ROAD TRIP DAY 14-15 ON THE KENTUCKY BOURBON TRAIL

Driving to Bardstown from Charleston was relatively easy -- we left at 7:30 AM and arrived at 5:00 PM. In the morning we drove through heavy fog for a couple of hours but the rest of the day was clear and nice. We had the lovely experience of driving through four states: SC, NC, TN, and KY, including driving across the Great Smoky Mountains. We past several historical locations (e.g., Gatlinburg and the Cumberland Gap). Drove past London and Texas and Stinking Creek (how do they dream up these names?).

Bardstown is at the heart of bourbon whiskey country --there are quite a few distilleries within an hour drive. We plan to visit as many as we have time for.

When we arrived in Bardstown, we immediately checked into our hotel and I was captivated by the aroma in the area -- ah, the smell of fermenting sour mash from the nearly Barton 1792 distillery. I love it but my spouse thinks it is awful. Oh well, you can’t keep everyone happy at the same time.

I asked the hotel receptionist where she would recommend having dinner (even though I’ve been here twice before) and she recommended a new restaurant in town called The Rickhouse. (For the bourbon illiterate among you, a rickhouse is the warehouse where barrels of bourbon are stored to age.) In my previous trips, the food in Bardstown was never much to get excited about, but this new place is amazing -- fabulous food and service and cocktails (their Manhattans are perfection). In fact, the food was so good, we went back the next day for dinner again.

Yesterday, our first full day in Bardstown, we had a late, sleepy morning and then decided to go directly to my favorite distillery, Maker’s Mark. This was the first time for my traveling companions and my third time. They give the best tours and the best tastings and their grounds and buildings are the most interesting. Best of all, the distillery has been owned and operated by the same family for several generations and the whole family feeling is very clear as you talk to people. The employees clearly like being there and everyone maintains a wonderful, inviting sense of humor.

From there, we went to Heaven Hill distillery, which produces Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, Larceny, and others. Then we made a quick stop at Willett distillery, which produces Willett. Then we gave up and went back to The Rickhouse for our second time. It is raining off and on but not very cold although the weather forecast has been ominous. There have been tornados to the south of us (where we drove through yesterday) and to the east of us. Tomorrow the weather is going to get very cold, into the low 30’s F during the day. We hope it stops raining because we don’t want to be worried about black ice. But we have distilleries to visit, so we will soldier on for the cause!