Kentucky Bourbon Trail “Mancations”

Vegas is so 5-years ago for a bachelor party or weekend with the guys. Sure, they have strip clubs where you can give a girl $20 to be nice to you for the duration of a 3 1/2 minute-long song. (Yes, they’re timed). You may also hit a dance bar and writhe your sweaty man-boobs against club-goers half your age (who only want you to buy them drinks, anyway). But, you may also wake up in a cheap motel with a pounding head, an empty wallet and a poker chip up your butt.

These ‘perils of party’ are much less likely along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

September is National Bourbon Heritage Month and there is no better time to tour a distillery, learn how American whiskey is made and sample your favorite brands than now. Similar to wine tasting in Napa, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail winds through picturesque landscapes and delivers you to the origins of such brands as Knob Creek, Maker’s Mark, Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam, Buffalo Trace, and so on. You can often speak directly with the Master Distillers and learn why your favorite bourbon tastes so damn good, and what differentiates bourbon from other whiskeys. Learn more about in my post "What Makes Bourbon Bourbon?"

Plan your trip around the 2008 Kentucky Bourbon Festival which takes place from September 16-21. In addition to festivities in various barrel rooms along the trail, the annual Great Kentucky Bourbon Tasting and Gala is a swanky to-do featuring a gymnasium-sized tasting room where some of the most prestigious bourbon makers sample their prized batches of hooch. (I went last year and loved it - although I learned my lesson when it comes to the overproof hooch!)

And, don’t forget to plan a night on the town in Louisville itself. Yes, there is down-home barbeque (which you must try) but don’t be surprised by some higher end dining. My favorite was local hotspot Bourbons Bistro. In addition to a hopping bar scene and fine fare, it offers 125+ kinds of bourbon. Best of all, you can sample several by ordering a flight of three local whiskeys to pair with your slab of beef, pan-roasted salmon or bourbon-glazed duck breast. Top it off with a cigar and a round of poker and I think you’ve just entered Man-Heaven.

So, if your lady is driving you nuts, or the daily grind is getting you down, grab a few of your buddies and head to Kentucky. You may still wake up with a pounding head but there’s a pretty good chance the rest of you will remain in tact.

Bourbon Ball

Kentucky Bourbon Festival

The Kentucky Bourbon Festival ends with a bang, otherwise known as The Great Kentucky Bourbon Tasting and Gala. (I call it the Bourbon Ball.) For those of you who haven't attended the Bourbon Ball, I can explain it as something akin to a liquor-lover's prom, where drinking is not only allowed but encouraged.

As limos and shuttles pull up to the activities center in Bardstown, Kentucky, a line of tuxedo'ed and coiffed liquor vendors, distillers and other afficionados forms down the block. Diamonds are sparkling and everyone is eyeballing the person next to them. It's the Beverly Hillbillies living on Wysteria Lane. It's JR and Sue Ellen, had they lived in Louisville instead of Dallas. It's a who's-who of bootleggers and moonshine makers, generations after Prohibition.

In short, its a hoot!

Upon entering the hall, each person is handed a red canvas bag. Turns out that Bourbon's major players have set up tasting booths around the hall. In addition to offering up tastes of their product neat, on the rocks or with water, most also have featured cocktails. And, each booth has its own glass, which attendees stash in the red bag, and take home. It struck me as a rather dangerous proposition - sticky glasses clinking against one another in a bag, as we all wander from drink to drink. But, it worked out ok, and I actually got my collection home, in tact.

Some companies create themes for their tasting booths, as did Maker's Mark. They decided to play on the word for whisky and created the Whi-SKY experience, creating an airplane ambiance. (Need I tell you how this delighted my pal, Alberta Straub, hostess of OnNetwork's Cocktails on the Fly).

Guests were handed "boarding passes" while waiting in line, which featured the Signature Cocktails for that year. Master Distiller David Pickerell (pictured with me here) also has a passion for Mixology, so he created this year's Signtaure Drink appropriately named the Mile High Manhattan.

The booth looked like the hull of an airplane, and the servers were dressed as air hostesses. The glasses were dipped in the red wax which identifies the Maker's Mark bottles.

Even Billy Samuels, son of Maker's Mark founder Bill Samuels, was part of the fun, and welcomed party go-ers in a pilot uniform.

I made my way around the room sampling Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, Bulleit, and so on. Purely for educational purposes, of course. I mean, it would have been rude not to try them all, no?

My favorite cocktail of the evening was the one made with Booker's bourbon. Booker's is one of the small batch bourbons made by Jim Beam.

Fred Noe is the seventh generation Master Distiller in the Jim Beam family. In fact, his face has just been added to the label, alongside his forefathers. His father's name was Booker, and I learned each of the small batch bourbons are named for sentimental reasons. (More on that in my Jim Beam distillery tour coverage, coming soon...)

So, if the Kentucky Derby isn't enough to lure you to America's heartland, the Kentucky Bourbon Festival should be added to your drinker's to-do list. I can assure you - it's a ball!