Tasting Cough Syrup aka Kentucky Bourbon Trail

Okay, so I promised the Gym BF when he comes to visit the Knob, Prince Charming and I will take him on the KY Bourbon Trail. Well, unbeknownst to me, this was also a bucket item list for my stepmom. She arrived on Wednesday and has now visited 7/9 of the Bourbon distilleries. Prince Charming and I joined her and my father on Memorial Day. I know where I will take the Gym BF and I know what I will not be drinking after the tour....

It goes down nice and smooth....and then you want to vomit after you have actually swallowed it. YIKES. That stuff is nasty.

We went to Jim Beam and Maker's Mark. My Dad and Step Mom had gone to four other ones as well. There are a total of nine Disterilliers on the tour. I will have to say after just two I am full of knowledge about Bourbons. I also know I don't ever need to drink the stuff again. Did I mention how nasty it was?

The main ingredients of a Bourbon is Rye, Wheat and Corn. It is anywhere between 8-135 PROOF. It is some strong stuff. I will say the Maker's Mark tour was the best of the two. You walk into the room of barrels and, according to our tour guide, it smells like the entrance to heaven. He was not far off. It was the most amazing smell. It was truly heavenly. I could stay in the barns forever. The Bourbon sitting in the charred White Pine barrels is the most heavenly sent this 36 year old has ever smelled!

Happy as a lark on his 43rd Birthday!

One of Prince Charming's favorite Bourbons is the Basil Hayden. It is made by Jim Beam. I think he would have just sat there and drank Basil, but there were so MANY options! At Maker's Mark we were given four glasses of whiskey. We were allowed to try up to 2 ounces of Bourbon. We were given the full proof stuff that hasn't been drowned in water all the way to the aged stuff.

Papa Jeff and Myra sampling
 at Maker's Mark

We were not given the Pappy kind. A bottle of that goes for upward of $60! WOW.  Prince Charming turned 43 the day we toured, so I let him dip his own bottle into wax at Maker's Mark. He thought he was pretty cool stuff!

We were allowed to stick our finger in the mix of yeast and grain. We could taste it. (It was still nasty!) It is a cool process of heating, vaporizing and aging this horrible tasting stuff. I have discovered I am a lone ranger. Most people enjoy drinking this stuff.
Okay, whatever works.

A self dispensing Bourbon machine! 

Cheers! Prince Charming drinking with the Father-in-law

The next tour gave us a credit card and allowed us to select whatever Bourbon we wanted. It was kinda cool.

I will complete the KY Bourbon Trail! You get a FREE t-shirt when you go to all nine distilleries. I do love a free t-shirt!