Stamps in the Bourbon Trail Passport

Last night it poured and poured and poured. We were woken by pounding thunder at 12, 2, and 4. At first they seemed like standard storms, but eventually the tempest surpassed the ferocity of the thunder storms we experienced in the Smokies. At times there was so much lightning that when there wasn’t any the darkness seemed odd. We slept well, but the thunder did wake us from time to time.

It sounded like it was raining when I woke up, but the fact that the raging storm had kept me from my midnight pee meant that I had to get it up. It wasn’t really raining – only dripping from the trees. Everything was soaked. Lauren and I got up, ate breakfast, stuffed the wet tent, purchased our morning coffee and a bag of ice for the cooler, and went on a morning stroll.

Our destination was the Styx river spring. It’s not really a spring; it’s where the underground Styx River emerges from Mammoth Cave and joins the Green River. It was interesting to see a river flowing from a cave mouth. The walk to the spring was all downhill – which meant a steamy uphill climb. I commented to Lauren that I would love to go walk by a cave entrance right now to enjoy the cold breeze. As I looked up the hill I could see some mists and I bet that they were formed by the cool breeze exiting the mouth of the cave and I was correct. We paused at the mouth of Mammoth Cave to enjoy the ‘ac’ and cool off. Then we ventured the rest of the way up the hill and back to the car.

On the road again! We took 65N to the Blue Grass Parkway. Our first stop was historic Bardstown, a sort of beginning to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. We were looking for the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History and instead ended up Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center. Heaven Hill makes a variety of bourbons. We declined the free tour, explored their heritage center, and went back to find Oscar Getz. We did find it – it was in a historic building on a side street in town. The Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History was a very random collection of the history, production, selling, bottling and consumption of Kentucky Bourbon. They had a very large collection of bottles – both large and small – both old and new.

Our next stop was out of Kentucky Curiosities – an old time ice cream soda fountain at Hurst Drugs. Hurst Drugs reminded me of Bailey’s in Louisa – only larger and with the food counter. The girls working the counter were hustling, but soon served us a peanut butter milkshake for me and a pecan praline milkshake for Lauren. Yum.



We followed the signs for Maker’s Mark Distillery – Lauren’s liquor of choice – and felt like we were being led in circles. We eventually found it and decided to wait for the next tour. In the meantime, the rain poured, Lauren snored, and Kim wrote this entry on her laptop. To be continued.

The Maker’s Mark Distillery tour is THE best. It was better than the Jack Daniels tour because there were few restrictions, we could take photos anywhere, and we could talk to any of the workers we saw along the way which was kind of few and they were also happy to answer questions. Our guide, someone like someone’s grandma in her sixties, must have been a school teacher the way she used her inflections. She toured us around the complex where ALL Maker’s Mark is made and explained the process.

Maker’s Mark was started by a fourth generation distiller who hated his family’s recipe that had been passed down for ages. So he sold it and started over. He uses winter wheat instead of rye as his grain of choice and that is why this bourbon has such a distinctive flavor. The name is sort of random because they needed one quickly to bottle it and sell it. He couldn’t name it after his family because the one he sold was… The man’s wife is the genius behind the name, bottle shape, and distinctive red wax.

At Maker’s Mark they ferment the yeast and grain mash in open topped cypress barrels, some of which are over seventy years old. To our shock, we were invited to taste the contents of the barrels, more than one, to taste how the yeast ferments the mash over time. The reason this is ok, is because the next process of distillation is at very high temperatures. I thought that it tasted gross, but you know I had to sample at least three of the different vats.



All Maker’s Mark is hand dipped in red wax and hand packed into boxes and we got to see that step as well. Our last stop was the tasting bar where we sampled two brews. The first was what the whiskey tastes like right after fermentation and distilling, but before aging. It was clear, very bitter, and tasted slightly of the yellow mash. The second was an aged (6 years) Maker’s Mark that tasted much better, but in my opinion, still like permanent markers. We also sampled some chocolate bourbon balls, which I enjoyed much more.

All bourbons are whiskeys, but not all whiskeys are bourbons. There are strict guidelines about temperatures and times and ingredients that distinguish a bourbon from a whiskey.

After Maker’s Mark in Loretto, we got directions back to the Blue Grass Highway. We have arrived in Lawrenceburg early and wasted quite a bit of time trying to take the self guided tour of town trying to find a coffee shop. We were sort of unsuccessful, but we did find a café with an outdoor patio willing to serve us coffee as we wait for Jan to get home from work.