BIG BOYS BIRTHDAY
Posted on 03. Aug, 2011 by admin in Featured
Done New York, been San Fran? done Vegas, and didn’t like Miami? We know the feeling. Then chaps, why not head to Kentucky for that Big boys Birthday with a difference?
For you and your mates, Kentucky’s got it all: the home of the fabled Kentucky Derby and the birthplace of bourbon. It’s got weird ol’ indie Louisville and the classy track at Keeneland races. It’s got superb rivers for adventure (be it kayaking or poker).
Can’t imagine it? Then check out this fast ‘n loose itinerary, a model plan for every Big Boys Bash.
First off Louisville. Grab a ticket for the Kentucky Derby, either watching in the celeb-studded grandstand or having a mint julep-fuelled riot in the Glastonbury-style free-for-all in the outfield (it has to be seen to be believed). Make sure you fill up at the venerable old-school diner and pharmacy – think breakfast waffles with maple syrup and bacon or sausage and pancakes; it’s where the jockeys eat.
Stay at the 21C, the uber-du jour art museum hotel in downtown Main Street, just by the Slugger Museum home of the fabled baseball bat. Taking a pee is as funky as you’ll ever get. Across the road is boxing legend Muhammad Ali’s award-winning museum – you can grab an actual ringside seat here and watch up to 13 of his best ever fights on video. If you get a chance, rush across the awesome Ohio River and check out the memorial to Louis and Clark, they set of there for their epic adventure.
Louisville is home to some of the best, most inventive American cuisine, getting a name for tasty locally sourced food. Try Proof on Main, at the 21C, for the local Berkshire Pig chops in bourbon sauce, or eat in a former speakeasy, now the Blind Pig in trendy Butchertown. Bizarrely, it’s a seafood mecca too, despite being 10 hours’ drive from the sea (it’s the main UPS air freight hub, a lot of fresh US seafood tanks ere for re-delivery).
If you like bourbon, take to the Urban Bourbon Trail, a set route taking in various high-class bars across Louisville offering bourbon tastings – think various connoisseur bourbons, served on a plank, all explained by the restaurant’s bourbon expert. Scotch whiskey will never taste the same again. On the tour take in the Old Seelbach, where the Great Gatsby was set (and part written), and where Al Capone partied (you can see his special dining room and secret exit, for when the cops came calling)
Outside Louisville you have the flowing, undulating hills of Kentucky, prime real estate for the main industries: horses and bourbon. Check out the distilleries, open to the public, such as the scenic Heaven Hill. As you drive around, play roadkill bingo – you’ll never see so many sad furry critters mown down by the road (watch out, never drive over a skunk with the windows down. Yeeesh!).
Centred on Lexington, in the heart of the bluegrass country, you pass all the stud farms and mansions, home to the fabled Kentucky colonels, gilded by white picket fences. At Lexington there’s Keeneland, the venerable, classy racetrack, home to perhaps the world’s best horse sales and racing. If sport is your thang, take in a game at the University of Kentucky – the Kentucky Wildcats are college basketball’s most successful team. Near Lexington you can visit the Perryville battlefield, one of the bloodiest battles of the American civil war, now marking its 150th anniversary. There’s a small but good multimedia museum here spelling out who lost and why.
For more active pursuits, head into the hills, home to the bluegrass music pioneered by Bill Monroe, now marking his 100th birthday. There’s bluegrass festivals aplenty all year. In the east, you can kayak in the amazing Red River Gorge park or on the Cumberland River, where you can visit the awesome Cumberland falls – “the Niagara of the south” .
For lunch, pop over to London (Kentucky, London Kentucky!!!) for the KFC. Excuse me, I hear you say? Well, it is the first ever KFC, set up by Colonel Sanders himself. It looks a little different to most modern-day KFCs, thankfully. There’s small museum here to tell you how the colonel and his special recipe of 11 different herbs and spices all got started; well worth a detour. As is Hazzard county – yep, inspirational home of Boss Hogg and the Duke boys.
Still missing Vegas? Just head back to Louisville and become Brett Maverick, sipping bourbon and playing Texas Hold ‘Em on a night cruise of the Ohio river, all aboard the old-world Mississippi-style paddle steamer the Belle of Louisville. That’s Vegas, old school style.
The Blurb on Bourbon
Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by admin in Featured
Kentucky is to American whiskey what wine is to Bordeaux. Bourbon IS America’s spirit, and Kentucky IS its home.
You can find out why on the Bourbon Trail, a 100 scenic-mile “interactive” tour of seven distilleries, set amid the Kentucky “Golden Triangle” of rolling bluegrass hills, within old quaint towns such as Bardstown or Georgetown, or in the smaller cities of Lexington and the capital, Frankfort. See how it’s made; even better, test the results!
There’s the home of the world’s biggest-selling brand, the family-run Jim Beam or the world’s oldest continuous distillery run by Maker’s Mark. Then there’s Buffalo Trace, named after where buffalo forded the Kentucky river.
For those more into “consuming” not tasting, there’s the lively Urban Bourbon Trail, in downtown Louisville – eight bars, all stocking at least 50 individual bourbons with in-the-know staff taking you through some of the more offbeat and refined connoisseur bourbons, such as Fighting Cock, a spicy fruity little number nicknamed “the kickin’ chicken”. Taste it, you’ll know why. Some, such as the Proof on Main bar stock a whopping 130 brands – just don’t sample them all in one go.
Here are some refreshing cocktails from Maker’s Mark – the premium bourbon whisky from Kentucky – to add an uplifting twist to the 2010 summer of the ‘bourbeque’.
Maker’s Mark is renowned for its iconic bottles dripping in red wax and smooth, rich ginger, chocolate and peppery flavours which prove delicious when served in a cocktail. The following drinks are simple to make, mouth-wateringly refreshing and will perfectly enhance the flavours of your bourbeque.
Apple Spice
1 shot Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky
1 shot Sourz Apple Liqueur
1 wedge fresh lime squeezed
Top with ginger ale
Swizzle
Pour ingredients over cubed ice in tall glass, starting with lime wedge, and
swizzle
Southern Mule
2 shots Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky
½ shot freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon gomme (sugar) syrup (Monin Pure Cane Syrup recommended)
Top with ginger beer
Swizzle
Pour all ingredients over cubed ice in tall glass starting with lime juice, stir, top up
with fresh cubed ice if needed
Maker’s Mark Gourmet Sauce
Such is Maker’s Mark’s commitment to creating an art out of the bourbeque, it has even devised its own gourmet bourbeque sauce. Based on a traditional recipe passed on to the Samuels family (founders of the Maker’s Mark distillery) from a legendary Louisville chef, this bourbon flavoured sauce is guaranteed to perk up just about everything, even a British summer! The sauce is available to purchase through the distillery’s online gift shop at www.makersmark.com.
Did you know?
Bourbon is named after Bourbon County where the whiskey was originally shipped from.
Kentucky is home to 95% of the bourbon industry because of its unique climate and geography including mild winters, humid summers, the limestone water from spring-fed streams and fresh local corn.
Only four distilleries were allowed to keep making bourbon through Prohibition (1919-1933), when whisky was made for “medicinal purposes”. Yeah, right!
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Posted on 12. Oct, 2009 by admin in Highlights
Discover the rich history and proud tradition of America’s official native spirit on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which showcases eight signature distilleries along a scenic drive through the rolling Bluegrass hills.
You’ll experience the time-honored process of making fine bourbon, and learn why only Kentucky has the perfect natural mix of conditions and climate for producing the best.
For further details visit http://kentuckytourism.com/thingstodo/bourbon.htm.