by A Month-Long Bluegrass Bourbon Blast
I’m not saying Bourbon Heritage Month is competing with the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby. But it’s rounding the last turn and closing fast.
September is Bourbon Heritage Month around the country (thanks Congress). But Bourbon Heritage Month in Kentucky is truly becoming a month-long bourbon blast in the Bluegrass (thanks, Governor Andy).
Any bourbon enthusiast, bar, restaurant, distiller, tourist attraction, politician or plumber worth his/her salt had an event, special drink, or program related to Bourbon Heritage Month in Kentucky. (Okay, maybe not plumbers. And don’t put salt in your bourbon.) But there was a lot going on everywhere you looked in Kentucky bourbon country to toast this special month.
Here is a round-up of just a few of our favorite Bourbon Heritage Month activities that Kentuckians (and lots of guests from all over the world) just wrapped up.
Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame
More than 300 invitation-only guests were on hand as The Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame inducted eight new members. The ceremony and lunch happened at The Legacy at Log Still Distillery and Dant Crossing, south of Bardstown.
The Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) created the Hall 22 years ago to honor “individuals and organizations that have made a significant and transformational impact on Bourbon’s stature, growth and awareness.” KDA officials said this year’s varied inductees included “distillery founders and craftsmen, influential government leaders, a groundbreaking activist and the first father and son to share the prestigious honor in the same class.”
Read more about this year’s memorable ceremony and the inductees here.
Photos by Brian G. Miller
Kentucky Bourbon Festival
The Kentucky Bourbon Festival, and its host city of Bardstown, Kentucky, have come a long way since the event debuted 31 years ago. The festival has seen a major resurgence, much like bourbon itself, in the last few years. This year’s sold-out event drew visitors from around the country and the world.
And what’s not to love? The four-day event included access to and samples from nearly 60 distillers, live music on two stages, live interviews with bourbon industry royalty on the Main Stage, a chance to purchase bottles from many distilleries, education and tasting sessions, exhibits, and a new food truck section. Vendors were onsite offering bourbon-influenced products ranging from artwork to furniture to clothing and other accessories.
Next year’s dates have already been announced — Sept. 13-15, 2024. Keep your eyes on the Kentucky Bourbon Festival website (and here at Whiskey Network Magazine) for when tickets go on sale.
Photos by Brian G. Miller
Frazier History Museum
Louisville’s Frazier History Museum is the official welcome center for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Located right on downtown’s Whiskey Row (just across from the iconic Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory), it’s a great place to start your visit to Kentucky bourbon country.
Bourbon Heritage Month was a great time for the Frazier to host a fun night called “Moonshine, Hidden Barns, and the Law.” Folks there got an interesting look back at both sides of the whiskey world right after Prohibition. Moonshiners made illegal (and untaxed) white lightnin,’ while Federal Revenue Agents (aka “revenooers”) worked to stop the stills.
Royce (President and Lead Distiller) and Rebekah Sue (Single Barrel Coordinator and Absinthe Fairy) Neeley were on hand from Neeley Family Distillery. Royce told stories detailing more than 100 years of his family making sweet mash moonshine using cane sugar in the hills Eastern Kentucky. Today’s Neeley Family Distillery in Sparta, Kentucky (between Louisville and Cincinnati) makes bourbon, rye, and a variety of original and flavored moonshines. Taxes are now being paid. (“We’re back and this time we’re legal.”)
Repping the other side of the law, author Chris Skates shared stories about his lawman grandfather from his book Moonshine Over Georgia. Skates’ grandfather mostly went after the bad moonshiners whose poorly made product hurt people. But that didn’t stop Royce from having a rifle across his lap most of the evening, pointing in the general direction of the revenooer’s grandson. (The rifle might or might not have ended several lives during a moonshine feud between the Neeleys and another family nearly a century ago.)
Those present sampled three “expressions” of moonshine, some Neeley Bourbon, and Hidden Barn Bourbon, the results of a partnership with the Neeleys and Jackie Zykan.
Photos by Brian G. Miller
Copper & Kings Brandy and Butterlies
Copper & Kings Distillery in Louisville held its annual Brandy for Butterflies event to raise money for the endangered migratory monarch butterfly. I know, what’s brandy got to do with bourbon? Well, Copper & Kings is a long-time member of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. And the distillery just started producing its own bourbon that spends some extra time in their brandy barrels.
C & K says it “has provided sanctuary to the species with a dedicated 4,300-square-foot Monarch butterfly way-station, lush with critical pollinators, including milkweed, which is the only place the monarch lays its eggs.”
The free event included food, special cocktails, live music, and a chance to be part of “tag and release” of the above-mentioned monarch butterflies. Don’t miss it next year.
Photos Courtesy of Copper & Kings Distillery
Bourbon & Beyond
Like a little music with your bourbon? You can get that just about anywhere. Like a LOT of music with your bourbon? You need to put Bourbon & Beyond on your bourbon bucket list.
You don’t get to call yourself “The World’s Biggest Bourbon and Music Festival” unless you really bring it. (Spoiler: B & B brought it.) More than 120,000 fans attended the live experience for music, food, and bourbon.
There’s no question that music is the big draw (Brandi Carlile, Billy Strings, The Killers, Duran Duran, The Black Keys, The Black Crowes, Bruno Mars, and Blondie were just a few of the top names taking the stage.) But bourbon abided as well. Distilleries, bourbon industry icons, and bourbon influencers of all stripes were on hand for panels and workshops to make sure your bourbon itch was scratched.
Next year’s shindig is scheduled for September 19-24, 2024, which is great news because you can do the Kentucky Bourbon Festival the weekend before and then recharge for Bourbon & Beyond the next weekend. (There were a lot of tired little tuckers the past two years when the events took place on the same weekend.) Tickets for 2024 are already on sale at www.BourbonAndBeyond.com.
It Will Be 2024 Before You Know It
Just as the bourbon renaissance continues to get bigger each year, there’s no reason to think next September’s Bourbon Heritage Month in Kentucky won’t break the records set this year.
Might want to put that month-long PTO request in to your boss now.
This article originally appeared in Whiskey Network Magazine.
