June 27, 2010

June 27, 2010

Not far north of Mammoth Cave is Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site. There I learned Abe was shot by an Indian in 1786. No, this isn’t ”bizarro world” history. That is what happened to the grandfather of the same name shortly after he followed Daniel Boone into the frontier known as ”Kaintuck”. The more famous Abe was born 23 years later in a log cabin. Unfortunately Abe’s father ran into title problems on the property he bought and was evicted. It happened again with the farm he then rented. Disgusted with Kentucky’s title issues, he left for Indiana with young Abe in tow. Many years later, his supposed birth cabin was sent all over the US for exhibition. In the 20th century, the pieces were bought up and returned here. Around it was built the first Lincoln Memorial. Unfortunately the Memorial is under repair and we can't look inside. On our way north we also stopped at the next farm his family rented.

Aimee is tiring of these historical sites, so she suggests hitting the “Bourbon Trail”. We stop at the closest, Makers Mark. It is a cute distillery, but we had never heard of it till we saw it mentioned in the movie ”Crazy Heart” two weeks ago. We took a tour of the distillery and learned how Whiskey is made from fermented corn, distilled and aged in oak barrels. We were surprised at the open fermentation tanks. We were even invited to stick our fingers into the mash to taste. After the tour we were invited to a tasting of the final product. Neither of us really appreciates fine whiskey but we did like the mint julep. Mint Julep is whiskey infused with mint and sweetened. Makers Mark’s claim to fame is that they hand dip each bottle with a red wax seal. To celebrate Chicago’s recent Stanley Cup Championship, they issued some commemorative bottles dipped in black wax.

Our next distillery stop is Heaven Hill. We were too late for the tour and tasting but they had a lot of displays about Whiskey. In colonial times, excess corn was turned into Whiskey by most farmers and used to barter for goods. Whiskey was the hard currency of the day. Kentucky used to be Virginia’s Bourbon county. Kentucky farmers put their whiskey in oak barrels and shipped it down river to New Orleans. This accidental aging mellowed the flavor and soon people started asking for “Bourbon” Whiskey. Later the US enacted laws codifying “bourbon” as American made corn whiskey aged in charred new white oak barrels.