4. Lexington and Horse Country
Town Branch
Lexington calls itself the Horse Capital of the World, and it has every right to do so. The countryside surrounding the city is home to nearly 500 Thoroughbred and Standardbred farms. Keeneland Race Course is the site not only of racing meets held in the spring and fall but also of four yearly horse sales, including the world's largest auction of yearlings. And in addition to welcoming visitors to its museum exhibits and horse demonstrations, the Kentucky Horse Park is a venue for major national and international equestrian events.
Although no one knows exactly how many thousands of horses live in the Bluegrass region, the human population of the Greater Lexington area is about 550,000. At a little more than half the size of the Greater Louisville area, Lexington is Kentucky's second largest city.
The city's history dates to 1775, when a group of frontiersmen from Pennsylvania led by William McConnell established a streamside camp. They received a report from nearby Fort Boonesborough that the war against the British had begun with a battle at Lexington, Massachusetts. So they named their frontier camp Lexington, in honor of the Revolution.
Nineteenth-century facades on North Broadway in downtown Lexington.
Sunrise at a horse farm near Lexington.
Lexington and surrounding Fayette County have many natural springs and a network of tributary streams to the Kentucky River. With this ready supply of fresh limestone water, several commercial distillers (in addition to all the farmers with stills) were operating in and around Lexington by the early 1780s. Among them was Thomas Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's great-uncle.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, a Distillery District was developing near the railroad tracks on the northwest side of the city, in the area along today's Manchester Street. Among these were the Turner, Clay & Company Distillery (which eventually became the Ashland Distillery) and the Lexington Distillery, both situated on Town Branch, a tributary of Elkhorn Creek. The most famous of the Lexington distilleries was the James E. Pepper Distillery, which occupied the site of another distillery built in 1858. Colonel James E. Pepper (son of Oscar Pepper, who owned the distillery near Versailles that is now Woodford Reserve) bought the property in 1879, built a new plant, and established the Henry Clay Distillery. The James E. Pepper Distillery, as it was renamed in 1886, was one of the few facilities licensed to make medicinal whiskey during Prohibition. After repeal, Schenley bought the facility and continued to make several brands, including James E. Pepper, Henry Clay, and Indian Hill, until the distillery closed in 1958.
Distillery District
Much as Louisville has promoted the revitalization of its Main Street in recent years, Lexington's Distillery District is undergoing redevelopment. Plans are under way to use the surviving buildings from the Ashland and James E. Pepper distilleries as housing, retail space, and restaurants. Since the district is within a few hundred yards of downtown Lexington and the Rupp Arena (the venue for University of Kentucky basketball games, as well as concerts and other events), city planners have identified a great potential for growth there. A sculptor's studio is already housed in one corner of a Pepper distillery building, which is undergoing extensive renovation. A dinner train will use the track by the distillery as it travels from downtown Lexington to Midway or Frankfort. And the city is constructing a public hiking trail along Town Branch, the stream that runs behind the distillery.
Distillers have started to move back into the neighborhood, too. In 2010 Barrel House Distillery (1200 Manchester Street, 859-259-0159, http://barrelhousedistillery.com/) started making Oak Rum (aged in used bourbon barrels), Pure Blue Vodka, and a new whiskey dubbed Devil John Moonshine No. 9. The distillery is open for tours and tastings on Thursdays and Fridays from noon until 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The biggest business at the center of the district's activity is Alltech's Lexington Brewery and Town Branch Distillery.
Town Branch Distillery
401 Cross Street
Lexington, KY 40601
859-255-2337
Hours: Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Sunday, noon–4 p.m. Tours are year-round and start on the hour. The last tour starts at 3 p.m.
Bourbon: Town Branch
Other Liquors: Pearse Lyons Reserve Malt Whiskey, Bluegrass Sundown (coffee infused with bourbon and sugar), Kentucky Ale, Kentucky Light, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale
Chief Executive: Pearse Lyons
Master Distiller: Roy Court
Exterior of Town Branch Distillery.
Owner/Parent Company: Alltech Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company
Tour: The tour includes both the brewery and the distillery. There is a $5 admission charge.
What's Special:
- Alltech is one of only a few combined brewing and distilling operations in the United States.
- Town Branch is the first new distillery built in Lexington for nearly a century.
- It produces the first malt whiskey made in Kentucky since 1919.
- Chief executive Pearse Lyons is originally from Ireland, and master distiller Roy Court is from Scotland, as are the copper pot stills used to make the whiskies.
History
Chief executive Pearse Lyons is a native of Dublin, Ireland. Although he worked at Guinness and has university degrees in brewing, including a PhD in yeast fermentation, he didn't start out making beverage alcohol. Alltech, which he founded in 1980, is a biotechnology company that specializes in making nutritional supplements for animal feed. Today it has more than 2,500 employees and is one of Lexington's (and Kentucky's) most generous corporate sponsors of sporting and cultural events.
Interior of Town Branch Distillery.
Lyons started Alltech's brewing arm in 2000. Lexington Brewing makes a trio of beers: Kentucky Ale, Kentucky Light, and Bourbon Barrel Ale, aged for six weeks in used bourbon barrels. When he decided to get into the whiskey business, Lyons hired Scottish distiller Roy Court, and Pearse Lyons Reserve Malt Whiskey was released in 2010. Town Branch Bourbon, named for the stream that supplied water to Lexington's earliest distilleries, followed in 2011.
The Tour
The tour begins and ends at the Visitors Center, a building that originally housed the Lexington Ice Company. A short historical video introduces visitors to the history of brewing in Lexington, so this tour is of interest to beer aficionados as well as bourbon lovers. There's a short stop at the Alltech Lexington Brewing Company, located just across the narrow street, where the guide describes the 1950s-era bottling equipment. Fourteen employees are required to staff the line.
The distillery proper was completed in 2012 and opened for tours in October of that year. Visitors enter through wooden doors decorated with a lion's head door knocker, a whimsical nod to owner Lyons's name. Other architectural flourishes include shutters sporting silhouette cutouts of pot stills and a miniature pot still atop the building's weather vane. This a small enough operation that the mash tubs, fermenters, and stills are all contained in one spacious room with three floor-to-ceiling glass walls. The fourth wall provides a contrast of warm, handsome stone masonry. Both Town Branch Bourbon and Pearse Lyons Reserve Malt Whiskey are distilled in a pair of copper pot stills, made to Alltech's specifications by Forsyths of Rothes, Scotland (the same company that made Woodford Reserve's copper pot stills).
As it comes off the second still, the new whiskey is piped into another room containing the spirits receiver; from there, it is put into barrels. The barrels are taken to Bardstown for aging and are then returned to Lexington for bottling.
Before leaving the distillery, visitors are offered a taste of Town Branch and then escorted back to the Visitors Center gift shop. The colorful shop looks like a re-creation of pub row in Dublin. The “windows” of the pub facade contain shelves for the merchandise, which includes glassware, logo-embossed clothing, beer six-packs, and even Kentucky Ale pub towels—a more British or Irish item than an American one.
The Bourbon
Town Branch is unusual among bourbons, in that it uses more malted barley than rye. The mash bill is 72 percent corn, 13 percent malted barley, and 15 percent rye. Bottled at 80 proof, the whiskey is aged for three years. The color is a light amber-gold, and there's a good deal of corn and butterscotch in both the nose and the taste. It has a short, sweet finish with a hint of cherry.
Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate
Henry Clay (1777–1852) was one of America's greatest statesmen. He was secretary of state under John Quincy Adams and served as both a U.S. senator and representative from Kentucky, including three terms as Speaker of the House. Clay earned the nickname the Great Compromiser for his role in the legislation that resulted in the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, both of which limited the expansion of slavery. Clay, who ran for president several times, was also famous for saying, “I'd rather be right than be president.” Of course, he was never president, but you might agree that he was certainly right about his choice of libation: Clay was a famous bourbon lover.
The front of Ashland, Henry Clay's Lexington estate.
Clay's bourbon of choice was Old Crow, a preference that one twentieth-century owner of the label (National Distillers) exploited in a series of print ads showing notable Americans purchasing or drinking Dr. James Crow's whiskey (others included Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Walt Whitman). It is said that Clay enjoyed his bourbon so much that it inspired him to jump up and dance on his banquet table. Although no footmarks can be seen on said table during a tour of Ashland today, it makes a great mental image. The eighteen-room mansion at 120 Sycamore Road, just off Richmond Road, is situated on twenty acres and only a few minutes’ drive from downtown. Both the house and the gardens are beautifully preserved. For more information, call 859-266-8581 or go to http://www.henryclay.org.
The Kentucky Horse Park and Horse Farm Tours
As you drive into Lexington from almost any direction, including on the interstate highways, you will see manicured, fence-lined pastures containing graceful, grazing Thoroughbreds. Many visitors to bourbon country also use their time here to get acquainted with Kentucky's horse country. For an excellent introduction to horses in general, as well as to the racing Thoroughbreds, visit the Kentucky Horse Park (4089 Iron Works Pike [just off I-75], 859-233-4303 or 800-678-8813, http://www.kyhorsepark.com), only a few minutes’ drive from downtown Lexington.
The 1,200-acre park has a state-of-the-art facility for dressage and eventing competitions. The annual Rolex Three Day Event is held there every spring. The year 2010 marked the first time the prestigious World Equestrian Games were held outside of Europe, and the Kentucky Horse Park hosted them (the main corporate sponsor was Lexington's Alltech).
Old Crow magazine ad from the 1950s.
Shaun Washington looks on as a visitor meets a Thoroughbred in a Keeneland barn.
The park is also home to many horses of many different breeds. You may recognize a Palomino, but you will also see such exotic animals as the red-spotted Knabstrupper. Altogether, there are some fifty breeds, ranging in size from miniature ponies (some dogs are bigger!) to massive draft horses such as the Clydesdales and Belgians. Two of the most popular attractions are the daily Parade of Breeds and the Horses of the World Show. Riders are outfitted in appropriate costumes from their horses’ native regions, and the horses themselves sport the appropriate tack.
Champion racehorse Cigar and Kentucky Derby winners Funny Cide and Go for Gin are among the residents, and visitors get to see them up close in the Hall of Champions, a small ring where handlers walk the horses. The International Museum of the Horse traces 50 million years of horse evolution and the shared history of horses and humans. One exhibit features an impressive array of wagons and carriages, and another covers the use of horses in war from ancient times to the twentieth century. A separate building houses the American Saddlebred Museum, devoted to the first horse breed developed in the United States, which originated in Kentucky.
Speaking of wagons, draft horses pull trolleys for tours around the park. And there are even trails where you can take to the saddle for an afternoon of leisurely riding. Pony rides are available for children.
If you want to visit some of the nearby horse farms, the park is the departure point for Unique Horse Farm Tours. These are conducted by Shaun Washington, who has worked in several capacities in the racing industry and provides a lively narrative about the farms, their owners, and their equine occupants. Tours vary, depending on which farms are open to visitors on a given day, but you may find yourself feeding peppermints to racehorses in the backside barns at Keeneland or visiting mares and newborns in a farm's foaling barn.
In addition to the tours out of the Kentucky Horse Park, two other Lexington-based companies offer horse farm tours: Bluegrass Tours (859-252-5744, http://www.bluegrasstours.com), which also has a combination distilleries and horse farm tour, and Thoroughbred Heritage Horse Farm Tours (859-260-8687, http://www.seethechampions.com), which concentrates on the horses.
If you are a racing fan, a visit to historic Keeneland Race Course (4201 Versailles Road, 859-254-3412 or 800-456-3412, http://keeneland.com) is a must. Meets are held in April and October. Even if there is no racing, you can start the day with breakfast in the track kitchen, which is open to the public. You can rub elbows with trainers, jockeys, and track staff over cooked-to-order eggs, grits, and bacon. Breakfast is served daily starting at 6 a.m.
More Horsepower in Nearby Georgetown
If you enjoyed the Kentucky Horse Park, you may be interested in two other attractions, each about ten minutes from the park in Georgetown.
Old Friends (1841 Paynes Depot Road, 502-863-1775, http://www.oldfriendsequine.org/) is a retirement farm for racehorses. The horses in residence include Eclipse Award winners and others that could not be retired to breeding for one reason or another. Visitors are allowed to interact with the horses. Tours are conducted daily at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m., except for the winter, when there is only one tour at 11 a.m. on Sundays. Reservations are required.
As the company likes to say, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (1001 Cherry Blossom Way, 800-866-4485, http://www.toyotageorgetown.com/tour.asp) specializes in a different kind of horsepower. This automobile assembly plant, located two and a half miles from I-75 exit 126, is Toyota's largest outside of Japan. It opened in 1988. Today it employs several thousand Kentuckians, features an interactive Visitors Center, and offers guided tours of the factory floor via electric trams. One wonders if Toyota's decision to locate in Kentucky might have been influenced by the famous Japanese fondness for bourbon. Certainly, the presence of Toyota executives and engineers from Japan means that Lexington has an abundance of excellent Japanese restaurants. The Visitors Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reservations are strongly recommended for the factory tours.
More Lexington Attractions
As you drive around Lexington, you'll notice a series of signs depicting a bright blue horse. Kentucky's famous bluegrass isn't actually blue (although, after a sip or two of bourbon, you might imagine a bluish cast to the intense green of a fresh spring pasture); nor does eating bluegrass turn horses blue. But if it did, they might look just like this one. In reality, the horse is a Photoshopped image of a painting of the great Thoroughbred named Lexington, and he acts as a colorful guidepost to the city's main attractions. The Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau has dubbed him “Big Lex.” Call 800-845-3959 or go to www.visitlex.com for information about the many non-bourbon-related attractions in the area.
Where to Eat and Drink
Lexington has a lively and varied restaurant scene, including many places with an excellent selection of bourbons. The following is only a small sample of the city's restaurants and bars, chosen with the bourbon drinker in mind. Most are located downtown or in neighborhoods on the edge of downtown. Pricing is indicated as follows: $—inexpensive, with most entrees priced at $15 or less; $$—moderate, at $16 to $25; and $$$—expensive, at $26 or higher.
a la lucie—159 North Limestone, 859-252-5277, http://www.alalucie.com/. Southern and continental, $$.
Al's Bar—601 North Limestone, 859-309-2901, http://alsbarlexington.com/. Sandwiches and the like, $.
Azur Restaurant & Patio—3070 Lakecrest Circle (Beaumont Centre), 859-296-1007, http://www.azurrestaurant.com/. New American, $$–$$$.
Bellini's—115 West Main Street, 859-388-9583, http://www.bellinislexington.com/. Italian, $$–$$$.
Bluegrass Tavern—115 Cheapside, 859-389-6664. No food, but more than 180 bourbons.
The Horse & Barrel.
Cheapside Bar & Grill—131 Cheapside, 859-254-0046, http://cheapsidebarandgrill.com/. American, $–$$.
deSha's—101 North Broadway, 859-259-3771, http://deshas.com/ Lexington. American, $$.
Dudley's on Short—259 West Short Street, 859-252-1010, http://www.dudleysrestaurant.com/. American, $$–$$$.
The Grey Goose—170 Jefferson Street, 859-233-1500. American, $–$$.
The Horse & Barrel—107 North Broadway, 859-259-3771. English pub, $.
Jonathan at Gratz Park—120 West Second Street, 859-252-4949, http://jagp.info/. American, $$–$$$.
Lynagh's Irish Pub—384 Woodland Avenue, 859-255-1292, http://www.lynaghsirishpub.com/. Pub grub, $.
Malone's Steakhouse—3347 Tates Creek Road, 859-335-6500, http://www.bluegrasshospitality.com/malones/index.html. Steak house, $$–$$$.
Merrick Inn—1074 Merrick Drive, 859-269-5417, http://themerrickinn.com/. Southern, $$.
Nick Ryan's Saloon—157 Jefferson Street, 859-233-7900, http://nickryans.com/. American, $$.
Portofino—249 Main Street, 859-253-9300, http://www.portofinolexington.com/. Italian, $$$.
Skybar—269 West Main Street (penthouse level), 859-368-7900, http://www.skybarlex.com/. Contemporary and sushi, $$.
Stella's Kentucky Deli—143 Jefferson Street, 859-255-3354, http://stellaskentuckydeli.com/. American, $.
Table Three Ten—310 West Short Street, 859-309-3901, http://www.table-three-ten.com/. American, $$.
Tachibana—785 Newtown Court, 859-254-1911, http://www.tachibanarestaurant.com/. Japanese, $–$$.
Tomo Restaurant—848 East High Street, 859-269-9291, http://www.tomolex.com/. Japanese, $$.
The Tulip Bistro & Bar—355 Romany Road, 859-367-6687, http://www.thetulipbistroandbar.com/. $$.
Where to Stay
Lexington is served by most of the major hotel and motel chains, and the latter can be found at many highway interchanges. For bed-and-breakfasts in the area, go to http://www.kentuckybb.com/ lexington-kentucky-bed-breakfast.html. Listed here are the larger hotels, some of which are historic, and many of which are pickup points for tour buses. All the hotel bars have a selection of bourbons. Rates listed are the establishment's lowest. Special features and suites cost more, and daily rates can vary, so you will probably be quoted a higher rate, depending on when you want to stay.
Crowne Plaza Lexington, The Campbell House—1375 South Broadway, 859-255-4281 or 800-227-6963, http://www.thecampbellhouse.net. $109.
Gratz Park Inn—120 West Second Street, 859-231-1777 or 800-752-4166, http://www.gratzparkinn.com. $179.
Griffin Gate Marriott Resort & Spa—1800 Newtown Pike (I-75 exit 115), 859-231-5100 or 877-204-8020, http://www.griffingatemarriott.com. $209.
Hilton Lexington Downtown—369 West Vine Street, 859-231-9000 or 877-539-1648, http://www.lexingtondowntown.hilton.com. $189.
The Gratz Park Inn.
Hyatt Regency Lexington—401 High Street, 859-253-1234 or 800-233-1234, http://www.lexington.hyatt.com. $199.
Inn on Broadway—1301 South Broadway, 859-519-2060, http://www.innonbroadwaylex.com. $67.
Also, what has to be one of the most unusual accommodations in the state can be found just off US 60 near Keeneland Race Course. For $195 a night, you can stay at The Castle Post (230 Pisgah Pike, Versailles, 859-879-1000, http://www.thecastlepost.com), a replica of a medieval European castle.
The Master Distiller
Dating from the time of Dr. James Crow, many distillers have declared their pride in their bourbons by putting their own names on the labels. Even today, when many distilleries are large businesses or even parts of multinational corporations, many of the most sought-after bourbons bear the names of the distillers who created them—Russell's Reserve (Jimmy and Eddie Russell of Wild Turkey), Parker's Heritage (Parker Beam of Heaven Hill), Booker's (the late Booker Noe of Jim Beam).
So what exactly does a master distiller do? Distilleries employ scores of people who are engaged in monitoring the yeast tubs, fermenters, and stills, not to mention the men and women who make up the tasting panels that check the flavors of new and aging bourbons. But the master distiller is ultimately responsible for ensuring the quality and consistency of a distillery's products and for developing new expressions and brands of bourbon.
Not long ago, I traveled to Four Roses with my friend Mike Veach (archivist at Louisville's Filson Historical Society and a bourbon historian), where we spent a fascinating morning with master distiller Jim Rutledge and quality-control manager Brent Elliott. We started out in a room that most distillery visitors never see: the quality-control lab. With white counters, shelves filled with glasses and beakers, and several scientific instruments, the room feels like a hybrid chemistry lab and kitchen. Labeled sample bottles of new and aged whiskey sit on the shelves and countertops, and a glass-fronted cabinet contains bottles of every Four Roses brand, as well as the brands of several other distilleries.
Jim and Brent have lined up several stemmed glasses containing clear new whiskies. Each is topped with a watch glass, acting as a lid to keep the liquid's aroma from escaping. Four Roses is famous for having ten different bourbon recipes that involve two mash bills and five different yeast strains, and Jim is about to demonstrate the importance of the yeast to Mike and me. Two of the glasses are OBSV and OBSK, meaning that both whiskies have been distilled here in Lawrenceburg (O), both have been made with the B mash bill (60 percent corn, 35 percent rye, 5 percent barley), and both are straight whiskies (S). They differ only in the yeast strain. As Jim explains, the V strain imparts a “delicate fruitiness” to the whiskey, while the K strain is “slightly spicy.” Without looking at the labels, Mike and I lift the watch glasses one at a time and nose the whiskey. One indeed has spicy aroma (nutmeg?), and the other is floral (the power of suggestion, given the Four Roses name, or is it really roses?).
We then compare samples of OBSO and OESO recipes. This time, the yeast strain is the same (the O yeast is supposed to lend “rich fruitiness” to the flavor profile), but the mash bills are different. The E mash bill is 75 percent corn, 20 percent rye, and 5 percent barley. Intriguingly, although fruit is apparent in the noses of both, the whiskey with the lighter rye content also has a lighter fruit character.
Four Roses master distiller Jim Rutledge. (Courtesy of Four Roses)
We spent the better part of two hours smelling and comparing. Eventually, we nosed and tasted various expressions of Four Roses, including a single-barrel bourbon made with one of the recipes we had nosed in a new whiskey. The flavors were still present, but now they were augmented by vanilla and caramel from the time spent in the wood.
Like all master distillers, Jim makes sure the whiskey has the character he wants before it goes into the barrel, and he checks the whiskey periodically as it ages by extracting tiny amounts from the barrels. It is the master distiller who determines when a bourbon has reached the point where it is ready for bottling.
Part chemist and part artist, a master distiller is also very much an ambassador. Jim (and several other master distillers I asked) told me that he spends about 70 percent of his time traveling to promote his bourbons. He conducts tastings in restaurants and liquor stores not just in Kentucky and the United States but also in other countries, including Japan, where Four Roses is extremely popular.
Even though none of the Four Roses bourbons is named for Jim, his name is printed on the labels of many of the expressions. Even better, Mike and I each left with a Jim Rutledge–signed bottle of Four Roses Single Barrel.
