Bourbon Tasting 2011

 After dropping CJ off at camp Steve and I headed to Kentucky for a quick bourbon tasting tour. Our first stop on that blazing hot July day was Buffalo Trace. We opted for the 'hard hat' tour that took us right through the factory. We saw the whole process and enjoyed the learning process even with the withering heat.
The tasting room was nice and cool and there we enjoyed the different bourbons that Buffalo Trace offers. They even distill a vodka called rain that was quite good, if you like that sort of thing. In the gift shop we bought a bottle of bourbon and some souvenirs.

We then headed to Woodford Reserve were we had a more reserved tour. There was an air of snootiness to Woodford Reserve that was reflected in the taste of the bourbon. The old limestone buildings were both cool looking and cool feeling. They have a spring fed water fountain that was quite refreshing. We were able to walk right up to the fermentation tanks and watch the process in action which was very neat.

After our tour we headed to my cousin Tim's house. He graciously invited us to spend the night and to dine with him. He is quite the cook and I don't foresee me ever turning down one of his meals. The salad was yummy with homemade dressing, dinner was an amazing chicken and dumplings and even though I was full I 'forced' myself to eat dessert which was yummy.
The next morning Tim joined us for a tour of Four Roses and Wild Turkey before heading out to spend the day kayaking on the Kentucky River.

At Four Roses we purchased a bottle so that we could compare it with Buffalo Trace.

Wild Turkey had quite the tour complete with an air conditioned bus. We did not care for the less than mild taste of Wild Turkey and left the facility empty handed.

We enjoyed the tours of both facilities but found that bourbon tasting should be reserved for the afternoon or evening!

While Tim headed to the river we headed north to listen to an amazing performance from the Olentangy campers and to pick up our favorite 'college' student.

Several weeks later ,after recovering from morning bourbon tasting, it was determined that our favorite so far is Buffalo Trace, with a combination of  Red Stag and Jim Beam a close second.