From small town gentility to "big city" elegance, Day 5 was exactly the kind of day we cousins love! We left the Beaumont Inn and took a series of detours along the way (post-laundry).
We started out at the Maker's Mark distillery in Loretto, KY. Our tour guide was hilarious and another one of the folks we have found that love their job (well, spending your entire day inhaling whiskey fumes can't be all that bad). We now know the secret formula for Maker's Mark and want to let you know that we each "had a hand" in production of the next batch (due out around 2013, depending on KY summers and taste, of course). See below for details. The highlight of this stop, however was in dipping our very own MM bottles in their signature red wax. JJDH's first dip lacked the tendrils and panache of a true expert, however subsequent cousin dips revealed an inherent talent. Since we learned that the bottle dippers get an average of 2 months off a year (due to the hazards of the job), we have our applications in and are awaiting response from Mr. Samuels.
Our lunch stop proved to be exceptionally historic. We dined at a spot where Abraham Lincoln stayed at age 14, Jesse James got inebriated and shot up the bar and the founder of the NAACP was born in the kitchen. We left lunch to experience the Jim Beam distillery where we felt like experts, master distillers "in the know." For you whiskey drinkers, we wanted to let you know that there are certain guidelines by which the US Gov't judges a true straight bourbon whiskey; they are:
1. The "recipe" must consists of at least 51% corn— typically about 70% — with the remainder being wheat &/or rye, and malted barley.
2. It can be distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof
3 It must be aged in new charred oak barrels for at least two years. The two years maturation process is not a legal requirement for a whiskey to be called "bourbon," but it is a legal requirement for "straight bourbon." (in practice, most bourbon whiskeys are aged for at least four years; Maker's Mark is the only one that is aged by taste, not time!)
4. Bourbon must be put into the barrels at no more than 125 U.S. proof. After aging it is diluted with water and bottled.
5. Bottling proof for whiskey must be at least 80 proof (40% abv) and most whiskey is sold at 80 proof. Other common proofs are 86, 90, 94, 100 and 107, and whiskeys of up to 142 proof have been sold. Some higher proof bottlings are "barrel proof."
Contrary to popular belief, bourbons do NOT have to be made in Kentucky. In fact, our tour guide informed us that some saint is opening a distillery in the Texas Hill Country later this year. We fully expect to brought in as consultants.
From "klass" to "class", we galloped along to our next point of interest, Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. Because we got there at 5 p.m., the museum was closed, but we did wander into the "inner sanctum" searching for "a friend in accounting." The unamused security guard caught us just before we entered the race track...we both resolved to get those tickets ordered for next year so we can legally enter this hallowed spot of Americana.
The highlight of the day, despite all of the wonderment, was arriving at our hotel..it is like staying at the MOMA. Sleek design, fantastic modern art, Malin & Goetz bath products, 42" flat screen TV en suite, plush bath robes, an iPod alarm clock (with thematic play lists depending on your mood), unparalleled customer service, and (two) beds we're having an extremely hard time getting out of!
For the first time on this trip, we snazzed up...mascara & all! JJDH wore shoes & her "fancy" tshirt and NJO went all the way with perfume AND mascara! We spent the remainder of the evening indulging in the hotel's fantastic amenities, hitting the state-of-the-art gym, gazing at the amazing art, and dining on a montage of culinary delights. Our waitress, actually named Ming, was surprisingly not wearing a side pony, but was nonetheless just as irritating as "Vera Wang." She did, however, win our favor when she posed with the Elfster.
After dinner, we returned to our plush sophisticated room, set our iPod on "Sleep Playlist" and dreamt the night away, you know the whole visions of sugarplums thing. We're off to Nash-Vegas today and will update you from our next stop down the road! Drive on!
CLIFF NOTES VERSION: Driving, distilling, dipping, taverning, Beam-ing, luxuriating, dressing, cocktail sipping, sophisticatedly dreaming.
PICTORIAL DIARY:
Elfie wanted to dip his toes in the wax, but settled for a pose beside NJO's hand dipped bottle
We started out at the Maker's Mark distillery in Loretto, KY. Our tour guide was hilarious and another one of the folks we have found that love their job (well, spending your entire day inhaling whiskey fumes can't be all that bad). We now know the secret formula for Maker's Mark and want to let you know that we each "had a hand" in production of the next batch (due out around 2013, depending on KY summers and taste, of course). See below for details. The highlight of this stop, however was in dipping our very own MM bottles in their signature red wax. JJDH's first dip lacked the tendrils and panache of a true expert, however subsequent cousin dips revealed an inherent talent. Since we learned that the bottle dippers get an average of 2 months off a year (due to the hazards of the job), we have our applications in and are awaiting response from Mr. Samuels.
Our lunch stop proved to be exceptionally historic. We dined at a spot where Abraham Lincoln stayed at age 14, Jesse James got inebriated and shot up the bar and the founder of the NAACP was born in the kitchen. We left lunch to experience the Jim Beam distillery where we felt like experts, master distillers "in the know." For you whiskey drinkers, we wanted to let you know that there are certain guidelines by which the US Gov't judges a true straight bourbon whiskey; they are:
1. The "recipe" must consists of at least 51% corn— typically about 70% — with the remainder being wheat &/or rye, and malted barley.
2. It can be distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof
3 It must be aged in new charred oak barrels for at least two years. The two years maturation process is not a legal requirement for a whiskey to be called "bourbon," but it is a legal requirement for "straight bourbon." (in practice, most bourbon whiskeys are aged for at least four years; Maker's Mark is the only one that is aged by taste, not time!)
4. Bourbon must be put into the barrels at no more than 125 U.S. proof. After aging it is diluted with water and bottled.
5. Bottling proof for whiskey must be at least 80 proof (40% abv) and most whiskey is sold at 80 proof. Other common proofs are 86, 90, 94, 100 and 107, and whiskeys of up to 142 proof have been sold. Some higher proof bottlings are "barrel proof."
Contrary to popular belief, bourbons do NOT have to be made in Kentucky. In fact, our tour guide informed us that some saint is opening a distillery in the Texas Hill Country later this year. We fully expect to brought in as consultants.
From "klass" to "class", we galloped along to our next point of interest, Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. Because we got there at 5 p.m., the museum was closed, but we did wander into the "inner sanctum" searching for "a friend in accounting." The unamused security guard caught us just before we entered the race track...we both resolved to get those tickets ordered for next year so we can legally enter this hallowed spot of Americana.
The highlight of the day, despite all of the wonderment, was arriving at our hotel..it is like staying at the MOMA. Sleek design, fantastic modern art, Malin & Goetz bath products, 42" flat screen TV en suite, plush bath robes, an iPod alarm clock (with thematic play lists depending on your mood), unparalleled customer service, and (two) beds we're having an extremely hard time getting out of!
For the first time on this trip, we snazzed up...mascara & all! JJDH wore shoes & her "fancy" tshirt and NJO went all the way with perfume AND mascara! We spent the remainder of the evening indulging in the hotel's fantastic amenities, hitting the state-of-the-art gym, gazing at the amazing art, and dining on a montage of culinary delights. Our waitress, actually named Ming, was surprisingly not wearing a side pony, but was nonetheless just as irritating as "Vera Wang." She did, however, win our favor when she posed with the Elfster.
After dinner, we returned to our plush sophisticated room, set our iPod on "Sleep Playlist" and dreamt the night away, you know the whole visions of sugarplums thing. We're off to Nash-Vegas today and will update you from our next stop down the road! Drive on!
CLIFF NOTES VERSION: Driving, distilling, dipping, taverning, Beam-ing, luxuriating, dressing, cocktail sipping, sophisticatedly dreaming.
PICTORIAL DIARY:
Elfie wanted to dip his toes in the wax, but settled for a pose beside NJO's hand dipped bottle
Elfie poses with the Maker's Mark barrels
The cousins "have a hand" in the production of Maker's Mark
And they're off....Elfie poses outside Churchill Downs
Elfie at the swanky Proof on Main bar outside the 21C Hotel posing with Ming...
Elfie posing with another of the 21C Hotel residents
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