Everyone knows Kentuckians hold a serious monopoly on bourbon expertise. It’s our birthright.
However, few Kentuckians, despite their love for our native spirit, have the opportunity to experience the many large scale & craft distilleries around the state, or to taste all they have to offer. Most have no clue where to start…there’s A LOT, y’all.
Enter Susan Reigler.
World renown author, speaker & bourbon authority, Susan wants everyone to get to know her beautiful Bluegrass home, & navigate their way through the magic distillery experiences that await with ease. Her book, Kentucky Bourbon Country: The Essential Travel Guide takes readers on a full-color journey through key stops on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, dropping fun facts, best kept secrets, & tasting notes along the way.
I recently had the privilege of experiencing the live, abridged version in Susan’s session Sip the Map: A Tasting Tour of Kentucky Distilleries during the New Orleans Bourbon Festival, & now cannot wait to jump into the guide in real life.
The witty style of this self-proclaimed “recovering Biology professor” brought the material to life in a way that left folks from across the nation eager to plan their trips to our old Kentucky home. It also didn’t hurt that she shared ten, that’s right I said TEN, small tastings of bourbons available on the trail.
From the smooth texture & sweet banana notes of Old Forester Signature from Brown Forman, to the spicy finish of Jim Beam’s Old Grand Dad (whose name was Basil Hayden) Bottled in Bond, our palates exploded with pleasure in every sip & our pens ran dry scribbling down nuggets of bourbon country trivia.
It was a mid-morning treat this bourbon lover will treasure & eagerly expound on for years to come, I have no doubt.
Now that the trees are beginning to bloom & the temps are rising, it’s time to grab your copy of Kentucky Bourbon Country, a calendar & family/friends to plan a proof perfect road trip! Your taste buds & state pride are sure to swell with every stop. Cheers!
