Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Hiking the Bourbon Trail


For our last two days off the weather hasn't exactly cooperated as we had hoped, so Noelle and I decided to take the opportunity to visit the three bourbon distilleries here in Kentucky that we haven't been to. First on our itinerary was a visit to Four Roses near Lawrenceburg. We had stopped by this one before but weren't able to tour the facility due to their summer shutdown. This time we were able to go on the tour and it was a decent one. The only problem was the fact that we were on an early tour and they don't give out samples until after noon. After Four Roses we headed west on the Bluegrass Parkway (aka Bourbon Trail) to the Heaven Hill facility. At this facility there is no distillery, but you do get to tour the warehouses where the bourbon is aged in charred oak barrels. Another decent tour, followed by a sample of two of their high-end bourbons. From Heaven Hill we moved on to what is probably the best known distillery, that of Jim Beam.
The tours there are self-guided and the best part is the end when you get to sample my personal favorite bourbon, Knob Creek.

After the bourbon tours we took a short trip to the Bernheim Arboretum where we went on a short hike (it was really hot), then headed back to Lexington. Not a bad way to spend a day off.

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