Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Bourbon and the Convention

Going to the NRA Convention isn’t just about hearing speakers, meeting fellow bloggers, seeing acres of guns. It’s also about going new places and enjoying seeing new things. Because this was the fourth convention in a row, we didn’t tour the exhibit floor until Sunday (hint, some of the exhibits don’t change too often).

There were other things we wanted to do and we took the opportunity to soak up culture. We toured a Bourbon maker and tasted some of their finer offerings (that’s enough culture for me).

We toured their warehouses and saw thousand of barrels of corn whiskey aging into true Bourbon. Later, an experienced Bourbon guide led us through telling the difference between a good Bourbon and a great one. We tasted a sample that had been aged for 18 years and a premium Bourbon aged the more usual 10 years. Damn that spoiled our palates, now we’ll end up buying their 18 year old stuff if we can find it locally.

They had a bottle of 23 year old Bourbon for sale—the only place in the United States you can find it. The price tag of $350.00 was just a little too painful for us.

If you find yourself near Louisville, drive out of town to Bardsville and hang a right to the Heaven Hill distillery. We’re glad we did.

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