Bardstown, Kentucky

I needed to take some annual leave so one of my oldest and best friends. Greg, and I decided to take a few days in central Kentucky visiting a few distilleries and sightseeing.  I picked Greg up at his house around 8 am and we headed to the Bluegrass State.

Our first stops were at the ruins of the Old Taylor and Old Crow distilleries near Millville, Kentucky.  The Old Taylor Distillery must have been a massive operation.  There was a large building for fermentation and distillation as well as a huge rickhouse for the storage and aging of barrels of Bourbon.  The office building is a European style of building with limestone towers and a castle like appearance.  The distillery's founder, E. H. Taylor, a former mayor of Frankfort, Kentucky and state senator, was a descendant of both James Madison and Zachary Taylor.  Taylor built this distillery in 1887 and his passion for the purity of his product was in large part responsible for the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897.
We have read that the site is being renovated as a destination for weddings and parties along with a micro craft distillery.  That appeared to be the case since there was a great deal of construction equipment on the grounds and a sign stating that the facility was expected to reopen in Spring 2016.  We could see that the sunken gardens have been restored and that outdoor areas are being restored to the former beauty of the old distillery. A van with four ladies from Cincinnati stopped at the distillery while we were there and took a few snapshots.

We continued along Glenn’s Creek Road to the closed Old Crow Distillery.  Although no whiskey had been made there since the early 1990s, there was a distinct aroma of Bourbon in the air.  At first we wondered if the smell was coming from the Woodford Reserve Distillery a few miles away.  We dismissed the idea that the smell of Bourbon persisted from the past 25 years.  Since the property was purchased by the parent company of Jim Beam Bourbon, we wondered if the historical Old Crow rickhouses were being used to age Jim Beam products.  Although we still don’t know if we are correct, we did see some trucks on the property with the Jim Beam logo on the side.

After taking some snapshots, we continued toward Bardstown, Kentucky to visit some additional distilleries.  Our first stop was at the Bourbon Heritage Center which is Heaven Hill’s visitor center.  We arrived a little before noon.  This is perhaps the most educational of the distillery visitor centers.  Although we elected to not take a tour, we walked around the visitor center and read the informative signage and displays.  We like the interactive displays showing the processes of making Bourbon from bringing the grain into the distillery through grinding, cooking, fermenting, distilling, barreling, aging and bottling.  Many of the products of Heaven Hill like Evan Williams, Henry McKenna, Elijah Craig and Parker’s Reserve were for sale at the Heaven Hill visitor center although the prices were at full retail and are a good deal more expensive than nearby liquor stores.

From the Bourbon Heritage Center we drove the short distance to the Willett Distillery.  Willett is the largest of the micro craft distilleries.  We were able to get in on a tour that was just starting as we arrived.  Thanks to Greg’s military service in the Coast Guard, we were able to get our tour for free rather than the usual $12 fee.  We toured the areas were the grains are cooked and fermented for 3 – 5 days.  From there, we went to the large column still where the first distillation takes place then we went to the copper pot still that finishes the spirits that are produced at Willett. 

The distillate is pumped to cisterns where the raw ethanol is adjusted to 125 proof and dispensed into new white oak barrels.  These barrels are all stored on the grounds of the Willett Distillery.  We entered one of the rickhouses and saw the many barrels in the five story unheated building.  From there, we went back to the visitor center for a tasting of Willett’s products.  We both sampled Willett’s signature product, Willett Pot Still Reserve Bourbon.  For our second sample, Greg chose Willett’s Pure Kentucky Bourbon and I had the Willett Rye.  Both of us enjoyed our samples as we left the distillery.

We went back through Bardstown to the Oscar Getz Museum.  We were met by a friendly volunteer who gave us a great deal of information on the museum.  Although there is no fee for the museum we both made a donation and the guide gave me a beautiful cut crystal Bourbon decanter.  I will keep a good Kentucky Bourbon in the decenter after I give it a thorough washing.  We were very impressed with the number and variety of bottle, memorabilia, advertising and photographs from the Bourbon industry before and after Prohibition.  We took a lot of photos of many of the interesting artifacts and displays.  We stayed there for over an hour until nearly the closing time of the museum.

We drove by the Barton Distillery that makes the 1792 Reserve Bourbon but didn’t stop since they are not open on Sunday.  We drove by the Old Bardstown Historical Village then on to our motel in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  We were met at the Ramada Inn in Elizabethtown by Scott, the friendly desk clerk.  I had used some of my expiring points from Wyndham Rewards for a free room and Scott was very accommodating giving us recommendations for dinner as well as nearby attractions.  Our room was very nice and had a refrigerator, microwave, television and comfortable beds.  The room is all the better knowing that it was free.  We walked a short distance to a Shoney’s Restaurant for dinner where we both had the buffet that included, fried catfish, turkey & dressing, chicken and lots of side dishes.  We both had our fill for dinner.  We felt like a couple of senior citizens (which we both are) since we were having dinner at 5 pm but since we had missed lunch, we were both hungry.  We walked back to the Ramada Inn where we crashed, watched National Geographic on TV and had a sip of some Eagle Rare, my favorite Bourbon.

We are looking forward to going to Independent Stave, Limestone Branch Distillery, Maker’s Mark Distillery and perhaps Barton’s 1792 Distillery.  We hope to finish our day by stopping at Liquor Barn in Lexington and pick up some of our favorite beverages.