We left the endless flat prairie land – clapperboard houses with long driveways through the fields and white log fencing that reminded us of Little House on the Prairie and headed into Kentucky and Bardstown, rolling hills of greenery and forests, dotted with roadkill every few miles – deer, squirrels and badgers. It was so green and gently hilly that it is likened to Oxfordshire and we can see that.
When planning this part of the trip, several web sites recommended three days in the area with a visit to 4 or 5 distilleries each day with a designated non-drinking driver of course. Each visit offers a tasting, and each distillery is several miles apart even though on the maps they look close together so we managed 3 in one day and 2 in another. This was hampered (in a lovely way) by the fact that we had met a lovely couple, he was from Coventry (of all places!) and she was American, and they helped us feel like locals, plying us with alcohol and food at night! Their hospitality went beyond anything we had experienced before, we were introduced to dignitaries in the town and to a chief plant engineer at another distillery that we were then invited to for a private tour, but we really did run out of time….and never got to see him and his brewery.
We stopped a few days in an old town called Bardstown, and on the Sunday night, stopped at The Old Talbott Tavern, built in 1779 and recognised as the oldest western stagecoach stop in America, the hotel part is said to be haunted! European Americans settled here in 1780, Bardstown is the second oldest city in Kentucky, the town was formally established in 1788.
9 Bourbon Distilleries in 1 Town!
In 1789, Baptist minister Elijah Craig pretty much saved the American soul when he developed America’s signature spirit – bourbon. Since the first barrel was produced over 200 years ago, it’s helped build the lives of Bardstown residents who’ve earned their living by distilling America’s native spirit. Established by European Americans in 1780, Bardstown is the second oldest city in Kentucky county.
Today, visitors can tour Bardstown’s nine distilleries as well as enjoying bourbon entertainment, bourbon-inspired dining, bourbon history, and bourbon shopping.
The distillery tours were all different.
We started at Heaven Hill, America’s largest family owned and operated distilling company, home to Larceny, Elijah Craig and Rittenhouse (our 3 tasters) as well as Evan Williams, Fighting Cock, Georgia Moon, Henry McKenna, Mellow Corn, Old Fitzgerald and Pikesville Bourbons ; a small batch brewery where they still regularly roll the barrels in storage and hold a competition to practice the art of barrel rolling and loading in a purpose built area outside.
Entrance 
Rickhouses 
Inside a rickhouse 
Some of the tasters 
The barrel rolling area
At the Jim Beam factory, we watched traditional barrels being loaded into the “rickhouses” where the barrels are stored. We were able to dip our fingers into the “mash” and taste the sweet malty liquid before it is distilled; we watched the distilling control room monitoring the flow of liquid before it emerges as a clear flow of “wine”, it’s then poured into barrels, stored for several years before emerging a deep red colour. We tasted Knob Creek straight from the barrel, before David enjoyed dipping a bottle of bourbon into the red wax to seal it. He picked his own bottle, washed it in watered down bourbon, put it into the bottling plant and collected it the other end, full and stoppered.
Jim Beam is also home to Basil Haydens, Bookers, Bakers as well as Knob Creek.
A delivery 
Some family history 
Good old Jim! 
Ingredients lists 
Tasting the mash 
The clear liquid before it is barrelled.
The complete automated process 
On to Maker’s Mark distillery, this was a small scale operation, set in lovely landscaped gardens and buildings that were established by the owner’s wife (Mrs Burks) back in 1815 after Mr Burks built a water powered grain mill on the site in 1805. All the processes were visible, all operational and all original, including printing their own labels! We could taste the mash in a wooden open barrel, and saw the large brewing vats. The tasting was interesting, here we learned all about adding a drop of water to the bourbon, how it changed the molecules and therefore the taste.
Again, David was able to dip his own bottle, this time the process was heavily “health and safety” aware!
Next we visited Barton 1792, established in 1879 and the oldest running distillery in Kentucky, and distilled with water from its own spring a few miles away. It is called 1792 after the year Kentucky became an official state of the USA, based on the original distillery, Ridegwood Reserve, which was also established in 1792. It’s now owned by a large conglomerate which also produce Glenmore and Buffalo Trace.
However, the most varied tasting was in the “whole county of Kentucky” where David tried every different one he could, whilst he could!
St Louis
We stopped for two days in St Louis, pronounced, St Lewis to us Brits! It’s in the county of Missouri along the Mississippi River. Its 630-ft. Gateway Arch, built in the 1960s, honors the early 19th-century explorations of Lewis and Clark and America’s westward expansion, a fascinating bone shaking tram ride to the top and then a video show and tour of the museum below round off the trip.
Replica paddle steamers are found on the river, and the Soulard district is home to barbecue restaurants and bars playing blues music. The Cardinals (baseball at Busch Gardens) and NFL (hockey) are based here, as well as the America’s Centre, a huge arena full of sporting memorabilia and a Walk of Fame on the pavements outside.
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