Saturday, October 16, 2010
We arrived at Woodford Reserve Distillery from Berea at 12:30 pm. We took a morning bike ride around the city and saw its arts section, college and downtown. The drive to Woodford was absolutely beautiful. The trees were turning and the rolling hills in the heart of Kentucky, were breathtaking. The distillery is hidden near Versailles and Midway, Kentucky, in the middle of huge Thoroughbred farms. The roads are narrow with no shoulder or road paint marking which lane is yours because the road basically fits 1-1/2 cars. We enjoyed the easy trip commenting about how the fences are uniform, black pine, and what it would be like to live there or even own one. I'm really sad I didn't get more pictures of the drive.
When we arrived we had planned on taking the tour of the distillery at 1 pm but it was an hour tour and we hadn't had lunch yet so we decided to tour the building, get a sip of the bourbon and have lunch on its patio. The little deli had wonderful choices for lunch. I chose the chicken wrap with spinach, feta, olives and aioli. Each sandwich comes with chips and a pickle. I added the bourbon gelato that we all shared and enjoyed. It reminded me of a root beer float. I loved the gelato and that wrap. We sat outside under an umbrella, the porch was filling up when we headed in to try a sample of some Woodford Reserve Bourbon.
Oh the bourbon...by the way, I've never been a fan of any drink other than some Chardonnay or Cabernet. When we got our sample, about a half an ounce (1 tablespoon), the guy behind the bar serving it said to take a little sip and warned us that it could be a little "spicy" as it goes down and to expect our throats and stomachs to get warmed up. Kara sipped hers first and yelped, "whoa!". I was next and a larger whoa was out of my mouth and I think some heads turned around to see who that was! He said on the second sip we could add an ice cube to help tone it down a notch which I totally wanted! The second sip was just as rough as the first one I thought. Then he said we could add a dash of spring water to it to make it even easier. That third sip was just as nasty as my first "whoa". The server noticed my face as I tried the bourbon and said, "that's the kind of drink to have in front of the fire in winter to get you warmed up," and I thought there is no way I'd drink something like that to warm me up in front of a fire, I prefer just some plain ole hot chocolate.
Experiencing Woodford Reserve was really neat and lunch on the patio was great. The boys had toured the Marker's Mark and Heaven Hill Distilleries the day before and said they were really something. Each distillery has tall barns filled with bourbon barrels to the ceiling, like hundreds of barrels in each one. It was absolutely beautiful and now I know I don't have to waste my time to see another bourbon distillery, I'd rather take a tour in Sonoma County.
Picture is Martin and Kara and Beth and Stan Bradshaw.
Picnic on the Porch, Woodford Reserve, 7855 McCracken Park, Versailles, KY 859-879-1812 www.woodfordreserve.com
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