etched glasses for a small fee. “You can’t get them anywhere else.” So now I have a set of Four Roses tasting glasses to drink my Four Roses bourbon with. You can’t get these anywhere else!
Wild Turkey
1525 Tyrone Road, Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Wild Turkey is a short distance from Four Roses. Thirty minutes outside of Lexington. Anyone that has visited a PA liquor store has seen Wild Turkey on the shelf, from its Honey variety to the 101 “burn your eyes out” variety. This is one of the bigger distilleries we visited; it was like a big factory with a lot of high tech gadgets. Not to knock it, but it wasn’t really the bourbon for me. However, it is worth the tour. With the stamp on your passport you can get your fee bourbon trail t-shirt at the end of the tour. If you try the 101 sampling at the end of the tour this will definitely put you in the passenger seat for the drive onto the next destination.
Maker’s Mark
3350 Burk Spring Road, Loretto, Kentucky
Maker’s Mark is about an hour and half outside of Lexington to the West. After driving through highways and back roads, we reached our mark. Dark grey buildings with little silhouettes of Makers Mark bottles are nested around the crisp stream of water that flows through the property. Tours are on the half hour and give a historic perspective to bourbon and marketing. That red wax that drips down the bottle is no accident. They have a reproduction of the original kitchen where they brewed their first batch and the sketchbook that documented their plans and designs. The beauty of the plan is you could still see it in action on the tour. Each bottle was hand dipped into hot gooey “wax.”
At the end of the tour, you can even dip your own bottle in the wax to take home. Oh, and don’t forget to take a photo of the process while you are adorned with safety glasses, an apron, and fire proof gloves. When I went, people were given the chance to taste their Maker’s 46 bourbon along with the standard Maker’s Mark. They also had a special tasting of the infamous White Dog. This is the straight stuff known as moonshine. But for some reason they don’t call it that. They bottle White Dog as it comes out of the still and before it hits the charred white oak barrels. A note for the true aficionados; they do cut this, which brings it down to 90 proof, not the 160 usually found as it comes out of the still.
Woodford Reserve
7855 McCracken Pike, Versailles, Kentucky
After passing horse farm after horse farm, and driving down a long winding road, we stopped at Woodford Reserve. You know the squarish bottle with that golden amber glow of liquid and just the slightest hint of maple syrup? Ok, so I made up that last part, but I really do taste it! Woodford was one of the classier places on the tour. The majority of the distillery tours are free, but Woodford charges a $5.00 tour fee. I’d love to tell you what the tour was like but… this is classic. We arrived for the 3 o’clock tour, the last tour of the day. As we stood in line and proceeded to the entrance, we found out the person in front of us filled the slot for maximum capacity. A.K.A., we weren’t going to be supplemented with a complimentary tasting. We proceeded to the tasting area. Woodford has one bourbon and in my opinion they do it well. So why bother making variations. That concluded the end of our tour.
Heaven Hill
1064 Loretto Road, Bardstown, Kentucky
When we approached Heaven Hill I had to scratch my head and think if I have ever heard of that bourbon. I like to say I’m pretty knowledgeable about the variety of libations that can be found at our local liquor store. Heaven Hill is the bigger company that owns the brand Evan Williams along with the other familiar libations such as Palma, Two Finger Tequila and Burnetts Vodka. I have to say Heaven Hill was one of the more informative tours.
One of the things I learned was that I have been pronouncing caramel all wrong. It’s more like CAREmel, but it might have been a southern thing. We had a brief history of bourbon. In each tour, we learned a little more and the story was told a little differently. The highlight had to be the tasting room where we had a chance to sample some of the higher end products in the comfort of a room shaped like a large bourbon barrel. Being one of the larger brands, their gift shop was very extensive and expensive. Some rare vintages and blends sell for over $400 a bottle. I stuck with the free samples.
Jim Beam
149 Happy Hollow Road, Sheperdsville, Kentucky
Jim Beam was the last tour on our trail and the furthest. Because of this, I didn’t fill my handy dandy passport that all the distilleries can stamp. If you complete all the distillery tours you get a free t-shirt and bragging rights. So I don’t have the t shirt nor the bragging rights but I do have a year to complete it. As for the mural that brought us down here, we knocked that out.
Saul Good
3801 Mall Rd # 120, Lexington, Kentucky
I’m going to be up front and biased here. We were at Saul Good for five days and weren’t disappointed once!
This is the restaurant that I came to see, I had to; I was painting a mural on the outside of their building. Before I began to design a mural four states away that read “Hospitality,” I figured I should try it out. With two locations in Lexington, Saul Good is the epitome of hospitality. Everyone was so nice, friendly, and loved where they worked. This was even before they knew I’d been painting outside and visiting them every night for dinner.
They have the best bar in town, a chocolate bar that serves a half-baked chocolate chip cookie covered in ice cream and chocolate syrup. Another great dessert they had was a chocolate fondue with: pretzels, strawberries, bananas, and marshmallows to dip. They also have fresh popped popcorn tossed in chocolate. This was my kids’ favorite treat. Oh, and I know its not chocolate, but they also serve an unbelievable banana’s foster. Sorry, I skipped ahead there. I did tell my kids they needed to eat their meal before heading to the bar.
The restaurant’s lunch and dinner had just as much variety and uniqueness as their desserts. They serve an Argentine pizza; with steak and lime and a chimichuri sauce, and a Chicken and Waffles entree, which was a totally southern thing. For five days we ate like kings and didn’t repeat one meal! As for dessert, we ate the same thing every night…everything listed above.
Parkette Diner
1230 East New Circle Road, Lexington, Kentucky
I also highly recommend the Parkette on the “circle” that goes around Lexington. First, we had to slow down because everyone was pulling into this famous carhop. Secondly, they have a huge restored flashing neon sign that grabbed our attention. Parkette is everything you imagine in a 1950’s car hop. Cars lined up, reading menus on boards, and food trays hanging off car doors. We skipped that experience, however, and decided to eat inside. We wanted to see if it was true that the Parkette was featured on Diner Dives and Drive Ins. This proved to be true and they have the photos of the bleached-blonde, sunglass-wearing dude to prove it.
Everything was quick and good. The server greeted us promptly and took our order. I opted for the Poor Boy, two all beef patties, cheese, slice of onion, lettuce, tomato, pickle, mustard and Parkette Sauce on a double decker bun. This was served with a heap of fries or tater tots for the low price of $4.29. You can’t beat that value! I couldn’t decide if I wanted to go southern fried and get the fried chicken mashed potatoes and gravy so I had my wife order that. The kids were thrilled that their cheeseburgers and fries came served in a cardboard replica of a 1956 Chevy. Now I know why this place made it on TV; it’s fun.
Spalding’s Bakery
760 Winchester Rd., Lexington Kentucky
If you like real donuts, butter bars, and fritters, this is a must stop. Why do they taste so good? One word you do not hear much anymore, lard! It’s the tastiest way to cook your breakfast. Go early to this one room shop since it sells out of a lot of the items by noon. A clean no frills room showcases all the sweet treats in old wooden and glass cases. Orders are jotted down on paper, added by good old-fashion math and you pay in cash. By the time this is finished, you are licking your lips, your heart is pounding, and you can taste the goodness. But wait! They have to tie the box tight with string, the way they used to do it. As you make your way to the car to dive into your battered goods, take a deep breath and smell the roasted peanuts. Because across the street is where they Jiff peanut butter is made.
If you decided to blaze this trail, a good central location to set up camp would be Lexington. Lexington is the horse capital of the world but small enough to be quaint. Set up like a spoked wheel, historic Lexington is a hub. The diagonal roads stretch to the circle road that revolves around the city, pretty obvious once you figure it out. All the distilleries can be reached within a two hour drive, through winding scenic roads flanked by double fenced horse farms. The fences run for miles and are designed to keep million dollar horses safe on their pristine properties. The distilleries have tours on the hour or half hour. There are many brochures and signs around to help you find everything. Because of the distance between some of distilleries, I would plan two days or more to explore them. Don’t forget there is sampling to be had as well, so you want to take your time and enjoy.
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