We were very pleased to have our lifelong friends, Rex and Natalie
Dillinger along with their older son, Ben, come to visit us at our Georgetown,
Kentucky home. This is the first visit from our WV friends since my
retirement on December 20. We value our friendship with the Dillingers
and were very pleased that they came to see us. Rex had been to our house
on several prior occasions including helping us to complete our move here in
August 2018. However, neither Natalie nor Ben had been here before,
We hope to have them come more regularly.
Mary fixed a great dinner of
huge grilled pork chops and baked potatoes followed by a choice of Christmas
goodies. Everyone enjoyed the meal and catching up.
After dinner we decided to go
for a drink at Country Boy Brewing, a very popular craft beer producer in the
area. We each had flights of four beers from the dozens of selections
available. We not only sampled our own four choices but those of others
at the table. I think that we all eventually found a beer or cider that
suited our tast best. The bar area was busy but not crowded and, since
there was no live band that night, it was possible to hold a conversation at
our table.
Ben, Rex and Natalie Dillinger at Buffalo Trace |
Freddie Johnson |
We walked over to the Blanton's bottling facility and saw Blanton's Reserve being hand bottled and labeled. We saw the prized horse stoppers being added to the bottles and even saw some of the Blanton's Reserve Gold being prepared for sales abroad.
As always, our tour concluded
in the tasting room where we could choose from many of Buffalo Trace's
spirits. We all tried samples from their offerings and, of course, the
most popular was the bourbon cream, especially with the bourbon chocolate
candy. Ben bought a few nosing and rocks glasses from the Buffalo Trace
gift shop as we were leaving.
Blanton's Reserve being bottled |
Our group split up after
leaving Buffalo Trace with Mary and Natalie going to the shops in Midway and
Georgetown. They enjoyed walking through the boutiques and local stores
then getting lunch at Josie's between Georgetown and Lexington.
Rex, Ben and I stopped at
Grime's Chicken for lunch. We all got the spicy chicken tenders with our
choice of side. My small container of red beans and rice was quite good
and the three huge servings of spicy coated chicken for under $5 was a
bargain, We took our meals across the street to Douglas Park where we sat
on a picnic table and appreciated the beautiful day for late December.
Ben didn't expect the chicken pieces to be so large so he ordered a six piece
lunch was hardly able to finish his meal.
We signed up for the brewery
and distillery tour at Town Branch and browsed the attractive gift shop while
we awaited the start of our tour. This visitor center is one of the more
attractive on the Bourbon Trail. The new building houses a recreation of
an Irish street scene with highly lacquered storefronts housing shelves of Town
Branch products.
Fermenters at Town Branch |
Our tour started in the brewery
area by looking at the grains that are used in producing the many beers that
are made here. Their most popular beer is Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale which is
aged in used bourbon barrels after brewing but before bottling. In the
beer tasting room we were able to choose from among the stouts, porters, ales
and other offerings. Our knowledgeable guide gave us a lot of background
on the ingredients and production of each beer.
Pot stills at Town Branch |
From there we started the distillery tour where we learning about
the production of the bourbons, gins, rums and Irish style whiskies made at
Town Branch. We went through the area
where giant fermentation tanks hold the grains during alcohol production then
to the Scottish pot stills that refine the low alcohol liquid into spirits that
will be aged and sold. We learned that
the newly distilled whisky that will become bourbon is stored at rented
rickhouse space at the old E. H. Taylor Distillery, now Castle and Key.
Tasting room at Town Branch |
As with most distillery visits, the trip concludes with a
tasting. We all appreciated our sips of
the spirits made at Town Branch. Our
final drink was Bluegrass Sundown, a sweetened coffee and whisky concentrate
that is served hot with a layer of heavy cream.
We browsed the gift shop at Town Branch where Ben picked up
another specialty glass then drove the short distance to Lexington’s historic DistilleryDistrict. This area had fallen into
disuse for many years until a revitalization project brought some small local
restaurants, craft breweries and distilleries back to the area. One of the first to come was Barrel House, a
very small operation that produces rum, moonshine and bourbon. Their total operating space is no larger than
a four car garage at least half of which is the gift shop. I had been here many times before and since
time was running short, we decided to limit our visit to a peek into the
fermentation and distillation area through the open door.
James Pepper Distillery |
We went a few yards away to the James Pepper Distillery hoping for
a tour but the operation was closed for the holidays. This distillery is a revived distillery that
had been in operation at this location from the late 1800s until the late 1950s
when the bourbon industry’s sales were in a major slump. The facility had fallen into disrepair for over
50 years when restoration began to reopen as a distillery. We looked in the windows and planned to
return when the facility is open and available for tours.
After leaving Lexington’s Distillery District, we decided to
return to our Georgetown home via 460 to see some of the attractive horse farms
along the route. Although the day was
cloudy, the weather was warm and made for a nice day of sightseeing. We had a brief visit at the house then the
Dillingers started for home. We hope
that they will visit again soon.