Kentucky Bourbon Trail

This post is a splash back from our Memorial Day Weekend trip through Kentucky and it's historic Whiskey distilleries. On our way to the Great Smoky Mountains we drove through the Whiskey trail. We stopped at Heaven Hill Distilleries and Maker's Mark just south of Louisville, Kentucky. I learned the most at Heaven Hill, but Maker's Mark is well... very well kept and more keeping to the eye.

While I loved the scenery at Maker's Mark; Heaven Hill Distilleries who brings us brands like Evan Williams and Elijah Craig taught me the most. According to their history Elijah Craig was a Baptist preacher who accidentally changed the color of bourbon to what it is today by using charred oak barrels. He didn't purposely char the barrel. His shed burnt to the ground and the inside of the barrels charred with it... Instead of throwing the expensive barrels away he used them and shipped them down the Mississippi and when they got to New Orleans they were turned into the golden orange we drink today.

Almost all the photos in the slide below are from Maker's with the exception of just one photo. The large white barn is actually a whiskey storage facility at Heaven Hill Distilleries. That's where they store all the whiskey while it ages and becomes the liquidy goodness that bestows upon my gullet. At the end of the Maker's tour you can dip your own bottle, but you have to buy your own bottle. It was an easy purchase since I love Maker's Mark. But I love whiskey so I bought whiskey everywhere I went on this trip. I think I came home with 6 bottles and a bottle of BBQ sauce from Fighting Cock (Heaven Hill Distilleries) and I have to say that it's best sauce I've had in a minute. You can get it online which is also great.