Four Roses:

Kentucky is a bourbon mecca. A menagerie of distilleries and bourbon bars. A bourbon mountain, if you will. Though the options were plentiful, we decided to focus our energy on one distillery in particular--Four Roses.

I was first referred to Four Roses through Cork N Bottle's management, who have some of the finest bourbon selections in their store in the area. For a long time, Four Roses was export only, but now, we're lucky to have full access to almost all their bourbons.

Though we've used the small batch as a mixer, we are pretty partial to the single barrel. I've used it in everything from drinks, to panna cotta, to mashed sweet potatoes. The single barrel takes a unique barrel's characteristics and presents them beautifully. While Four Roses marries their small batch from a variety of single barrels to obtain the optimum balanced flavor, the individuality of the single barrel is what we love about it.

We'll be posting about some holiday bourbon cocktails next (including an anecdote about David's first and traumatic experience with store bought eggnog as a child), but here's some pictures of our jaunt through Four Roses distillery on vacation.

As Four Roses was exported for a long time, signs in multiple languages welcome foreign visitors. Our tour guide was very amused at myself and a tourist from Switzerland, with our Canon and Nikon, snapping away furiously during the distillery tour.

I felt bad for a few people from Atlanta. Even though the temperature was near freezing, the man of the group for some reason decided to wear shorts that day. It was hot and steamy in the distillery, though, which offered some reprieve for those used to warmer climates. The tourist from Switzerland, of course, was dressed appropriately for the weather.

Finished product

Wild Turkey warehouses across the street

watch your head, David

heads and tails

I wore my goofy hat all around Louisville, including our trip to the distillery