Louisville, KY, North America, Travel

travel: louisville + bourbon trail kentucky

Dave and I wanted to take a low-key-ish road trip and since we’ve done most of the Midwest we decided to head a bit south and hit up the Bourbon Trail. As usual with our vacations, we ate practically everything in sight and had a few (okay, LOTS) of drinks along the way. If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it – it’s a really beautiful area.

First off I have to give a woo-woo! to the hotel we stayed at in Louisville. 21C is a museum/hotel that was a totally unique experience. There are a ton of little art-surprises all over the hotel that make it super unique, quirky and right up our alley.

20150405_002011EDIT

Lights

20150405_153513EDIT

20150405_153948EDIT

There is also a FABULOUS bar / restaurant called Proof right next to the hotel. We didn’t eat there but we had plenty of cocktails! Dave stuck to Bourbon, of course.

20150405_184419EDIT

I had a delicious cocktail called the Bricks and Ivy, which was Vodka, St. Germain, honey, cucumber and lime. YUM.

20150406_200404EDIT

Lots of fun art in there too.

20150405_191454EDIT

Alright – onto the Bourbon Trail! First, we visited the Buffalo Trace Distillery, which is over 200 years old. We got the very best tour guide in Freddie, who is a 3rd generation employee and had such great stories to share from his grandfather and father. He’s also super funny and has a magic trick at the end of the tour during the tasting. When he tells you he’s going to pour whiskey in your hands, just roll with it!

20150404_165911EDIT

The grounds are absolutely beautiful – lots of flowering trees and stunning old buildings that have been there since the 1800’s. This was probably my favorite tour just because it was so damn charming.

20150404_172733EDIT

20150404_172525EDIT

Next up – Jim Beam. The tour was really informative – especially since Beam has so many products, it was interesting to learn what made each unique. The tasting at the end of the tour was great because you get to sample 2 out of about 10 choices, including an experimental Rye they’re currently working on. The best part was that Dave got to watch his very own Knob Creek being born.

20150406_132314EDIT

They clean out the glass bottles with Bourbon so it doesn’t lose any proof!

20150406_124320EDIT

He looks too happy, doesn’t he?

20150406_124843EDIT

Finally, we visited Maker’s Mark, which led me to a Bourbon I actually really dig (remember I’m a strict Bud Light gal). This tour was great because you got to watch everything in action – even the wax hand-dipping of every single bottle!

20150406_144325EDIT

20150406_152224EDIT

Ladies and Gents, I fell in love with Makers 46! I tend to give the sour-OMG-my-mouth-is-on-fire look after drinking bourbon, but not with this yummy tasting! I proudly proclaimed to Dave that I LOVE it, and that we should get some to take home – certainly this is some rare variety they make in small batches that we can’t get just anywhere. “Honey, it’s already on our bar at home,” Dave says. Oh, well shit. I guess I don’t know much about whiskey, but I do know I’ll be having one of these soon!

20150406_152715EDIT

Last, but not least – the foodie portion of our trip! We had fantastic meals at Milkwood, Rye and Doc Crows. But some of our favorites were places we just stumbled upon that were a bit off the beaten path. We had a great brunch at the Silver Dollar. Yes I went to Kentucky and had a michelada and chilaquiles.

20150405_131013EDIT

MicheladaEDIT

20150405_132047EDIT

And the last place I want to mention is this awesome little Cafe called Please & Thank You. When they say they have the best chocolate chip cookie – they aint lying! And the brownie! DEAR LORD.

20150405_145223EDIT

20150405_145256EDIT

Kentucky, it was swell, but my liver hurts – so until next time!

AnnieDave

2 thoughts on “travel: louisville + bourbon trail kentucky

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: