Today's blog may be short, but it will cover one of the wonders I just discovered about living in Kentucky. Now, if anyone knows anything about Kentucky, they will know it for horse racing and not much else. But one of the things that makes Kentucky famous is that it is the home of Bourbon Country. Basically, 98% or more of all bourbon made in the world comes from Kentucky. I have a coworker who is a Bourbon historian and enthusiast, who will tell you, quite literally, anything you want to know about bourbon. So it was no surprise today when he came down to the lunch room to with his hands full of bourbon brochures.
The idea within these brochures is nothing new, but it still seems unique in it's Kentucky flavor. It is the idea of the "Urban Bourbon Trail." In place already in Kentucky is the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which is a tour of a series of distilleries throughout the state. One who follows this would likely have to set aside an entire weekend to accomplish the entire thing. However, the Urban Bourbon Trail has been set up within Louisville at a series of restaurants and bars. The point is to show up at one restaurant and ask for a Bourbon Trail Passport, which is actually a small booklet similar to an actual passport. The passport is free, and each page contains a brief bio of a separate restaurant on the trail. You then go to each restaurant and order some bourbon (though it may be just you order anything, I'm not sure) and you get your passport stamped. Once you get all 8 stamps, you win. I believe you earn a t-shirt and another small prize, along with the pride of knowing you just blew $40 and a bunch of gas just to drink bourbon. But that's not the point. If it was, I would never have gone on the Pennsylvania burger trip.
The guy who showed this to us at work is, as I said, a bourbon enthusiast and is a member of the Kentucky Bourbon Society. I was personally invited by him to join the Bourbon Society as they ride the Urban Bourbon Trail in July, in one day. I had to regretfully turn down this offer, mainly because I don't consider myself a bourbon drinker and would not want to look weak as a beer drinker among bourbon enthusiasts. However that does not mean I will not attempt this. Plans are already in the works to leave work early one Friday and take our own journey down the Urban Bourbon trail. The question then becomes: will we finish or will we pass out trying?
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