A Visit to Limestone Branch Distillery

For a bourbon fan, no trip to Kentucky is complete without making a few stops to visit the place where your favorite whiskey is made. Odds are though, that your favorite whiskey is not made in Lebanon, KY. At least, not yet. Limestone Branch Distillery in Lebanon, KY sells sugar shine in unaged, flavored, or (as of last month) aged varieties.

Sugar Shine is a clear unaged spirit, typically made from a combination of sugar and corn. Limestone Branch's version follows that tradition, being made from a mash of 50% corn and 50% cane.

As you pull into the parking lot, the first thing you see on the side of the building is a large Moon Pie sign. One of the products they produce is a Moon Pie flavored moonshine that, my wife tells me, is scarily close to the real thing in flavor. I'll have to take her word for it as I have never developed a taste for Moon Pies due to an aversion to marshmallows. 

You enter the building into the gift shop and are warmly greeted and offered a tour. We accepted and since we were a bit early, we passed the time with a trip to the tasting bar to try some of the products. After trying a few we wandered around the gift shop for a little bit deciding which of the products we couldn't live without. 

I have to mention one thing about the gift shop. It had the most ingenious ceiling I've ever seen. It's a metal roof. Being such, it's bound to get hot if there isn't any insulation. So there is insulation, black spray foam looking insulation. You wouldn't think, from reading about it, that this was something worth mentioning. But with the color of the walls, the floor, and all the visible wood around, it reminded me of nothing less than the inside of a charred barrel. It was an amazing effect. 

Once the tour started we were given a little history of the owners. As you might guess from their names, Paul and Steve Beam are part of the whiskey-making Beam clan. And from the little I talked to them, they seem to be a couple of really nice guys. 

After the history lesson, we enter the distillery area itself. This is not a big distillery. In the room is the research lab, mashing, fermenting, distilling, bottling and shipping area. 

This is one of the fermenting areas, if I remember correctly. I believe the tour guide told us that it is repurposed from a winery. In any case, it is really pretty.

This is the still. I hesitate to use the word cute, since that normally has condescending connotations. I don't mean it that way, but it is the best word I can come up with. It's a little over my height. It's little, but it gets the job done.

The condenser, the last part of the distilling process. The product is coming out of the tube below the gauge. As you can see it is clear as water. It won't get color unless it spends some time in a barrel or gets flavored.

This is the entire set up shown in the last three photos. Behind the condenser and the still is the fermenter. There are a few other smaller barrels acting in the same capacity scattered around as well. Behind us is the research lab and over to the right is the rest of the process. 

If you visit Limestone Branch, you may very well be coming from Maker's Mark which is just down the road. And if you do, you may think that you will be disappointed. I want to assure you that you won't be. After you get there, talk to the people, see the passion they have for what they do, and taste the fruit of their labors. You will understand what draws people to visiting craft distilleries. The ones worth visiting are exactly like Limestone Branch—filled with excited, passionate people who make a tasty product and are glad you are there to visit.

Speaking of products, the one I found I couldn't live without was the Apple Cinnamon Pie Sugar Shine. It's their unaged shine flavored with natural flavors. I assume apple and I can see the cinnamon stick since it is still in the bottle.

Limestone Branch Sugar Shine: Apple Cinnamon Pie flavor

Purchase info: $18.99 for a 375 mL at the distillery gift shop

Details: 20% ABV. "Mashed, Fermented, Distilled and Bottled by Limestone Branch Distillers" (I thought that was a nice touch.)

Nose: Apple pie, I swear I can even smell the crust.

Mouth: Thick, syrupy mouthfeel. Leads with cinnamon but transitions to cooked apples as it moves back. 

Finish: Slight lingering bitterness. No burn. 

Thoughts: This is a tasty liqueur. Tastes exactly like a baked apple pie that has been allowed to cool. Even the mouthfeel is correct since the liquid in an apple pie gets nicely thick and syrupy. I like it better cold, but ice waters it down too much. I'm keeping mine in the fridge. And this being October, I can promise that it won't last there until Christmas. It's autumn in a glass.

I urge you to go visit these guys even if you aren't a fan of shine. It's an interesting tour and they now have an aged product that is made from the sugar/corn mash. I got to sample it during Bourbon Fest and remember liking it. 

Chocolate-Bourbon Cocktail Cherries

Door County Wisconsin is famous for it’s cherries. And when my wife and mother-in-law went on a short trip there, I asked them to bring me some back. You see, I had the idea that I wanted to make a yummy garnish for my manhattans and I couldn’t pass this opportunity up.

Chocolate-Bourbon Cocktail Cherries

Chocolate cherry juice

  • 1 cup 100% cherry juice
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • pinch of salt

Bring these ingredients to a boil in a small sauce pan. Allow to cool enough to fish out the cinnamon stick (or leave it in if you want more cinnamon influence). 

Cherries

  • 1 pint Cherries (I used tart cherries because I like tart cherries, if you don't you might want to try sweet)

Pit the cherries while the Chocolate Cherry Juice cools. Pack them into a wide-mouth one pint mason jar. 

Alcohol

  • 1 cup Bourbon or Rye (I used a 50-50 mixture of Buffalo Trace and Sazerac Rye)
  • 1 splash of Luxardo Maraschino liqueur

Once the Chocolate Cherry Juice has cooled to below 160° or so add the spirits. Mix well and pour over the cherries. You will have too much, reserve the rest for topping up the jar after the Cherries start to absorb it. Store in the refrigerator, shaking occasionally.

These get better with time. I found that after a month the tartness had mellowed and the chocolate and cinnamon had a more subtle influence that integrated better with the other flavors.

Now, I need a manhattan...

Book Review: Beam, Straight Up by Fred Noe (with Jim Kokoris)

Fred Noe is a man that I have seen on a couple of occasions. Each time it was to get a bottle signed. I didn’t say met, or spoke to, or anything more personal because for some reason, he intimidated me a bit. I’m unsure of the reason. I normally don’t get intimidated by people just because of celebrity. He’s kind of a bigger guy, so maybe that was it. Maybe I just didn’t have anything to say that would be worth taking up his time. He looked busy. He was telling stories. 

After reading this book, I don’t think I’m going to have that problem anymore. I’ll have at least one thing to say: “Sir, I enjoyed your book.” And I did. The book is one story after another with a little history thrown in for good measure. In those stories you learn a little about what makes up the man that is the face of Jim Beam. 

It starts where the story starts, with a little family history. It moves into Fred’s boyhood and his view of Booker, his dad. And then into college where he really used a trunk full of Jim Beam to try to solve every problem. And it turns out that he did have problems, not being the best student. After a stint in college he hits the road with a band and eventually ends up back home working at the distillery. Finally taking over for his dad as the face of the company.

But my synopsis doesn’t do the book any justice. Fred is a masterful story-teller, I’m guessing from years on the road doing just that, and it comes through in the stories he tells and how he tells them. I can almost hear the soft Kentucky accent as I read and laugh. And, oh did I laugh. This is a damn funny book. If you haven’t, go read it. It’s short. You won’t be sorry. (Oh, and my wife seconds this review...so there's that.)

Purchase info: Signed copy, $22.95 at the Jim Beam booth, Kentucky Bourbon Festival

Maker's Mark: Beyond the Mark Tour and Cask Strength Review

While in Kentucky, I took the opportunity to take a more in-depth tour of the Maker's Mark Distillery. It's called the Beyond the Mark tour and it costs $35 per person. There is a maximum of 12 people per session. My wife and I purchased out tickets ahead of time and didn't hear them offer it to anyone while we were waiting so it probably wouldn't hurt to do the same if you choose to do this.

The tour starts the same way they all do. You cross the bridge and walk down the path, pausing along the way to hear a little bit of the history of the distillery from the time the land was cleared until today. We stopped off to peek inside the Quart House, the first liquor store in the state of Kentucky.

Then we enter the distillery proper. Up to this point, the tour isn't that much different from the nine dollar tour. Smaller, more intimate, the tour guide seems more knowledgable (even acknowledging the gentleman who called her on the myth of the recipe origin with a sidelong, "hush, we'll discuss that amongst ourselves"). All in all, Aggie was the best part of the tour up until this point and the one thing that made it different. Everyone gets to see the stills and the tanks as they are beautiful.

Not every tour gets to drink the white dog dipped out of that tank. I don't care for white dog, but this was too cool to pass up.

Of course we saw the fermenters. Lovely old wood. (We even got to see Bill Samuels, Jr. getting interviewed by a tv crew of some sort. He stopped over to say hi and thanked us for touring so that was nice.)

But after that, we got to see the "real" fermenters. Not that the others are fake, but these are the 34 stainless steel ones that make the bulk of the mash.

After the fermenters, it was up the stairs to have a very nice shift supervisor tell us about their yeast. It's hopped to keep the bacteria from taking it over. We got to taste it...tasted like a flat Belgian beer.

Every tour gets to see the printing presses and die cut press that makes the labels.

​But this was the first time I got to enter the Quality Control Building. This was one of the samples. I didn't get to taste it and make notes, though come to think of it, I didn't ask either. The tickets in the background are prizes to incentivize the employees to participate. I guess when you are around bourbon all day, tasting it might be just...work. 

Gotta go through the warehouse. No distillery tour would be complete without that awesome smell.

Watching the folks on the bottling line is always impressive. 

But going through the room where they dip all the specialty items and different wax colors was really cool. It was nice to see the "not-so-polished" side of Maker's. I've worked in factories and always knew it had to be there. I liked seeing it.

No tour would be compete without a tasting. We got the standard four (Under-aged, normal, over aged and 46) plus a sample of the Cask Strength.

The Cask Strength which we toasted to one another under the light of the Dale Chihuly art installation on our way to the Gift Shop.

Maker's Mark Cask Strength

Purchase Info: $39.99 for a 375 mL at the Distillery Gift Shop

Details: 56.6% ABV

Nose: fresh cut apple, spearmint, honey and oak

Mouth: very sweet, cinnamon and clove with distinct floral notes

Finish: good, long warmth that sits in the chest and a sweetness that hangs around, but then transitions to sharpness.

Thoughts: This is Maker's just stronger and more concentrated. It's fabulous and well worth the equivalent of $80 for a 750 mL when compared to other cask strength offerings. It's very drinkable and I like it more than either regular Maker's or Maker's 46. 

This whiskey was money well spent and the tour even more so. I gathered a lot of knowledge from a very good tour guide. I got to see places and have experiences that I didn't normally get to have and got to geek out just a little bit. I'd recommend both.

Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2014

I used to be a “try-every-bourbon-you-can” sort of guy. I’d buy one of everything on the shelf over the course of a year. I’d long for those bottles that were featured on the blogs, but that I didn’t get to try. I traded samples. I waited in lines. I searched stores (sometimes going from one to another). I attended events. Over time, I tried a lot of bourbon that way. 

But as I settled into my bourbon journey for the long-haul, I stopped trying so hard to get the “next big thing.” I still attend events, but I do it more to talk with fellow bourbon lovers than I do to taste what’s in the glass (though that is a nice bonus). But I don’t try very hard to get most of the “Limited Edition” bourbons that come out each fall. Pappy is too expensive, plus I generally don’t prefer wheated bourbons. Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection is too much effort to find for a lazy guy like me. Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is one I like to get, but apparently doesn’t show up at the stores I frequent. So like I said I don’t try very hard to get these. 

Well, except for one: the Four Roses autumn release of the Limited Edition Small Batch.

I first ran across this at a tasting a local liquor store chain was having. Minnesota was in the midst of a government shut-down so the store lined up a few more types of bourbon than they might normally have served. We tasted through the Jefferson’s bourbon line, including the last of the 17 year and the first of the 18 year bourbons. We tasted a few different types of Prichard’s including the Tennesee whiskey and the double barreled bourbon. But for me, the highlight of the night was tasting through the Four Roses line. Even then, I knew that I loved four Roses. We had the Yellow Label, the Small Batch, the Single Barrel and a “special one” that turned out to be the 2009 Mariage bourbon (the previous name of the Limited Edition Small Batch). I was blown away by it. So much so that once my wife was diagnosed with cancer in late 2011, I scoured the Twin Cities looking for another bottle. I wanted that bottle very much and wasn’t going to settle, even passing up an offer of Pappy instead from one retailer after I told him why I was looking so hard. I eventually did get it and it was that bottle we celebrated her first diagnosis of there being no sign of cancer left in her body. I still have a few samples put away for the 5 year mark.

Ever since then, I’ve tried to pick up at least one bottle per year. In 2012, I happend to be at the gift shop the day it was put out, but had to order a second bottle when the first one ran out. Last year my local retailers were unable to get me one, but a friend came through and shipped me one from another state. Both of those were released to rave reviews and cries of “best-ever!” from reviewers who didn’t have to purchase a bottle in order to taste it. (That isn’t sour grapes, I just choose to only review things I actually purchase.)

This year, the reviews were not quite so glowing. I didn’t read a single “best-ever” from the pre-release crowd. I read a lot of things similar to “it would be hard to follow up those last two years.” But, I’m a Four Roses fan-boy and when my wife and I happened to be in Kentucky for the release again, I knew we needed to get our hands on at least one bottle. Luck was with us though and we each snagged one. 

So how was it? 

Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch 2014

Purchase Info: $110 at the distillery Gift Shop.

Details: 55.9% ABV. Bottle 9,235 of 12,516

Nose: Candied orange peal, tobacco, allspice and maple. 

Mouth: Light in the mouth. There’s a nice tingle at the front and sides of the mouth. Pears, honey and clove dominate.

Finish: Gentle spice with a lingering sweetness and warmth.

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Thoughts: This is a very good whiskey and I like it a lot. It’s extremely drinkable, even at over 55% ABV. But at $110, when I compare it to a very good Four Roses Single Barrel retailer selection that you can find for less than $65, I don’t know that it is $45 better. If you find it and find yourself flush with cash, pick it up. If you are a fan-boy like me, pick it up. But if you can’t get it, don’t feel too bad about it, grab a good Four Roses Single Barrel private selection to enjoy instead.

Kentucky Bourbon Festival: Ticketed Events

Paul Tomaszewski of MB Roland Distillery signing the Louisville Slugger made famous on WhiskyCast

While at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival I like to attend some of the ticketed events. As the tickets to some of these are expensive, I aim to attend three each time. This year I attended Kentucky Bourbon All-Star Sampler™, Let's Talk Bourbon™, and the ARCO Speakeasy.

Chris Morris, Master Distiller at Woodford Reserve, pouring a couple Old Foresters at the All-Star Sampler™.

Kentucky Bourbon All-Star Sampler™

Picture it: a large open room that looks like it could house a small manufactuing company inside it. Down the center of the room is a large table heaped with food. Scattered around the room are tables and barrels with lighted tops for you to eat that food. All around the exterior of the room are small bars pouring spirits for you to taste. 

Sounds like a nice place to be right? Well for $50 per person you could be there. And as far as I’m concerned, you probably should. It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to shake hands with and be poured a drink by the likes of Jimmy Russell, Chris Morris or Jim Rutledge. I met up with a few friends, both old and new, while there and had a great time. Most of the distilleries were pouring their standard line up. Jim Beam had their Small Batch Collection, Heaven Hill was pushing Evan Williams, Woodford Reserve had both Woodford and Old Forester there. I was especially interested in what some of the craft folks were doing though. MB Roland from south-western Kentucky had their bourbon and Black Patch Whiskey available to try. Old Pogue had Five Fathers Pure Malt Rye to be sampled. Limestone Branch debuted their aged product, Precinct No. 6 at the event. There was also a brandy from Copper and Kings in Louisville that wasn’t too bad.

All in all it was a great evening and it made me very happy I decided to go back again this time.

Your materials to help you enjoy Let's Talk Bourbon™: the lyrics to My Old Kentucky Home, some notepaper, a booklet on how bourbon is made and a breakfast cocktail.

Let's Talk Bourbon™

The ticket is $30. For that you get breakfast, should you want it. You get cocktails, both with breakfast and after the event. You get a gift, this year a Four Roses branded Tervis glass. Plus, to top it off, you get to listen to Jim Rutledge talk about how bourbon is made and answer any questions the audience might have about it for about two hours. There is no event I can reccomend more than this one. This is my favorite event. I try to be early and get into the front row because I like to take notes, even thought the base presentation might be the same, the questions and tangents are always different and very informative.

The band, the screen, the distilleries and the costumed attendees all help to set the scene for the ARCO Speakeasy.

The ARCO Speakeasy

This was an event that I almost did not go to. I hadn’t planned to do anything on Saturday night because I was supposed to be up at 6am Sunday morning to drive 13 hours home. I was talked into it by my friends at MB Roland. And boy am I glad I was. This was a very fun event put on by the members of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour. They each made a cocktail or two and you got to drink them. The best part, of course was that almost everyone was dressed in Prohibition-era costume. The people watching was fantastic. The cocktails weren’t bad either. 

It’s $50 or $100 per person depending on if you considered yourself a VIP or not. I did not. The event happens at the same time as The Great Kentucky Bourbon Tasting and Gala™ which is a black-tie event for $150 per person. Too rich and too fancy for my blood. The Speakeasy was just right. I didn’t have to dress up too much (I didn’t have a costume so I just dressed nicely and didn’t feel out of place) and it was a third of the price. I mean, that money could be spent on bourbon (and was). Plus I met and talked to a lot of great folks that are part of the Craft Trail while enjoying drinks showcasing some of their products. All in all it was worth needing extra coffee for the drive home the next morning.

A Visit to the 2014 Kentucky Bourbon Festival

For the last 23 years the city of Bardstown, Kentucky has held it’s annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival in September. It’s a celebration of the town’s unique position in the heart of Bourbon Country and a way to celebrate one of the area’s major industries.

This year was my second time attending the festival and I may have had even more fun this time than I did the first. The festival starts on Tuesday with an event or two each day. It isn’t until Friday, though where things really kick into high gear. The festival itself mainly centers around Spalding Hall, the home to the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History. 

The lawn out front is covered with a variety of exhibitors from local charities and small craftspeople to the heavy hitters of the bourbon industry, distilleries and cooperage. The distilleries have extremely nice, but small and temporary, branded buildings that are set up as extensions of their gift shops. Sans alcohol, of course. The cooperage and the rest of the exhibitors were in tents. I wandered around, bought a few things from a charity, but otherwise just enjoyed the people and the surroundings.

Behind Spalding Hall were the food trucks and the Barrel Rolling. I’ll admit, last time I was there, I didn’t really understand this event. After talking with a few people and reading up on it between then and now, I have a better feel for it. It’s basically a bunch of people who are very good at what they do for a living, showing off and competing with their colleagues. All in all a fun event to watch, though I feel for them since the sun was really hot and those barrels looked extremely heavy.

The museum itself is one of those places that when you first walk in, you aren’t sure if you want to keep going. This is an old building and the exhibits have been there for a while. But, let me tell you, it is well worth a stop. There are so many old bottles, advertising and bits of memorabilia that a whisky/history geek like me is in heaven. Aside from that, on Saturday the museum is the setting for the Master Distiller’s Auction. I attended this mostly because a friend told that it would be interesting. He wasn’t wrong. We wandered in and got a number. I gave it to my wife who is much more responsible than I. There were a few things that we bid on, but nothing that ended up finishing in our budget. There were some really cool old whiskies, such as a prohibition-era bottle of Golden Wedding bourbon. It ended up just under selling for around $800. Of course, the highest prices went for the signed bottles of Pappy. (The 23 was $2100, but all were $500 or over.) I really found the event fascinating. I’ve never watched so many people so casually spend that much money. Luckily, it was for a good cause as the proceeds go to help fund the museum.

Of course, there were a lot more events. Some of which cost money, like the Speakeasy, The Gala or the All-Star Sampler. Some were free, like the barrel making demonstrations, the Ballon Glow and the art exhibits. But my favorite part was the people. I met some new friends, many people that I’d talked to online for just about forever and hung out with some friends I’d met previously. I think as I go more, this part will grow to overshadow all the official events.

If you are a bourbon lover and haven’t been, I’d highly recommend it.

Bourbon News: Margie Samuels to be Inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame

I'm not normally the type of writer who just passes along press releases. I prefer telling stories. But in this case I'm going to do it for a couple of reasons. One is that it I think this is a pretty cool story. It's nice to see people who are due recognition get it, especially when they happen to be female in a stereotypically male industry.

I say stereotypical because woman have always played a big part in the whiskey industry. Fred Minnick's great book—Whiskey Women: The Untold Story About How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch & Irish Whiskey—showed us that woman are a big part of the history of whiskey. 

In this case, the person being honored is Margie Samuels of Maker's Mark fame. The story goes that the entire Maker's brand was built on her ideas. The red wax? Margie. The distinctive and beautiful look of the distillery? Margie. Heck, they say even the name was her idea.

So like I said, I think this is a pretty good story and you can read the press release here: 

The other reason I feel ok passing this along is purely selfish. I'm going on vacation. I'll be in Kentucky next week visiting bars, distilleries and events. I'll be finishing the week with the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. If you are in the area and you see me out and about be sure to say hi!