KY Distillery Crawl and home!

Home, sweet home!  Even if it DOES involve moving from the RV, cleaning it out, and making all of those little repairs, etc, before moving her out of our driveway.

We arrived home on Sunday, after taking a couple of extra days to stop in Frankfort KY to visit the local distilleries.  95% of the distilleries in the US are located within a small radius of Frankfort.  Luke wrote up the following summary of our visits -

Our Bourbon Tour:

After three days of 500 mile plus driving, we decided we needed a break before getting home and going to “work” putting the RV away and catching up on three months of loose ends. So, we decided to visit bourbon distilleries near Frankfort Kentucky, nearly on our route home. Surviving many miles of bone jarringly poor interstates in Indiana, with renewed happiness over our new front springs, we arrived at a nice quiet camp site in Frankfort.

An interesting bit of historical overlay: In 1964, our Congress enacted a law that defined the requirements for a product to be labeled “bourbon” must be made in the USA (!) from at least 51% corn in the mash, (the balance of the  ingredients typically being rye and malted barley),

can’t be distilled to greater than 165 proof, can’t be aged at greater than 125 proof, must be aged at least 2 years in new, unused, charred white oak barrels (to be “straight bourbon), etc. For a full discussion, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_whiskey  especially the “legal requirements”. I poked around at what motivated this legislation, and found that is was associated with the foods labeling activities in the ‘60’s. I wonder if the Bourbon Producer’s Lobby may have had something to do with it-----

Buffalo Trace:

This was our first distillery. It is the oldest continually operating distillery in the US. It dates back to 1777, with various owners, and skated through prohibition by producing and selling medicinal spirits, one of only a few distillers licensed to do that. It apparently had quite a following of sick people (whole families, in fact!) and cooperative doctors tending their medicinal needs.

They certainly came across as the most “traditional” in facility and process. They have large, old (1880’s), haunted, multi-story ageing buildings, and differentiate their products on where in their ageing warehouses they were stored, and how they were “married” (blended). The storage location determines the degree of seasonal and diurnal temperature swings, influencing the absorption of the charred oak flavoring, etc. They use river water, and an “Irish still” distillation process.  We did not see the distillation process, which was part of a “hard hat” tour. 

We did see the bottling operation of their premium product – unbelievably hand labor intensive!

We sampled their “standard” “Buffalo Trace” and found it rather aggressive ($36/ 750 ml). Their “Eagle Rare” is aged 10 years, and smoother, but still a bit aggressive ($61/ 750 ml, unless you want 17 year old, at $200/ 750 ml). “Blanton’s” single barrel ranges from $61 to $120/ 750 ml. They also make “Bourbon Cream” 30 proof, with real crème (refrigerate after opening) which I found really yummy. This tour gave us our first introduction to Bourbon Balls --- yummy, yummy, yummy!!!

They are convinced the facility is haunted, with many “encounters”. Mr. Blanton was the manager in the early 1900s, built a mansion on a hill overlooking the distillery, and died there. He is said to still roam the halls of his house. We took an evening ghost tour, but did not meet him. Bobbie has a couple of “maybe” pictures on “film”. Ghost Hunters were invited in 1997, and did a segment on “The Distillery of Spirits” which is on U-Tube (of course).  Quite interesting ---http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xzv4pn_ghost-hunters-taps-vo-s07e23-distillery-of-spirits-dailymotion_tech

From Bobbie - the below 2 pictures got our ghost tour guides pretty excited. The first is the staircase in in the Blanton home.  It was about 7 in the evening, no lights were on, I didn't use a flash.  The staircase looked pretty unremarkable but I felt the need to take a picture.  When I checked the picture, a light blur is on the right side of the stairway There was definitely NOT a spot like that when I looked at the stairs.  The guide says that the stairway is often the site of full apparitions, also the beginnings of one, such as this, as they struggle to become a full apparition.

My second picture is one of 5 that I shot in total darkness in the cellar of the house.  5 pictures of the same area - 4 of them are totally black - this one has a distinct white burr on the left side.  I had the "creepies" by the time I took this one.

http://www.buffalotrace.com/

Woodford Reserve Distillery:

This came across as a class act. Very nice modern visitor center, yet historic facilities and traditional processes. They use well water, have only one formulation and only two products. They differentiate on prolonging the fermenting process. All the other producers run fermentation in very large tanks for about 3 days, at which time the temperatures rise, the alcohol content goes to about 17 proof, and the yeast dies.

 Woodford cools their fermentation tanks, and prolong the fermentation to 5 to 7 days, possibly enhancing the flavor. They go through a triple distillation process, using three pot stills in series. 

 A very unique process step is that for their “Double Oak” product.  They decant the aged product into another new charred barrel and let it age for another 2 years.

We tried their triple distilled Woodford Reserve ($49/750 ml) and found it OK, but a bit bitey and aggressive. They we tried their “Double Oak” ($64/750 ml) and found it quite good – smooth, sweet, as the taste host said – the nearest thing to a “desert bourbon”. This was definitely the winner of all we tasted for me.

www.woodfordreserve.com

Four Roses Distillery:

Very much a factory atmosphere. 

We saw the mash cooking, fermenting and distilling equipment.

 They use river water, spring fed. The operation was not working because during the summer the river water is too low, they claim. The distillate, known as “white dog” in the trade, is shipped by tanker trucks to the aging facility. A claim to fame is that they have the only single story aging warehouse in the industry with the benefit of more uniform aging characteristics across all the barrels.  They have ten “recipes” that they “marry” (blend is a bad word) to produce their various products.

Their history is interesting.  They were bought by Seagram’s in the mid 50’s. At that time, bourbon was not defined, and could be, and in their case, was, made of any “spirits, coloring, flavoring, etc, leading to the Four Roses mediocre reputation that I remember. In the mid ‘90’s, they were sold to a Japanese company, who now owns them. They make two, presumably outstanding labels exclusively for their Japanese owners (“not suitable for the American palate”).

We thought their standard product, Four Roses Bourbon, was rather sharp. Their “Small Batch” which is also aged longer was a bit more mellow. Their single barrel was good – at least Bobbie thought so.

www.fourrosesbourbon.com

Wild Turkey:

Wild Turkey was bought by the Italian distiller, Campari in 2012 for $40 million. Since then, they have virtually rebuilt the entire facility as far as we could determine. Everything is modern, stainless steel, computer controlled, etc. Despite that, Wild Turkey seem to have been left to do their thing. They may be the largest Bourbon producer. Those fermenting barrels are huge -

They differentiate themselves in that they have only one recipe, and distill only to 125 proof, whereas their competitors distill further to 165 proof, and then add water to age in the barrel at 125 proof.  They generally age longer than some competitors.  That one recipe is started with strains of the same yeast used for generations.  They have yeast stored in 5 locations as a precaution in case something happens and they lose the distillery.

We tried the Wild Turkey 81, and found it a bit bitey and sharp. Their Rare Breed, aged longer, seemed milder and more palatable. Their American Honey, at 71 proof, mixed with honey, was – yummy.  Bobbie’s old favorite, Wild Turkey 101, is still her favorite.

 Wild Turkey also has turkey barrel "horses" for children (of all ages!)

http://wildturkeybourbon.com/age-gate/

After being introduced to bourbon balls at several distilleries, we went to the source, Rebecca Ruth Candy Factory for a tour.  

The diminutive facility was basically a residential house with a few add-ons. Founded in 1919 and family owned, it was very old fashioned, totally hand-made operations, with antique equipment both in use and on display, with an amazing variety of product available.  If you want to order some really decadent candy, go to - 

http://www.rebeccaruth.com/

Conclusions:

A few days on a bourbon tour is a great way to learn more than you need to know about bourbon.  However, it provides an interesting way to taste many varieties and determine your preference. Our general conclusion, older, longer aged, is better. There are definite differences in smoothness and taste depending on the recipe’s choice of yeast, mixture of grains and aging process.

So - more than you may have ever wanted to know about bourbon.  But we highly recommend touring a few of the distilleries if you are interested.  It was a lot of fun!

More to do on the RV, then off she goes to the storage lot for about 3 weeks.  Heather, Nikki, and I are going to have a girl's long weekend at Smith Mtn Lake, using the RV. Should be fun!

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

We’ve been TO the Rocky Mtn. National Park several times, but never EXPLORED the park.  This time we had several days, including time spent with Erin and her family.  The park is a beautiful place, ready to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of her park status in 2015.  There is scenery!

Rainbow Curve

Alpine Meadows

 

 

Glacier basin (our campground)

 

There are lakes!

Poudre Lake

 

 

Sprague Lake

 

 

Bear Lake

 

There are tourists! (it was 42 this morning….)

 

There are animals!

Townsend Chipmunks

 

 

The ground squirrels are larger and distinguished from the Townsend Chipmunks by the lack of a stripe through the eye area.  This little fellow was certain that if he stood perfectly still we couldn't notice him.  We got to about 2 feet before he made a run.

 

 Yellow bellied marmot -they hibernate in the rocks.

 

A stack of twigs at the stream side?

 

Yes, but Mother Nature is very clever … I almost missed this little sparrow, preening itself on the identically colored pile of sticks.

 

BIG elk, sunning and lazing in the grasses.

 

And of course, fields of elk.

 

We did take time to sit around the campsite, especially after dinner, for campfires.  Granddaughter Evelyn is ready to help Bompa with the fire duties.  It was a wonderful visit with the family.

 

 We are leaving on Tuesday, the day this will be posted (hopefully).  There is just no wifi or cell in the entire park, leaving us out of touch for 6 days.  I will post this after we leave the park and travel tomorrow.  A few days to drive home, a little sight-seeing on the way, and our grand RV adventure for the summer of 2014 will be over.

 

On the road again! da da da da da da ....

that is for all of you old enough to remember Willie Nelson....

We ARE on the road again!  Left Grants Pass on Monday around 11:30.  It was a long day, pulling into a Walmart 30 miles NE of Reno around 8 pm.  It was an interesting trip - the fires have picked up and we were detoured.  Smoke in the air, everywhere,

 

There was no doubt that we were taking the detour...

 

 

We pulled into Walmart just as the rain started.  Blissful, soft rain.  It rained all night, until just before we were ready to leave.

Unfortunately,  (or fortunately for dry Nevada) it has rained off and on all day.  We headed directly into this rain.

See all of the brown stuff in the field beside the road?  And the bright green along the road?  That is sage brush.  I've seen lots of it in the last few years but it has always been brown and drying like the brown stuff.  This year, we are on the schedule to smell the new, green sage.  Yes, smell.  I never thought of it as having much smell, but  boy, every time we open the RV door at a rest area or along the road, the sweet smell of sage is over whelming.  I love it!  In fact, I picked a fat twig of it to allow to dry to make sage smudges. But Luke "commented" on the strong sweet smell that I threw it out this morning.  I plan to pick another bunch, but put it in one of the bins below the coach for the rest of the trip.

The Booneville Salt Flat Raceway!  Right along highway 80 in UT.

The state provided a nice lookout at a rest area so you can see the Flats.

And a foot wash for those who wish to go walk in the salt.

The 40 mile long salt flat is impossible to catch on a picture.  We did our best.  Sure wish we had time to stop and explore it.

That 40 mile stretch is flat and straight.  Signs along the highway warm drowsy drivers to pull over.  There is even a Tennis Ball Tree!

Wanna  learn more about it?  http://www.weirdus.com/states/utah/stories/tennis_ball_tree/

Passing Salt Lake City - 90 more miles for the day, then the Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park tomorrow!

To Hellgate and back!

Yeeeee haaaa!!!!!  What do ya do on a 100 degree Sunday? Take a jet boat ride up the scenic Rogue River.  It was fun!  and yes, we got wet!

We opted for the 4 hour, 36 mile round trip which included brunch at the OK Corral (the Hellgate company's private open-air restaurant for their guests).  It was a great brunch, served family style with endless sausage gravy, biscuits, fresh fruit, bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, hash browns, coffee, juices, and champagne.  Yes, the champagne bottles were endless, too. 

You can visit the company's site at http://hellgate.com/    It's some operation - 8 boats that go out 3 times per day for the 4 month season.  They operate in a partnership with The Bureau of Land Management and the US Department of Interior, working to preserve and protect the ecology and scenic beauty of this natural resource.

We did the 360's, spewing water through the entire boat, raced down the shallow, narrow, rock strewn river, and saw deer, osprey, eagles, and other water birds. Realizing what could result from hitting a rock with an aluminum boat full of people at 30 to 40 mph was rather sobering.

The Hellgate canyon on the Rogue River has been used in many movies over the years.  Remember when Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid jumped off the cliff into the river? yulp.  So did John Wayne (or his stunt double....), Matt Dillon on a couple of Gun Smoke episodes, and others.  Not me...

The canyon is called Hellgate because the old timers, trying to traverse the river, found the rough white water (after our turn-around point) so intense that they could only imagine that it was as bad as the Gate to Hell.  Class 5 and 6 rapids down there.  Historically, the river was used as a waterway from inland Oregon through the Cascade mountains to the coast at Gold Beach, OR.

Fingers are crossed and hopes are high for a final fix on the brakes tomorrow.  We will leave and head to the Rocky Mtn. National Park. With our week's delay, that means three 500 mile days to meet Luke's daughter for a week of camping together. Hope it is cooler there.....  Oh, and clearer!  Smoke from the area fires is beginning to get worse.  The sky has been a yellow-ish over-cast type hue all day.  Someone said they went to Crater Lake yesterday and literally couldn't see the lake from the vantage point where we took pictures!  SOOOO glad we went on Friday!

Still in the RV lot...

Our new brakes failed the test drive not once, not twice, but three times....The RV shop isn't open on the weekends, so we are sitting here plugged in, in our air conditioning, waiting.  This has resulted in 3 canceled reservations - Crater Lake, Salt Lake City, and Medicine Bow. Not very happy about that, but the steering work that they did has made an amazing difference in driving.  Glad to have had that done.

Since we had to cancel our campground in Crater Lake, we decided to take the day and just drive up there in the car.  Only 100 miles or so.  The drive was ok, a little smoggy from the nearby wildfires, and uneventful.  However, the parks maintenance folks decided that August would be a great time to resurface the roads in the park.  ugh.  We sat in the car for 4 sessions, from 10 - 25 minutes, waiting our turn to pass through a one lane construction zone. That "hill" in front of the line of cars is the outside wall of the caldera.

 

  But - it was certainly worth the effort.  The Caldera rim is about 7,000 ft high, and seemed to be above most of the smoky haze, laying over the 1,500 ft  elevations below. The lake is beautiful; a dark blue surrounded by the caldera from the volcano that collapsed and created the lake over 7,700 years ago.  Deepest point in the lake is almost 2,000 feet. The parent Mount Mazama is one of a line of volcanoes ranging from northern California to British Columbia. These include Mt Rainier, Mt Baker, Mt St Helens, Mt Hood, etc, along the Cascade range. We are glad we saw Crater Lake.

Heading back "home", we saw what is becoming a familiar sight - a helicopter carrying a load of water from a nearby lake.  This one was headed for the fire closest to us (it isn't that close!)  Not the best picture, but look carefully for the black line behind the copter and the empty water bag at the end of the line.

Hoping all will go well on Monday and we can start our trip to Estes Park, in the Rockies.  Meeting Erin and her family there for a few days!  oh, and by the way - it's almost 8 p.m. and still 100 degrees here...whew...