We started the second day of our Kentucky Bourbon Fest with an organized breakfast at the Four Roses Distillery called Lets Talk bourbon. After breakfast there was a presentation about the history and workings of the distillery which was pretty enlightening. As I already knew each distillery keeps their yeast strain a much protected secret. It is one of the big contributors to the flavor of the whiskey. Four Roses has two different mashbill make-ups they use and five different yeasts. This gives them 10 different whiskeys they distill and barrel. From these ten they produce their line of small batch, single barrel and limited run products. After the presentation was a tour and small tasting/gathering on their property. There are a number of photos of this event on the distilleries facebook page. Click here for a link.
I am not a big fan of their products. The bourbons are very good, don’t get me wrong. But they rye content is 14 to 20%…somewhat higher than I prefer. They are certainly worth trying.
In the afternoon we went to Heaven Hill Distillery for a “behind the scenes” tour and tasting. they actually bottle over 80 brands at this location. Their products, including the Evan Williams and Elijah Craig lines, are distilled at another location then trucked in for barreling and aging. My favorite from them is Very Old Special Fitzgerald 12 year old. Smooth and flavorful.
That evening was the Bourbon, Cigars and Jazz event. It was held at the Old Kentucky Home State Park and was hosted by Heaven Hill. Each of us was given three Camacho cigars and a fine dinner. There was a great band playing and Heaven Hill provided a good number of their products for the evening…including Fighting Cock. You have to try this one, if only because of the name.
Day three was another great day with all the events we attended being within walking distance of our hotel. Look for my next posting.
Also, check out the web site for the local newspaper, the Kentucky Standard. Their slide show section has a number of photos from various events. We are actually on one of the slides at a tasting event.
Doug