By 9 a.m., we were at Maker’s Mark’s door. Day 2 on our distillery tours of Kentucky, and we were ready. The Maker’s Mark distillery has a lot of Southern style – a charming house is the waiting area and you stand on a large front porch to the distillery to get the introduction. They were still polishing the huge copper stills when we arrived. Enormous mash tubs that will make 400 barrels of whiskey each bubbled and frothed. We got to dip our fingers through the spongy top layer to taste the fermenting beer, which has a sweet, tangy flavor. Maker’s Mark has over 400,000 barrels aging and they are building more warehouses to step up production with rising demand. “No bourbon distiller has enough bourbon,” said our guide.
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8 a.m. might seem like an early start time for a bourbon tour, but this is Kentucky. There are barrels to see and whiskey to taste. Our mission: four distilleries in two days. Accepted. We rode with Mint Julep Tours – nice, knowledgeable, and able to deliver us safely to our whiskey. While every distillery is the same basic idea, I enjoyed how distinctly different the grounds and tours were. Each had something unique to offer that highlighted what story they wanted associated with their product. First up: Woodford Reserve and Buffalo Trace. After three days in Kentucky, I can confirm that the main ingredients of the state are bourbon, pride, and horses. In Louisville, you can’t walk three feet or five minutes without being reminded it’s time for a bourbon - and someone is nearby to recommend a good one. You pass prize-winning thoroughbreds by the side of the road. A “Kentucky hug” is the warmth from a bourbon. And they give you a stamp to reward you for drinking whiskey. Forget Vegas. If I want a grown-up Disneyland, Kentucky will do just fine. For bourbon bars, Louisville hits the mark. A whole book of them – the Urban Bourbon Trail passport – shows the ones that have more than 50 bourbons. If you get just six stamps in the passport, they give you a free t-shirt. Show a little bit of bourbon knowledge and the bartenders will steer you past the front row and recommend some of the ones that are harder to find, at least in Brooklyn – Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, Colonel E.H. Taylor barrel proof, and Kentucky Owl were a few I got to try. I also took pleasure in ordering some more common ones that I rarely see in my neighborhood, including Elmer T. Lee and W.L. Weller 12 year. In Louisville, you can usually find what you want unless the name starts with Pappy and ends in Van Winkle. I’ve spent my fair share around Lutherans and drinking is accepted and even welcome - in moderation. Except for coffee, which they tend to drink excessively.
They may not necessarily encourage whiskey at afternoon lunch gatherings in their church hall, however. So when my extended family was having a reunion lunch at a Lutheran church, I decided to be discreet. Since I was traveling, I didn’t have a flask handy, but my bag was dark and had plenty of space, so I just brought a bottle – an entire bottle – of Buffalo Trace. Lunch was BBQ. Perfect. I slipped into the kitchen and poured a couple of drams into some plastic cups – one for me and one for my uncle. And then a little later, one for my aunt. Just a touch of whiskey to share and toast the family properly. The trouble began when I set my bag down on a chair to change my camera battery and somehow knocked it off the chair and underneath the table. I heard a sickening “crack” and saw liquid spreading quickly – a bottle minus three drams of whiskey – all over the church hall floor. Uff da. Or, as my uncle put it, “Busted.” A neighborhood bar is a necessity - somewhere closes to walk to in a snowstorm or stop by on the way home after a long commute. It should be comfortable enough that one, quick drink easily becomes five, where it’s not unusual to run into neighbors, and where you always leave feeling better than when you came – at least until the next morning. For the more than five years I have lived off Smith Street in Brooklyn, I was lucky to have my neighborhood bar be Char No. 4. The whiskey collection was extensive and the friendly staff knew their bourbon. They held whiskey classes and smoked their own meats. They paired pies with whiskies. They sold hams at Christmas. They had happy hour bourbon specials and special whiskey tasting menus. The light was an amber coziness that hugged you from the outside and then the whiskey hugged you from the inside and the world felt happy. |
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November 2017
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