The Soul of Bourbon

So....we decided that if Bourbon is the heartbeat of America, then the soul of Bourbon must reside in Kentucky. I made some phone calls and lined up some distilleries and we took a trip to Kentucky via Illinois to get in touch with the soul of Bourbon...It was a great trip.

Our First stop on our trip was in southern Illinois at a small husband/wife team distillery called Old Monroe Distillery (formerly Stumpy's Spirits). It was just outside of Columbia, Illinois surrounded by farmland. This is one of those grain to glass distilleries and their story is quite unique. If the commitment of these two (Adam and Laura) doesn't pull at your heart strings (they are high school sweethearts), then the story of their still should. It's a WWII era still that was hidden from the Nazi's. Be on the lookout for these videos.

Next up was Casey Jones Distillery in Hopkinsville, Kentucky (the promised land). The drive from Illinois into Kentucky was of course quite beautiful. And, it was quite a treat. I'll be honest, this distillery was bigger than I had anticipated. Getting into some history with Peg and AJ (the founders) about the real life Casey Jones and the square stills he built was a treat. They actually commissioned a new square still that is operational so they can still make the whiskey the way Casey Jones made it "back in the day". Very cool. Open fermentation tanks, Honest history and some great folks. And the tastings....good gracious. Cody (co-partner) walked us through a number of tastings. You are going to want to see these videos when they come out. We wrapped up day two and headed further into Kentucky.

Here's where it got a bit suspect. The Big Human was driving. We were headed to Franklin, Kentucky for our next distillery shoot (which was the next day) at Dueling Grounds Distillery. Welp. Before we knew it, we were on some two-lane highway winding left and right and left and right and left and right. Stop, Turn Left. Stop. Turn Right. Turn right again...and so it went. And the entire way, the highway was colored with chalk drawings. At first, we thought, "oh that's kinda neat" but after a few miles we started wondering "What the hell....". Come to find out its the quickest road to Franklin, Kentucky from where we were coming from and all the chalk drawings is just something the kids do on that road. Still.... was a bit out of the ordinary and at 9 pm at night, just a little suspect.

So, after a restless night at a small road side hotel (big shout out to the workers who decided to have a party in the parking lot at 2 am...much appreciated). We grabbed some breakfast at a local joint and headed to Dueling Grounds Distillery. Great little distillery that not a lot of people know about (my kind of place) with some very very good whiskey. And a Mix-ologist (Zack Smith) making some great cocktails. If you are in Franklin, Kentucky, I encourage you to check out Dueling Grounds Distillery.

Dueling Grounds distillery has some amazing history behind it which is where the name comes from (Look for our videos) but we took a side trip down to the Inn where the Duelists would stay prior to Dueling. (And the twisted thing is they would all stay in the same room...crazy). Made a great new friend in Rhonda Barton who showed us around and let the Big Human and I have a Duel between Bottled in Bond or Cask Strength. (You gotta see the video).

Next up, we headed to Louisville. I know I'm spelling it correctly even if I didn't say it completely correctly. We stopped in to chat with the guys from Pursuit Spirits, a Non-Distiller Producer and see what all the noise was around blending. Ryan Cecil walked us through how he blends (Look for this video), and we got some very cool back stories on these podcasters that now have a whiskey brand that is winning some major awards.

These are two guys that just don't seem to like any free time. Their barreling / blending process is nothing I have ever seen, they have the number one Bourbon Podcast, another podcast on the business side of running a whiskey company, and they are in the process of opening up a downtown location on Whiskey Row. Look for this video to see what it looks like with construction happening. And how they landed on 108 proof for all their whiskey's...well you gotta see the video of Pursuit Spirits.

After our stop in Louisville, we headed home. But, since we were this far East, and we had to basically go past Chicago to get home, we couldn't bypass one of the Big Human's favorite new distilleries, Quincy Street Distillery in Riverside Illinois. The Big Human got to meet Derrrick Mancini, the man behind the curtain at Quincy Street Distillery and taste through a few of his expressions. And, it was great catching up with Derrick.

So...lots of new Distillery videos coming very soon. More history. More stories and more of what Craft Distilling is doing to change the game in Whiskey. Look for these videos soon, and if you are in the area, check out the above distilleries.

One last thing...The big Human beat me on the total bottle count of purchased bottles. He bought 35 and I bought 29. Kirk was a respectable third and showed great restraint with only purchasing one box. It was a great trip! And watch for the video's of all these distilleries.

If you have been to one of these distilleries, let us know what you thought. And, if you have suggestions of other distilleries in Kentucky or Illinois we should visit, share that in the comments. We would love to hear from you.