{"id":3010,"date":"2020-11-12T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=3010"},"modified":"2022-02-22T10:14:17","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T15:14:17","slug":"the-whiskey-ledger-006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=3010","title":{"rendered":"The Whiskey Ledger with Bourbon Apprentice"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Entry: 006<\/span><\/p>

Take Me Back, Kentucky Part 1\u2026the Tours.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Last March \u2013 2019\u2026the year before COVID that sadly seems like a distant memory \u2013 I took a trip to Kentucky with my wife and another couple. Although it was only for three days, and there were no beaches or waves to be seen, it still ranks up there as one of my all-time favorite vacations.  After all, it\u2019s an adult Disney World of sorts.  I\u2019ve gone back and forth in my head about where to take this entry of the Ledger\u2026do I want to go the history route, or do I want to reminisce?  If you\u2019ve read any of my previous columns, I think you know what direction we\u2019re headed in! (Don\u2019t worry, there will be time for a history lesson in the future).<\/span><\/p>\n

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After a crappy, rainy ride to the airport and a mediocre flight to KY, my wife and I checked into our hotel room, and our friends did the same.  My wife hopped in the shower, and I did what any guy on his first trip to Kentucky would do\u2026I ran down to the hotel gift shop to see if they had any decent bottles for sale.  Although I didn\u2019t get lucky in the gift shop, it quickly became apparent that someone else would be getting lucky all weekend.  I stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall to our corner-located room\u2026the type of room where you barely turn left at the end of the hall, and your hand is already on the door.  Much to my surprise, when I extended my hand with my room key, it was not the door I was about to swipe on, but a young lady in a very tight (and explicitly short) blue dress.  \u201cUh\u2026I think that\u2019s my room,\u201d  I said awkwardly.  She looked at her phone and looked back at me, smiled and apologized, and then went on her way.  When I entered my room, my wife was in shock because moments before that, the woman was knocking on our door, making provocative faces into the peephole.  She had the wrong room!<\/span><\/p>\n

Two hours later, we were at the hotel bar trying some pours that  we can\u2019t get in NC and watching some NCAA tournament games.  \u201cDo you know what time it is?\u201d someone\u2019s voice said to my left, calling out to the bartender.  The bartender muttered an answer as I looked over, and there she was again!  We locked eyes, and I\u2019m not sure which one of us was more embarrassed.  Later that night, after dinner, we stopped back in the hotel bar for a nightcap, and my blue-dressed friend had finally met up with her much older male companion\u2026and another young lady as well.  This saga continued through the weekend, and you may hear more in Part 2, but let\u2019s focus on what you came here for \u2013 the bourbon!<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Our first tour was at Woodford Reserve, and it was a great experience.\u00a0 The Woodford tour was probably the most complete tour we went on because it truly showed all aspects of the industry\u2026they take you through history, distillation, aging, bottling, and tasting.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t anything they don\u2019t cover on their tour.\u00a0 The property is beautiful, but you only get to see a very polished product ready-made for the public eye.\u00a0 You are left wondering where all of their whiskey is being stored because you only get a glimpse of a fraction of their space, but they generally do a good job immersing you into their process.\u00a0 The tasting at the end of the tour is well done.\u00a0 They explain their flavor wheel, allowing you to taste through savory and sweet with their standard offering, rye, and double oaked.\u00a0 You might hope for a Batch Proof or Master\u2019s Collection, but you\u2019ll have to drop $130 or so in the gift shop for that experience.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The next tour was Buffalo Trace \u2013 my gateway!\u00a0 Buffalo Trace offers a ton of touring options \u2013 The Trace Tour, Bourbon Barrel Tour, Expansion Tour, Old Taylor Tour, and the Hard Hat Tour.\u00a0 They even offer a Ghost Tour!\u00a0 We opted for the Hard Hat Tour because it was widely recommended and had excellent reviews.\u00a0 It was a complete 180 from the cleanliness of Woodford because it truly is a behind-the-scenes look at the bourbon industry.\u00a0 You walk through garages with dump trucks filled with grains awaiting the mashing process on your way into the cooking and fermentation areas.\u00a0 The cookers don\u2019t look food grade, and you may have a hard time believing how they come to their final product.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there is no stop into a rick house on this tour, but luckily the oaky aroma permeates throughout the property.\u00a0 I honestly don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever smelled anything quite like the air on Buffalo Trace grounds\u2026 genuinely incredible.\u00a0 The tasting was a bit underwhelming as well\u2026Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, and Wheatley Vodka\u2026then they threw in some bourbon cream with root beer as a treat.\u00a0 No Blanton\u2019s, no Weller, no Stagg Jr, no EH Taylor\u2026just the run of the mill basic lineup.\u00a0 The same goes for the gift shop \u2013 but that is the luck of the draw.\u00a0 Some days they have fun stuff; other days they don\u2019t.\u00a0 Although my experience was pretty mixed with this one, I\u2019d still go back in a heartbeat, and I\u2019d check out another tour option.\u00a0 We did have a reservation for the ghost tour the same evening, but we canceled because the back and forth with Ubers just wasn\u2019t worth it.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The only other full tour that we completed was at Willett.\u00a0 Ironically enough, Willett is probably my least favorite distillery out of the ones we visited when it comes to the actual whiskey in the bottle. Still, it ended up being my favorite tour.\u00a0 We had a personable tour guide who shared a great mix of history, humor, and bourbon facts, and the tour itself featured the process from grain to glass.\u00a0 I hate cats, but it was pretty cool to see their namesake felines, Rowan and Noah, prowling around the creek and the outside seating area.\u00a0 They kicked off the tour with a little cocktail sample and ended it with the most robust tasting I saw all weekend. If I remember correctly, they provided four pours rather than the standard three that you\u2019ll see elsewhere, and they allowed you to choose those four from an available six or seven options.\u00a0 Granted, they didn\u2019t bring out any of their well-aged products, but it was still cool to have the ability to select what you wanted (if you\u2019re with multiple people, you could find a way to try them all.\u00a0 Sharing is caring!).\u00a0 I think the coolest part of that tour was the rick house.\u00a0 Not only did it have that nutty, oaky smell that you look for, but it was funny to see the CEO\u2019s dry-aging ham hanging between stacks of barrels.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019m just a sucker for cured meat?<\/span><\/p>

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We toured three distilleries and visited four or five others for tastings.\u00a0 If I had to force rank the tours, I\u2019d say Willett, Trace, and then Woodford.\u00a0 Willett was so well done \u2013 plain and simple.\u00a0 Although BT had some disappointments, they get points for creativity and providing a different type of experience.\u00a0 Woodford was a fun, butter cookie cutter.\u00a0 We also had some fantastic food through the weekend \u2013 I was super impressed with the food scene in Kentucky overall\u2026steaks, appetizers, sandwiches, you name it!\u00a0 It\u2019s not just bourbon; they do well out there!\u00a0 Hopefully, this article gave you a quick teaser for our trip to Wildcat country.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have to come back for Part 2 to hear about some other tastings and maybe even get an update on our friend in the blue dress.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last March \u2013 2019\u2026the year before COVID that sadly seems like a distant memory \u2013 I took a trip to Kentucky with my wife and another couple. Although it was only for three days, and there were no beaches or waves to be seen, it still ranks up there as one of my all-time favorite vacations. After all, it\u2019s an adult Disney World of sorts. I\u2019ve gone back and forth in my head about where to take this entry of the Ledger\u2026do I want to go the history route, or do I want to reminisce? If you\u2019ve read any of my previous columns, I think you know what direction we\u2019re\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,170,35],"tags":[39,73,91,126],"class_list":["post-3010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-spirits","category-the-whiskey-ledger","tag-buffalo-trace","tag-kentucky","tag-the-whiskey-ledger","tag-woodford-reserve"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Woodford.jpg","acf":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3010"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3047,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3010\/revisions\/3047"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}