Just four and a half hours driving south from Chicago you will reach Louisville, a great place to use as base if you want to explore the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky.  Louisville is the most populated city of the state of Kentucky and has many cool thing to do like horse racing in Churchill Downs, visit the Muhammad Ali Museum or the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, eat a Hot Brown sandwich in one of the many restaurants or just go to Whiskey Row and learn about how Bourbon is made  in one of the more than 10 distilleries they currently have.

We went on a short trip during Memorial Day weekend looking to learn more about Bourbon, how is made and the history behind the distilleries and their brands. Exploring restaurants in Chicago we have found a great selection of Bourbon in many of them, trying them neat or in Old Fashioned. Researching the brands we found the Bourbon Trail, a growing tourist attraction around Bourbon distilleries including tours, restaurants, and experiences. We found a good excuse to escape the city and enjoy some of the best Kentucky has to offer.

Bourbon is a barrel aged American Whiskey, made primarily of corn tracing back to the 18^th Century. There is no certainty of who invented it but there was a Baptist minister called Elijah Craig and some people attribute him as the originator another story calls for the first bourbon to be produced in Bourbon County in Kentucky. No matter where bourbon was first produced, Kentucky is the place to enjoy and learn about Bourbon. In 1964 the US Congress recognized Bourbon as a distinctive product of the USA, making it unique a unique offering to the world.

There are rules that need to be followed to call your product Bourbon. There is no aging requirement, but usually Bourbon is aged at least 4 years (2 years to be labeled straight bourbon) and very important no flavoring or coloring is added during the whole process. Here is a summary of the rules: 

1. Must be Produced in the US (Not only in Kentucky)
2. At least 51% Corn (Can be more, no less)
3. Distilled no higher than 160proof (80% ABV)
4. Must be aged in new charred Oak barrels at no more than 125 proof (62.5% ABV)
5. Bottled at no less than 80 proof (40%ABV)

There are a good number of distilleries to visit, our focus in the selection was around having different experiences at each stop, while exploring known and new brands as we went through the different distilleries. Not every day you have the chance to go places that have more than 150 years of history and have helped create part of the history of a country. During our visit we came across great stories on some of the most iconic bourbon brands. Below are the places we visited along with some of the stories we got to experience. If you plan to go, I invite you to explore different areas of the trail and also different sizes of distilleries; one thing is constant every place is awesome and beautiful.

OLD FORESTER DISTILLERY: Americas First Bottled Bourbon Brand, being sold sealed to protect the product from adulteration. Distillery opened in 1870 by George Garvin Brown one of the founders of Brown Forman, the tour is downtown on Whiskey Row a great place to start the journey. Really liked their Old Forester 1897 a bourbon that follows the Bottled in Bond standard that was put in place to ensure quality back in the 1890’s and still being done today.

WOODFORD RESERVE DISTILLERY: Traces back to 1812, currently a national historic landmark. Is here where the Sour Mash fermentation was perfected, promoting consistency of character from batch to batch. It was purchased twice by Brown Forman and the brand was launched in 1996. Currently the Bourbon Sponsor of the Kentucky Derby, on the way to their distillery you go through beautiful ranches and even a practice horse racetrack. I already knew their Woodford Reserve double oaked but now understanding more about craft that goes into production made the expression more enjoyable.   

BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY: They claim to be the oldest continuously operating distillery in the United States, it is also a National Historic Landmark. Records say that distilling started in 1775, located in Frankfort KY the capital of the state. Property is beautiful and in 2016 during renovations on a building they found the remains of the original distillery building dating back to 1873, is crazy the amount of history on that land. Our tour was free and included a tasting, you need to reserve ahead of time. From the tasting I liked Blanton’s, the first single barrel bourbon that was first commercialized in 1984. The top of the bottle has a jockey and a horse, they sell 8 different positions (one for each letter) and is the scenes of a horse race. 

HEAVEN HILL DISTILLERY: Founded in 1935, is privately owned by the Shapira family is the second largest holder of Bourbon in the world. As part of their business model, they were producing Bulk whiskey for third parties, while producing some of their own brands. They had a big fire on 1996, where the plant was almost destroyed and lost 90,000 barrels of product. The company survived though provision of production capacity by fellow local bourbon companies like Brown-Forman and Jim Beam a great sign of the values of these companies. Here I liked a Whisky not Bourbon because is only 37% corn 12% Malted Barley, and 51% Rye; the expression is very different to bourbon, but the expression had very nice flavor it is a good choice for Mixology the name Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whisky

WILLETT DISTILLERY: A small family-owned distillery in Bardstown, KY . They also make their own product and serve as contract bottler for other companies that want to market their own brand. They also have a very nice restaurant in their property, that makes a great place to end a day of tasting and learning about bourbon. You can enjoy Whisky flights from the different brands they have at the restaurant, while pairing to some great food. Here I enjoyed a bourbon called Speakeasy, smooth flavor and sweetness was a great companion to the food we order as we finish a great day in the Bourbon Trail.

Thankful for the opportunity to continue traveling and having great experiences, I encourage you to do the same and plan to go somewhere you really like and experience it full. Thanks for taking time to look at this post, please share it with your friends and sign in to receive our updates; also follow us on Instagram, and Facebook search for #BORICUASLIVINGABROAD. Until next time…