Bourbon festival

bourbon festival road trip uh06eusrt

Updated: Now with audio

I wouldn't really consider myself a bourbon fan, but my taste for the drink increased exponentially after visiting the Maker's Mark distillery.

Bourbon is a specific kind of whiskey. In order to be called bourbon, the drink has to be distilled in the United States. Bourbon has to contain a certain amount of corn. It has to be aged in barrels that have not been used before. And there are a couple of other stipulations limiting the proof and other ingredients.

There are 85 employees at Maker's Mark distillery. They output more than 600,000 cases (12 bottles per case) of bourbon each year. Each bottle is hand-dipped in a can of resin-based wax, creating the signature drip down the neck. Workers can dip a bottle every two seconds. It took me considerably longer.

After touring the distillery, we hit the "Racing with the Spirits" event. We weren't really sure what to expect, and considered bailing early, but it turned out to be amazing.

We were given $1,000 in play money (featuring bourbon industry luminaries in place of presidents) with which to bet on horse racing events. Some races were pre-recorded videos that had been dubbed over with distillery-themed names. Other races featured attendees on wheeled carts.

I raced once, but my horse belonged in a glue factory.

The featured event was a race among the master distillers. Mike lost his money on the guy from Maker's Mark, but was able to meet him after the race.

After the final race, people used their winnings to bid on bourbon-based gift baskets. Click the button at right to listen to sounds from the auction.

We didn't have enough fake money to win any of the prizes, which was unfortunate, but we'd had a good time, enjoying the appetizer and dessert buffets as well as the open bourbon bar.