Bardstown and Bourbon

Bardstown is a charming city well worth the visit. Established around the time of the revolution, it boasts America's oldest stagecoach stop. It is a relaxing and enchanting place to spend an afternoon strolling about, visiting shops, eateries and bars.  There is too much to share about Bardstown in just one post, so I have divided it into three. We learned a lot about bourbon, since Bardstown is the bourbon capital of the world. We had a wonderful dinner train ride. We enjoyed just walking around town, seeing the houses, visiting the shops.

As a new Kentucky resident, I must confess I don't like Bourbon. This might get me deported back to the USA, but I have to be honest. Yet, it is deeply ingrained in the culture, and for good reason, so I had to try a bourbon (followed by a lot of choking and gasping and a fake smile) in Bardstown. Bardstown is genuinely the epicenter of Bourbon. It was perfected here in the early 19th century by a Baptist preacher named Elijah Craig. (Trying hard not to be snarky about this. Being Orthodox, we don’t have rules against alcohol, but do not condone abuse). I like beer and wine, but distilled beverages, especially whiskeys (of which Bourbon is a subtype) and more especially bourbons taste like antifreeze to me. No, antifreeze mixed with stomach acid. But I do not judge anyone else for liking it; each to their own.

The Bourbon aficionados (i.e. snobs, i.e. antifreeze/stomach acid aficionados) will tell you that "true" bourbon can only be made in the region of Kentucky in and around Bardstown, due to the  natural limestone filtered water in the area. There are more bourbon distilleries here than anywhere in the world. A few big houses from this area that might be familiar to you, if you like bourbon, include Heaven Hill, Barton, Jim Beam, Willet, Ridgemont Reserve, Evan Williams, Makers Mark, and 4 roses.

While I don’t care much for bourbon, I do like all the things you can make with bourbon, especially with chocolate. Whiskeys in general are a nice flavor pallet contrast to chocolate. We spent some time in the Kentucky Bourbon Market place, and thoroughly enjoyed the shop and talking with the owner. We learned a lot about bourbon from her. The store has a boutique with a large selection of bourbon foods including bourbon balls, cakes, caramels and truffles, sauces, spices, and many other delicious gourmet food items. They also have a Bourbon tasting bar and a B&B upstairs. Visit them in person, or at this site: Kentucky Bourbon Marketplace

 

For the evening, we enjoyed a ride on the My Old Kentucky Dinner Train. Of course, like any good dinner train company, they have special events like murder mystery dinner rides and a bourbon sampling excursion. We went on the standard narrated dinner tour. Let me clarify … the tour was narrated, not the dinner. I don't like it when the waiter announces everything I am eating. (and now he is chewing his asparagus).  By the way, if you eat too much asparagus it can make you urine smell really bad. And if you eat too many beets, you will have red BM's. If you eat a large beet and asparagus salad, you might think you are dying.

The dinner train was fun and romantic. The narration was interesting. We passed through the heart of bourbon land, and went through the middle of a Jim Beam's distillery. The thing that impressed me the most was how massive and sprawling the facility was, and I realize I only saw a small fraction of it. Also fascinating was the white buildings where the bourbon is aged, and the black mold that grows on them. Apparently, it is better for the bourbon to leave the mold on the buildings (I suspect Old Jim just used this as an excuse to his wife about why he did not clean his buildings). Because of this effect (right, Jimmy. I don't wash my car because I am afraid the bumper will fall off. Really.) you will see countless huge white buildings, as big as industrial farm barns, that were white… with various stages of black mold coating on them. We also got to see "train wreckage" that was actually where the Harrison Ford escape scenes of "The Fugitive" were shot. 

As far as the train ride, it was beautiful and peaceful. The food and service was outstanding. 

Visit them in person or online: My Old Kentucky DinnerTrain 

While there is fun in and around Bardstown, just walking the streets, we saw house after house of cute colonial style homes. There were a lot of nice coffee shops and restaurants. We had lunch at an enchanting place owned by an eastern European family with thick Bosnian accents. The food and service there was outstanding. I am looking forward to eating there again. Visit them in person or online: Kresso's Restaruant.  

 

Downtown homes with colonial charm.

And one final little cool tidbit that you could almost walk right over is an old cobblestone path. It is all that remains of the original road into Bardstown from the east. It served as a military road, and a road for settlers and wagons. A turnpike was constructed below the cliffs in 1830, leaving this road abandoned. All that remains is about thirty yards of path.