Kentucky Bourbon Trail Part II

On Saturday, July 12, we went to Bernheim Forest to see the Forest Giants. The land was granted by a German immigrant, Issac Wolfe Bernheim, a successful bourbon brewer, with the stipulation that the land would be developed for conservation and public use. Much of the land had been stripped by industry from mining ore and conservation efforts since 1931 have rebuilt the forest and now include research and an edible garden with the food used in the onsite cafe. In 2019 Danish artist Thomas Dambo constructed 3 giant trolls from recycled wood. Later that day we went to the tasting bar at Bardstown Bourbon Company. Kevin tasted several bourbons and I had a glass of Pinot Noir 😁.
That night we had dinner at Talbot Tavern, a historic bar and inn known for hosting bandits such as Jesse James. Legend has it he shot 3 holes in the tavern wall. We didn’t go to the tavern section but I hope to go back to see those holes! Afterward we went to Scout and Scholar and had one drink and the atmosphere and service was average at best. We left and went to 3rd Street Tap Room where it was quiet and less busy, much more enjoyable.
Sunday we drove to Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Historical National Park and Boyhood Memorial; 2 locations 10 miles apart. It was interesting history but no real representation of the Lincoln homestead other than a “symbolic” cabin of one he was born in and a boyhood cabin that likely belong to his friend. The locations were proven to be the Lincoln farms, one called Sunken Springs and the second called Knob Hill. I did learn a lot of history about Lincoln’s younger years. He was often portrayed as poor but in fact his father had enough money to buy multiple farms with cash and had 6 horses, which in the 1800’s was not poor.
On Monday, July 14, we moved to Elkhorn Creek RV Park in Frankfort, KY. It was an easy 90 minute drive with a stop to wait for our check-in time. As part of the check in we were escorted to our site. That was an exceptionally good thing because the campers opposite us were blocking THREE sites, including ours, with various vehicles - car, golf cart, trailer. The RV attendant must have told them to move all of it as they relocated all the crap to their site and kept it there. The RV park is large with a pool, mini-golf course and playgrounds for kids and dog parks. The “street” names are cute - “Old Fashion Trail”, “Manhattan Drive”, “Mint Julip Way”.
On Tuesday, July 15, we did a Buffalo Trace tour. The distillery is a historic landmark and they are the oldest continuous distillery (continuous being a key word), the buildings date back to the 1800’s. It’s a little unclear exactly when distillery started on the property, but by 1811 there was a warehouse storing whiskey to be sent to New Orleans. In 1870 Edmund Taylor purchased the property and renamed it to O.F.C. for Old Copper Company. Taylor is considered the father of bourbon because he was the first to use copper stills. Buffalo Trace also makes Wheatley Vodka. That was one of the four tastings provided at the end of the tour, which I’m sure they give so that people like me will buy a bottle. And I did. They have multiple tours, all are complimentary, so we decided to go back on another day and do the hard hat tour to see the distillery process. Probably the best part of this tour was seeing the assembly line for the hand poured bottles. I also learned that the term “reguaging” comes from when bourbon was taxed on actual amount produced, after the “angel’s share” was evaporated. Now they are taxed per barrel regardless of angel’s share.(evaporation). That’s the government for you.もっと詳しく