Bourbon, Bond and Bob Dylan: Touring Kentucky’s most storied distillery

It is James Bond and Diamonds Are Forever that 1 thinks of getting disconnected the level astatine Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, wherever a fluttering banner proclaims ’Welcome to Bourbon City’. In the novel, Bond finds himself successful Saratoga Springs and is introduced to a portion that is “fashionable successful racing circles — bourbon and subdivision water.” Bond is evidently not swigging vodka martinis, shaken oregon stirred, each the time.

Louisville is known for bourbon, the Kentucky Derby, boxing fable Muhammad Ali and of people Kentucky Fried Chicken, considering it is the last resting spot of Colonel Sanders, laminitis of KFC.

Dinner astatine Paseo acceptable the shot rolling with a cocktail-forward approach. The Paper Plane’s citrusy notes elegantly paired with the heirloom herb toast portion the Mule’s Vodka (Mr Bond would person been pleased), lime, and ginger brew offered an exquisite counterpoint to the earthiness of the achromatic ail Caesar. The Old Fashioned was each sweetener and spice erstwhile paired with the creamy risotto.

The adjacent time arsenic we drove into the Buffalo Trace Distillery successful Frankfort for a tour, we were greeted by the humanities h2o operation that has stood beardown and gangly since the 1700s. The buffalo icon connected the h2o operation is simply a motion to the existent buffalo migration routes, oregon traces, that gave the distillery its name. Incidentally the buffalo mascot is called Thunder.

The circuit includes stops astatine Old Fire Copper Distillery, Old Taylor, a restored fermenter and Warehouse C from the precocious 1800s with tastings on the way.

After a luncheon of bourbon scalloped potatoes, mushrooms and a generous helping of bourbon food breadstuff pudding (talk astir a liquid lunch!) we headed to Whiskey Woodcraft, wherever maestro woodcrafter Jonathan Hartman and his squad springiness utilized bourbon barrels a caller beingness by creating customized pieces.  

A circuit of Old Taylor House, gave america a consciousness of the past of the place. Dating to the precocious 1700s, it is 1 of the oldest buildings successful Frankfort (nothing to bash with the German city).

The Bourbon vessel tour, the lone h2o based distillery-related circuit successful the U.S., connected the Kentucky River gives a consciousness of spirited history.

On the nine-month stream travel to New Orleans, the wide whisky absorbed the colour and flavour of the barrels that were charred to sanitise, to instrumentality connected the good known aureate hue and smoky flavour. Dinner astatine The Barrel Room astatine the historically important Repeal, features steaks cooked implicit reclaimed oak bourbon barrels.

Historical aside

Bourbon Pompeii thankfully does not diagnostic lovers successful an ashy clasp for eternity oregon adjacent that mediocre petrified dog; alternatively it is the tract of a whisky archaeological find — the remains of Colonel E.H. Taylor Jr.’s archetypal O.F.C. (Old Fire Copper) Distillery, dating backmost to the 1870s. Taylor, called the begetter of bourbon, introduced galore revolutionary practices into the making of bourbon.

The remains of the distillery were discovered successful 2016 erstwhile Buffalo Trace began renovating an bare gathering arsenic an lawsuit space. We were taken done the tract implicit gantries to look astatine the 11,000-gallon copper-lined fermenter, among different things, by Nicolas Laracuente, besides known arsenic The Bourbon Archaeologist. Laracuente was doing his doctorate erstwhile helium was invited by Buffalo Trace to person a look astatine the remains of the aged distillery. 

Racing finish

A sojourn to the Pin Oak Stud Farm introduced america to Kentucky’s different passionateness — racing. As we looked astatine the beauteous beasts and learnt absorbing things, specified arsenic each horses person a January 1 birthday, I was again reminded of Diamonds Are Forever and the horse, Shy Smile that Bond’s person and ex-CIA man, Felix Leiter, comes to Saratoga to investigate.

We ended the time astatine the aptly named The Last Refuge. The whisky barroom successful Louisville’s NuLu territory is located successful a repurposed German Methodist religion from the 1880s. The pulpit, the stained solid windows, the soaring, painted ceiling and the somewhat startled-looking saints, isolated from the walls of bejewelled whisky bottles earns the barroom its rubric of High Church of Bourbon.

Troubadour tales

And determination is the Bob Dylan connection, arsenic elephantine portraits of his 1960s strung-out look adorn the space, which is besides location to Heaven’s Door, a whisky the vocalist and songwriter co-created successful 2018. 

For those funny astir the ‘water of life’, a distillery circuit mightiness conscionable beryllium the summons for whisky newbies similar yours genuinely and seasoned connoisseurs alike, to uncover its origins and what makes it antithetic from its Scottish cousin.

And if you find yourself reasoning of a definite concealed cause with stormy bluish eyes, a cruel mouth, and an unruly comma of acheronian hair… that conscionable adds to the suave quotient, bruv.

The writer was successful Louisville astatine the invitation of Buffalo Trace Distillery