My First Bourbon Trail Visit - Part 1

My family took me on a trip to Kentucky to visit a few distilleries.  It was a birthday present to me, because they know my love of bourbon and rye.
We made it to Louisville, which served as our home base.  Thanks to the power of Priceline.com, we ended up staying at the historic Seelbach Hilton.
I started my 3 day bourbon adventure with cocktails at the Seelbach Bar.  I had the namesake Seelbach Cocktail which was very nice.  Rarely do I like mixing whiskey with wine, but this was very well balanced and different than my usual old fashioned.  It gave me the feeling you get when you have a drink that is both new and exciting to your palate, yet the flavors are familiar and comforting.  The bar offers a few specialty cocktails, as well as different whiskey flights.  The fried chicken is pretty tasty, too.

The Seelbach Cocktail

Since it was a late night, and we were planning an early morning, I had just another drink, the Otto's Old Fashioned, made with Maker's Mark, which was good, but the muddled fruit on the bottom is always awkward for a traditionalist like me.

Otto's Old Fashioned

Seelbach Bar Cocktail Menu

The next morning we awoke nice and early and made the 1 hour drive east to Frankfort, the State Capitol.  I wanted to make the Buffalo Trace Distillery my first stop, as their portfolio of brands is the most impressive.  I learned that it is longest continually operating distillery on the country.  It was one of four given permission by the government to operate during Prohibition for "medicinal" purposes.
The general tour was nice and kept my son and wife, who have little to no interest in whiskey, interested.  It talked about the history of the site, as well as of Kentucky bourbon.  We saw some rickhouses, and saw the workers bottle some Blanton's.  I saw some bottles of Pappy Van Winkle, that I wanted to make disappear, but didn't.

 Why Aren't These Available for Purchase?

In Front of the Visitor Center at Buffalo Trace

Our Tour Guide Fred

Where the Blanton's is Bottled

Hand Labeling Blanton's

 Blanton's - Original Plus Varieties Only Available in Foreign Markets

The tour concluded with a tasting of a vodka they make, their white dog, Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, a Bourbon Cream, and some Root Beer.  People are supposed to only choose 2 spirits to sample, but somehow I (like everyone else there) sampled whichever we wanted.
The highlight of the tour was being able to buy a bottle of Blanton's, as this delicious single barrel whiskey is never readily available in my local market.  By market I don't mean store, but rather the 1+ million person metropolitan area I reside in.  The downside is that the gift shop would only sell one bottle per person, and my son being a minor didn't count, so my wife and I only came away with 2 bottles.

Price List from Buffalo Trace Gift Store

I think the prices at the distillery are very good, so I bought a bottle of the EH Taylor Small Batch, as well as a bottle of Wheatley Vodka, which I enjoyed at the tasting.  Other gems I purchased were a bottle of Peychaud's Barrel-Aged Bitters (as opposed the the Original Peychaud's, which I also bought since mine is running low), as well as a bottle of Regan's Orange Bitters No. 6, which I have heard of but have never seen in a store before.  (The story of these bitters is a good read here.)  I have yet to try the orange bitters, but last night I made an old fashioned using the EH Taylor made with the barrel-aged bitters, and it was damn good!

Have you been to Buffalo Trace?  Leave your thoughts and comments below.

Next post: Wild Turkey Distillery and Angel's Envy