Kentucky 2017

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Here’s a barrel in the process of being dumped. The fellows working the line graciously grabbed a handy goblet, filled it with whiskey, and passed it around for us to try.

[photo credit: olle]

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Last photo: Hot Brown (open faced shredded turkey sandwich with bechamel sauce, cheese, bacon, and tomato) consumed at a huge family style restaurant in Bardstown. After drinking whiskey at KBD, this was really good.

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This was my last pour of the night: a special 110 proof bottling of Evan Williams Single Barrel to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Bourbon Heritage Center at Heaven Hill (AKA “the gift shop”). Only 215 bottles made. Dang tasty.

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And speaking of Old Grand Dad: here’s a cradle from the 1980s. (We have some that are older. ;->)

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A better look at the back bar at Haymarket. If you think operating a bar in Kentucky doesn’t make a difference when it comes to access to product, think again.

[photo credit: olle]

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One of my calls: Very Old Barton Bottled-in-Bond. Not available in California. Can be hard to find even in Kentucky. In the same general class and price range as Old Grand Dad. OK, maybe a little cheaper.

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Oh, in case you were wondering, that massive blue thing in the last photo is part of the bar top. It’s made from tinted casting resin that appears to have been poured in layers and swirled about after is began setting. Quite pleasing.

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Here’s Chris, who’s been out to visit us several times. (He’s the one who brought us the bottle of Old Bardstown Bottled-in-Bond a few months back if you recall that.) Behind him is some of Haymarket’s great whiskey selection.

Apparently this is something of an industry watering hole. While I was there folks from several different distilleries dropped in and they all ordered only their corporate brands. Kind of amusing actually,

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This is the warm welcoming neon sign outside Haymarket Bar in Louisville. This is a dive with the an amazing selection of rare and out of production whiskies.

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In the “label room” at Heaven Hill, which is unfathomably large. This is the label used for an Australian export product. Note the low proof: 37.2%. Incredible tax is levied on alcohol imported into Australia so a special bottling is made to minimize that. No wonder Aussies get so shitfaced then they come here: they’re not used to drinking whiskey at “full strength.” Also note: such a product could never be labeled “Bourbon” here in the US because it’s less than 40% ABV. There are actually different standards of identify for exportation.

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Finishing off with a few miscellaneous photos.

This is a MOUNTAIN of Rittenhouse rye sitting the warehouse at Heaven Hill. Apparently, it’s still not enough as northern California is entering something of a Rittenhouse “drought” for the next month or so.

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More brick warehouses, though much much smaller than the ones at Castle and Key.

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After we were done visiting at Castle and Key we drove just a short ways down the road to see what’s left of the Old Crow distillery. Beam still owns this facility and uses it for warehousing. Based on photos I’ve seen elsewhere on the web, either there are a lot more buildings (including the old still house) that are set back from the road where I took this photo or they’ve now been demolished.

UPDATE: Apparently we just didn’t drive down the road far enough. The actual distillery ruins are a little further on. Like Castle and Key, some new owners are refurbishing the distillery and making whiskey again.

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Here you can see what a cheap-ass still this was, especially compared to that copper masterpiece they replaced it with: the plates appear to simply be perforated stainless or aluminum, not the elegant “bubblers” you see in the textbooks.

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Remember I mentioned they ripped out the old still? Well, here it is, out at the end of the parking lot.

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Here we are in the front of the still house, which sports the famous castle-like facade. (A small aside: after the distillery was shut down a couple of former employees put together some money and briefly restarted making whiskey here again. However, they were prevented from using the Old Taylor brand. Instead it was called Old Stone Castle, for reasons that are obvious when you see what the place looked like. We have some of that whiskey in our collection.)

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Looking down toward the base of the still. The doubler (pot still) where the “low wine” coming of the column goes to be finished is also down below and to our right. I neglected to take a picture of it. For some reason they didn’t take us down there.