Day 36 Bourbon Trail

Trip Start Aug 25, 2010

Trip End Oct 18, 2010

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Flag of United States Louisville, Kentucky
Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Today was devoted to learning as much as possible about America's national spirit, bourbon. So there are many myths to dispel- bourbon can be made anywhere in the US (although most is made in Kentucky), the corn gives it the sweet taste, and it is matured for shorter time than scotch because of the climate.

The first distillery we visited was Heaven Hill, and it was probably the greatest whisky tour we have ever been on. An introductory video, a tour of the rick houses where they store the barrels of whisky, a guided tasting of two single barrel whiskies in a barrel shaped tasting room, and a bourbon flavored chocolate. All for free! They make 83 different whisky labels at Heaven Hill, including the world's #2 selling bourbon, Evan Williams. We then visited a Makers Mark, the oldest continually operated distillery, specializing in its smooth wheat taste, and the Hollywood of distilleries, Woodford Reserve. A very satisfying day.

On arrival in Louisville, we had completed 2,400 miles on the road since Washington DC. That's roughly equivalent to driving from Perth to Canberra. Have to pay tribute to our car's satellite radio, with 130 channels that don't need retuning as we travel across the country. Favourites were the Elvis channel, Bluegrass channel, and Classic Vinyl.

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