Kentucky law gives you just 48 hours upon entry into the state before you must begin drinking bourbon.* Since we’d scheduled a Mammoth Cave tour (post here) for our first day in Kentucky, we knew day 2 would require us pointing the RV directly towards Bardstown, “the Bourbon Capitol of the World®”.
*okay, not true but a good suggestion and maybe I should start a petition.
We woke up to rain…not California spittle…real rain. As you’ll recall, we’d already spent the prior three weeks running from tornados and changed routes multiple times to avoid three of them so we weren’t thrilled when the national weather teams were now warning of “an atmospheric river of moisture” that would trigger storms and yes, tornados again this week! I don’t know exactly what constitutes an “atmospheric river of moisture”, but it did not sound good! Sure enough, 2 days later we were as close as we’ve ever been to a tornado (Louisville sirens squealing and a touchdown within 10 miles of where we were camped). The friend that inspired our trip to Kentucky said she’d lived there 9 years and she’d never experienced that kind of weather, but I’m getting way ahead of myself. Back to the day’s agenda…
The rainy drive wasn’t bad (says the passenger). We had time to stop at Lincoln’s childhood home near Knob Creek as we headed for Maker’s Mark in Loretto KY (located just south of Bardstown KY). Maker’s Mark is one of Doug’s go-to bourbons so I’d scheduled a tour of their distillery. Prior to RVing through Kentucky, bourbon had never made my list of libations (note the foreshadowing).
Maker’s Mark is apparently known by bourbon drinkers for its distinct taste due to the founder’s (Bill Samuels Sr.’s) substitution of rye grain with red winter wheat and its distinct look due to his wife’s (Margie’s) square bottle sealed with a hand-dipped, red wax topper. The company’s website claims that “Margie is the reason most folks buy their first bottle of Maker’s Mark and Bill is the reason they buy their second.” The distillery’s buildings and grounds reflect this bourbon’s signature look. The cloudy day and spring grass really added to its contrast and beauty!
Lincoln’s Logs
The tour was relatively short and for a non-bourbon drinker (me) it provided some history of Maker’s Mark as well as basic information on bourbon ingredients and processing. The tasting format was similarly informational. We tasted 5 variations and of all the bourbon’s tasted, Doug still preferred the original. My palate was not sophisticated, and truth be told, I spent my time trying to figure out how to politely sip something that felt like it was singeing nose hair with every swallow!
Given my first tasting experience, a half-choke-half-snorting-laugh escaped me when the following day in Louisville KY we picked up the Kentucky Bourbon Trail roadmap that identifies 18 signature distillery and 23 craft distillery participants with a note at the bottom stating “6+ days needed to visit all”! My math’s a little rusty, but that’s 41 distilleries – so over 6+ (let’s say 7) days we’d need to visit 5.9 distilleries per day. Talk about #squadgoals! LOL!
Needless to say, if that was the goal, we fell short. Very short. On the upside, at one of the later Louisville bourbon tours, a guide explained the way to properly taste bourbon (and yes, just like tasting wine, there seems to be a method) and I never looked back. Though still a novice, I’m happy to report that Kentucky introduced me to a new love – bourbon! More on that and the secret to proper tasting in my next post when we spend more time on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
