Maker's Mark Ambassador Barrel

Special ambassador label

When we visited the Maker's Mark Distillery in May 2011 Emily and I decided to become Ambassadors. This gets us on the mailing list including a nice gift each year at Christmas for our Maker's Mark bottles. It also gets our names placed on a newly distilled barrel of Maker's Mark with an invitation to come to the distillery in a few years once the bourbon is sufficiently aged. 

Bill Samuels Jr.

This spring I happily received my "golden ticket" to come to Loretto, Kentucky to take a special heritage tour and to purchase and wax seal bottles from our barrel. After checking calendars and plans I invited my good friend, Rex Dillinger, to be my guest for the day at the distillery.

Ambassador seal in wax

We spent the night at our home in Georgetown before rising early to get some breakfast followed by a stop at Frank's Donuts.  We drove through the beautiful Kentucky countryside on a nice spring day toward Maker's Mark.  We were at the distillery in plenty of time for our 10 am tour and visited with several other guests who were also ambassadors whose barrels were being opened at about the same time as mine. 
What we didn't know is that our tour leader would be Bill Samuels, Jr., CEO of Maker's Mark and son of the founders of the brand.  We found Bill to be a great host with interesting stories of how is parents built the distillery following the repeal of prohibition including throwing out the recipe for the family's T. W. Samuels bourbon and starting over with a new recipe for a wheated bourbon.  Even the unique bottle and logo designs came from Bill's mother who had a vision for what Maker's Mark could become.  

Steve with Bill Samuels, Jr.

We were fascinated to learn that some of Samuels' ancestors were part of the gang that traveled with the James brothers.  In addition, some of his ancestors were part of the renegade guerrilla army led by William Quantrill during and after the American Civil War.  Bill told us that when Quantrill's men finally surrendered they chose to hand over their weapons in his family's living room.  He still has a pistol from the surrender which may have been the last weapon confiscated after the Civil War.  We were also interested in the cast of characters that frequented his home when he was a child.  Julian (Pappy) Van Winkle and Col. Harland Sanders were frequent guests and his godfather was Jim Beam.  

Barrels of Maker's Mark 46 receiving secondary aging

Bill took us through the fermentation vats and to the giant stills producing Maker's Mark.  In the bottling room his told us about how his parents struggled to get a wax for sealing the bottles that was just right.  As with other tours of Maker's Mark or any other distillery, the last stop is usually the tasting room.  The difference this time is that Bill shared how he oversaw the development of Maker's 46 which is secondarily aged with staves of French oak.  We also heard how he likes to drink his bourbon.  While all bourbon must be sold at least 80 proof, Bill says that he thinks that the flavors are best at around 70 proof so he adds a little water or ice.  He told us that high alcohol content will anesthetize the taste buds and prevent getting the full flavor profile of good bourbon.  
We enjoyed the generous samples of Maker's, Maker's 46 and cask strength versions of each as we listened to Bill's captivating stories of a lifetime in the bourbon industry.  

Steve dipping the top of an ambassador bottle in wax.

After our tastings, Rex and I picked up the bourbon from my barrel and dipped them in the characteristic red wax with assistance from the staff at the visitor center.  Because the bottles came from a special ambassador barrel, we were able to stamp the top of the wax with a special seal.  I picked up enough of the bottles for everyone back home including 4 for Cindy to take back to Oregon.  

Kentucky Craft Spirits Trail - Day 1

Although we had visited each of the distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail a couple of years ago, we had not been to any of the stops on the new Craft Spirits Trail so we decided that this was the week.

Leaving home a little after 6 am, we wanted to get an early start for get to some of the places in Western Kentucky that we planned to visit.  The temperatures were in the upper 20s when we left Milton, WV, which was a shock to us after the upper 80s on Sunday.  We had no trouble making our way through Lexington to Louisville, arriving a little after 9 am.  We were able to find street parking at a meter that was less than a block from our first destination.

The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience has only been open five months, so this was our first visit here to the refurbished building on Louisville’s historic “Whiskey Row” where a great deal of bourbon and other whiskey was made and sold in pre-prohibition Louisville.  We were pleased that Sarah could get away to join us for the tour.  She was able to get a couple of vacation days and to do the tour with us.  Two fellows, presumably a father and son, were also there from Annapolis, Maryland.  Our guide, Pat, was well informed about the history of whiskey making in the area, as well as Evan Williams, who started distilling in Louisville in 1773.  He was instrumental not only in pioneering bourbon making techniques but in settling the frontier town of Louisville.  We learned that Heaven Hill is the world’s second largest bourbon distiller with only Jim Beam being larger.  

At the end of the tour we did a tasting of Evan Williams Single Barrel and Larceny bourbons with Pat.  She gave us a chance to have the two bourbons “neat” or “straight up” as well as the “bourbon & branch” that has a few drops of spring water added to open up the complex flavors of the bourbon.  After the tasting, we walked through the gift shop were several Heaven Hill products are sold.  Heaven Hill is the parent company of Evan Williams and Larceny.  The lady working the gift shop gave us a sample taste of Henry McKenna Single Barrel, aged 10 years which was also very drinkable but not suited to my taste as much as Larceny.  We saw some nice small water pitchers that will be perfect for adding a few drops of water to bourbon glasses for our bourbon tastings.

We left the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience around 11:30 and had a little trouble getting out of Louisville with all of the construction downtown.  We drove the short distance to Clermont where we visited the Jim Beam Distillery.  We had been on their tour before but hadn’t been to their new visitor center, which is very nice.  We walked up to the barbecue place beside the visitor center for lunch.  Mary and I had a brisket sandwich, and Sarah had pulled pork.  We all enjoyed our lunch.

Sarah left for Cincinnati but may rejoin us on Thursday in Bardstown.  As we drove down I-65 toward Bowling Green, KY, we noticed a number of dead coyotes on the highway.  Near the town of Munfordville, Kentucky, a huge coyote ran right in front of us.  We nearly hit it.  The size of the coyote supports a theory that we have been hearing about, eastern coyotes interbreeding with northeastern wolves.  In the American Southwest, coyotes are small scraggly canines that always look mangy and malnourished.  In the Southwest, coyotes are often attacked by the grey wolves in the area.  However, when coyotes migrated back to the Northeast, they encountered wolves of Eastern Canada that do not prey on the coyotes and are reputed to interbreed with them.  The premise of the coywolf theory is that most eastern coyotes are actually hybrids of coyotes and wolves that are genetically larger and benefit from the more abundant food supplies of the Eastern US.  The coyote we saw today certain didn’t appear to have missed any meals.  Had we been a little slower on the brakes, however, he could have had his last meal.

We drove the 90 minutes on I-65 to Bowling Green to Corsair Artisan Distillery near the Fountain Square at the town’s center.  Unlike some of the other distillers, Corsair produces only a few gallons a day.  However, being a small operation, they are able to make a variety of spirits, some of which have infusions from botanicals and spices.  Corsair stores their barreled spirits in barrels that are 3, 5 or 15 gallons, which speeds the aging process faster than in the traditional 53 gallon casks.  We were interested in the way that Corsair infuses flavors into the spirits as they are distilled.  Following our tour we did a tasting of Corsair’s gin, rum, quinoa whiskey, rye whiskey, triple smoked whiskey and absinthe.  

We enjoyed the tasting and enjoyed the varieties of spirits they have to offer.  I didn’t expect to like some of the infused flavors but was surprised that they were very good.  We both liked the triple smoked whiskey made with malted barley that has been smoked by peat and multiple wood fires.

We spent a few minutes walking around the historic areas of Bowling Green and liked the nice small town feel of the beautiful area.  There was a restored old filling station from the 1920s that included some restored gas pumps and air supply.

From there we drove over to the National Corvette Museum nearby hoping to see the giant sinkhole that swallowed several vintage Corvettes a few months back.  Unfortunately, visitors were unable to see the sinkhole, but some of the cars damaged by the floor collapse were on display. 

We drove over to our lodging at the Microtel where we will spend the night before driving west to visit a few other artisan distilleries on Thursday.  We ran out for dinner to Garcia’s Grill which was well rated on Trip Advisor.  We both enjoyed our meals.  Mary had roasted pork with mole sauce and I had pork enchiladas with a creamy verde sauce. 

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