Kentucky Bourbon Boys – Just Get in the Car

Getting to know Tim Hagan and The Kentucky Bourbon Boys

Just Get in the Car — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 19:11:46 +0000

It’s no surprise that Shawn has come to appreciate his bourbon, and he and his college buddies recently enjoyed a trip to Louisville, Kentucky to imbibe. While there, they had a great time experiencing the history, knowledge, and bourbon included in their tour with The Kentucky Bourbon Boys. You’ve read about that before – but we’ve decided to get to know the Chief Operating Officer, Tim Hagan, a little bit better. Here are some of his answers to our questions!

How did you get started with the bourbon tours and Kentucky Bourbon Boys?

The Kentucky Bourbon Boys started as a Hagan family outing with a group of nine men and one female driver in 2011.

The group was made up of novice bourbon drinkers and at that time, the passport for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail was smaller, with only six distilleries on the official trail. The group needed a driver for the day, so they recruited their daughter/niece/cousin/sister-in-law for the task. Seeing it as an opportunity for some good social media and blog content, she agreed.

The first bourbon tour was a prototype for all we’ve done for our guests since. We had a 15-passenger van, a steady driver, and memorable stories along the way. We learned about bourbon, the history, process, and stories of each distillery, and sampled some we hadn’t tried previously. Even better, we genuinely enjoyed the day together. On that day, our driver tagged us as the “Kentucky Bourbon Boys.”

A month later we toured a second round of distilleries, and an idea was born. What if we could do this for other people? How exciting would it be to take others on tours to these amazing locations, share our knowledge of what we knew along the way about bourbon, Kentucky, our history, culture, and more?

In 2015 the idea came to life and we officially formed the business – Kentucky Bourbon Boys, and since then, the rest, as they say, is history.

We’ve met new friends at the distilleries and along the way, and thousands of visitors from across the U.S.A. and around the world on our customized tours throughout the state. We strive to provide a unique and truly Kentucky experience – as evident in our motto – “Bourbon country done right!”

Can you tell us a little about Kentucky Bourbon Boys and what they offer?

The Kentucky Bourbon Boys focus on private, custom bourbon tours. Each tour is unique to the group, with three distilleries chosen by the guests (sometimes with advice from us) for tours and tastings, and lunch at a local restaurant. At times, a horse farm tour can be substituted in place of a distillery. Tours are organized by region to minimize drive times and maximize time at the distilleries. As a family business, we treat guests like family.

Groups can choose to visit the Bardstown area, in our SOUTH region, which is the “Bourbon Capital of the World!” The town also has been named the “Most Beautiful Small Town in America.” Distilleries in the area include Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Barton’s, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Willett, Lux Row, Limestone Branch, and Preservation.

Another option is to head to our EAST region, home of horse farms and the following distilleries – Buffalo Trace, Woodford, Wild Turkey, Four Roses, Castle & Key, Wilderness Trail, James Pepper, Bulleit Distilling Company, Jeptha Creed, Barrel House, Bluegrass Distilling, Hartfield & Company, Alltech, and Three Boys Farm.

In the Louisville area region, guests can choose between Bulleit Stitzel-Weller, Kentucky Artisan, Rabbit Hole, Evan Williams, Peerless, Michter’s, Old Forester, and Angel’s Envy.

Lunch is included in the cost of the tour day, along with all admissions, transportation, snacks and waters. We pre-order lunches, sending guests a menu and order form to complete and return prior to the trip. The restaurants are ready for us when we arrive, making the day flow smoothly and maximizing our time.

Guests that want something unique can choose one of our premium tour experiences, from shooting clays, enjoying pit barbecue, and a bourbon tour (Bullets, BBQ, and Bourbon) to tours at E.H. Taylor distilleries (Historic Bourbon Tour) or the Bourbon Behind the Scenes tour (specialty tours at Maker’s Mark and more). There are several new offerings coming soon!

[Note from Just Get in the Car: due to age restrictions that must be met, we were unable to link to any of the above distilleries! Good thing we know you know how to use google!]

What is it that makes Kentucky Bourbon the best whiskey in the country (maybe the world)?

There are more bourbon barrels aging in Kentucky than there are people (actually the ratio is 2:1 now). There are multiple factors that led to Kentucky becoming the epicenter of bourbon production.

First of all, it is a common misunderstanding that bourbon has to come from Kentucky. Although 95% or more is produced here, bourbon is the only American spirit. Bourbon can be made anywhere in the United States, and there are new bourbon distilleries opening across the country.

A good rule of thumb is to remember that “All bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon.” Rye whiskey and scotch are good examples.

So what makes the difference? A few basic rules to know include:

* The mash must be 51% corn or more (and most are much more)

* The spirit cannot come off the still at higher than 160 proof

* The white dog (spirit) cannot enter the barrel higher than 125 proof

* Bourbon cannot enter the bottle lower than 80 proof

* The spirit must age in a new, charred, white oak barrel

* Nothing can be added to the liquid other than water

Kentucky had all the factors needed for bourbon to come into being. Settlers brought distilling skills with them from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Although other grains were used in those areas, corn was abundant here. Farms and small towns had little in the way of industry or jobs, and whiskey was cash. Just imagine the difference a barrel of whiskey could bring versus a wagon load of corn?

Water is a key to the quality of bourbon. Kentucky sits on a limestone shelf (hello, Mammoth Cave!) which filters water, removing iron and adding calcium and magnesium. This makes water clear, clean, and tasty – perfect for making good bourbon.

The last feature is the weather. Kentucky has a wide range of temperatures, with lows around zero and highs near 100 degrees. The temperature fluctuation cause expansion and contraction of the barrels, pulling the liquid into the wood and drawing flavor into the bourbon. Rickhouses (the barns that hold the barrels) are low tech, typically without electricity. The barrels age for at least four years with nature working its magic.

Once the barrel is emptied, it cannot be reused for bourbon. When you travel to Ireland and Scotland (and many other parts of the world) you will see bourbon barrels from various distilleries. Breweries, furniture makers, and food producers utilize used barrels as well.

For someone getting started with bourbon, what advice would you give them? And are there particular brands that would provide them with a good introduction?

Without getting into naming specific brands, the best way for someone to learn more about bourbon is to read blog posts, listen to podcasts, read online materials, and visit local bourbon events.

Prices are becoming exorbitant for some well known, high profile bourbons. A newcomer doesn’t have to be misled by this, and can find plenty of good options at very reasonable costs.

It doesn’t matter what other people like – everyone has a different palate and some bourbons will appeal to one person, while another might not like them at all.

The best way to get started is to try a bourbon cocktail, such as an old-fashioned. Be sure though to ask what bourbon is being used, because every old-fashioned will taste different depending on the bourbon used. A bottom shelf $10 bourbon will be very different from a medium priced bourbon.

Once you’ve tried some bourbon cocktails, try a mid-priced bourbon with an ice cube or two. The ice slowly melts and opens up the drink, taking a little edge off the bite of the alcohol and making more flavors noticeable. You can skip the ice and add a small amount of water to do the same thing. A pour should only be about an ounce or two at most, and should be SIPPED. There’s just no such thing as shooting a bourbon (only in cowboy movies).

Finally, take a tour. Each distillery provides anywhere from two to five glasses on a tasting, and the guide will teach guests how to drink bourbon.

Do you have a favorite distiller or bourbon brand?

They’re all good! Depending on the day and mood, a different bourbon fits the bill. Some are higher in proof than others, and some are sweeter or spicier. It all depends on what you like.

When is the best time to come to Kentucky and Louisville for some Bourbon tasting?

Distilleries are open year round, but are closed on most major holidays. During the summer, usually July or August, production may be on hold while deep cleaning is completed.

April – May and September – October are the prime times to visit, but one should expect big crowds. Many offer special tours on weekdays, and those with a bottling line only run on weekdays.

When you are not on the Bourbon Trail, what do you like to do in the Louisville area? Are there any sights, landmarks or restaurants you would recommend to out of towners?

Louisville has become a food destination, with multiple recognitions for the variety of great restaurants. On top of that, they all have a bourbon selection that can be overwhelming! There are too many to list here, but we can offer some ideas specific to the interests of a group.

Whiskey Row, or Main Street, is the gateway to bourbon country. There are five distilleries on this historic street (Angel’s Envy, Old Forester, Michter’s, Evan Williams, and Peerless) with Rabbit Hole just two blocks south. Nearby one can visit Bulleit Stitzel-Weller and Kentucky Artisan Distillery.

Churchill Downs is the historic home of the Kentucky Derby. Racing runs from late April through June, and again in October through Thanksgiving weekend.

The Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and Museum is a must-see – on weekdays you’ll see your favorite player bats being made! Nearby, the Muhammad Ali Center is a gem.

Louisville’s Waterfront Park is an award-winning site, with several miles of walking paths, sculptures, swings, food, splash parks, and more. A walking bridge crossed the Ohio River, with outstanding views of the city. On the Indiana side guests can visit multiple restaurants and a bourbon and cigar bar.

What are some of the hidden gems in the Louisville or along the Bourbon Trail that most tourists don’t know about?

The Parklands are a string of new beautiful parks connecting around the outer edge of Louisville. Eventually, the plan is for the parks to link up over 100 miles around the perimeter of the city.

Historic home tours in the center of the city offer a look into America’s past – the duPont’s had a home in the district, and the St. James Art Fair every October brings thousands of visitors to the city.

Amish farms and stores, bicycle routes that pass through horse country, Mammoth Cave (two hours south), and water sports are all worthwhile options.

NCAA Basketball – Kentucky Wildcats or Louisville Cardinals?

These are fighting words! Actually, when people move into the area, one of the first questions they get is “Are you red or blue?” Blue is for Kentucky Wildcats, red is for Louisville Cardinals. Some of the Kentucky Bourbon Boys are staunch fans of one team or the other, but support the other team until they play one another. Then, LOOK OUT! If we lose in chess to the other team, it makes for a long year!

-Shawn

Louisville, the Bourbon City

Just Get in the Car — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 18:54:55 +0000

On Friday night, a buddy of mine came over and we talked Bourbon. We discussed our favorite brands and some of the flavor profiles of what we were drinking, and I got to thinking about how much my drinking pallet has changed over the years. In my teenage years, it was whatever we could steal from dad and drink in the cemetery, while my college years could be referred to as my “Red Dog” years. I may not have matured much, but my drinking has. Like many others, I enjoy craft beer. But bourbon is now my go-to drink.

While our kids were trashing my house, and our wives chatted over a bottle of wine, we got to talking about one of our favorite cities in America: the Bourbon City, Louisville.

If you have not been to Louisville, or “Loo-a-vul”, as the locals say, then you are really missing out. If you enjoy sporting events, restaurants, or nature, there is plenty to do and see in and around the city. But the biggest reason to visit Louisville is bourbon. Even if you don’t enjoy the drink, you will probably enjoy the history, the process, and the friendliness of everyone involved.

Though there are not any top-tier professional sports teams in Louisville, the city is still a great place to visit for any sports fan. Its most famous for the Kentucky Derby, perhaps the most famous horse race in the world. Even when the race isn’t happening, Churchill Downs is still a great place to visit any time of the year to learn about horse racing (and enjoy a mint julep!). If you are not into racing, there is minor league soccer and baseball. Boxing fans can enjoy the Muhammed Ali Center, college basketball fans get the Louisville Cardinals, and everyone should check out the Louisville Slugger Museum.

Nature lovers are also in luck. Our crew loved checking out the fossils at the Falls of the Ohio State Park across the river in Indiana (although we did not see any waterfalls). And not too far away is Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system in the world.

Foodies would also love this place, as its probably one of the most underrated restaurant and bar scenes in America. Besides tons of great restaurants, it also has a cool bar scene with plenty of microbrews and speakeasies to visit. So check out their food offerings, and make sure you try a Hot Brown.

But the real reason you should visit Louisville is the bourbon. In Kentucky, bourbon is not just a drink, its an art. And the artists there are more than happy to share their magic with you. Downtown Louisville has several bourbon bars and tasting rooms where you can sample the local craft. But the best way to experience Kentucky bourbon is to visit the distilleries and learn about things from the distillers themselves.

But how do you choose where to go? There are over 50 distilleries all over Kentucky! And is it really a smart idea to drive around and limit how much delicious bourbon you get to try at these places? After all, most of it might not even be available where you live. Luckily, there are plenty of groups that will take care of that work for you. But in our opinion, the best is the Kentucky Bourbon Boys. Want to visit Louisville or other distilleries around Kentucky? Just tell them where you want to go, and they will book your tours, drive you there, and even make sure you eat. And they do it all with the Southern Hospitality you would expect from Kentucky!

But what the hell do we know? You would rather hear about this from an expert, right? Well good news! Tomorrow, we are going to have a post from our friend Tim at the Kentucky Bourbon Boys. And he will tell you all about how and why you should enjoy bourbon, and why you should visit Louisville and let them show you around. Stay tuned!

-Shawn

Exploring Louisville with The Kentucky Bourbon Boys

Just Get in the Car — Fri, 24 May 2019 17:54:06 +0000

Ah, bourbon. Besides jazz and anything from the Kardashians, it may be America’s greatest artistic output. And bourbon making is truly an art form. There are some simple rules to follow: it has to be made in the US, be at least 51% corn, aged in a new, charred oak barrel, and be between 80 and 160 proof. Distillers can add other grains, such as rye, wheat and malted barley, but nothing else to create flavor. So no sugar, honey, fruit etc. Within these limitations, distillers are able to create some amazingly varied spirits, and some of the best whiskey in the world. Though bourbon can be made anywhere in the United States, a true aficionado knows that the best bourbon is made in Kentucky.

My college friends and I are all turning 40 this year. We somehow convinced the wives to stay home with the kids and let us “celebrate” out of town. However, I think that they were either just happy to see us go, or were planning on holding this over our heads for the next 40 years. Despite still having the maturity of 16 year olds, we are no longer satisfied with shots of Goldschläger and 30 packs of Red Dog. Our palates are slightly more sophisticated now, and we are all people that appreciate art. Since one of us had recently been to New Orleans, and LA was too far for a KUWTK tour, we decided that bourbon was the way to go. So we made a trip to the heart of Bourbon Country: Louisville, Kentucky.

It was my job to set up the distillery tours and tastings for the trip. With over 36 distilleries on the official Kentucky Bourbon Trail alone, this looked to be quite a task. Some are in dry counties, so you can tour, but not sample. For each, we would need to figure out the tour times and prices, and coordinate driving multiple cars back and forth, which didn’t seem like such a great idea when we were planning on sampling bourbon all day. So I began looking into tour groups to help me figure this out. After looking through several different companies, I found one that seemed just right for our crew: The Kentucky Bourbon Boys.

The Kentucky Bourbon Boys do private and customizable tours for your group, big or small. The price was right: two distillery tours, a tasting at a third, lunch, snacks and transportation all day for about $150 a person. Between that and the dozens of positive reviews, I figured these were my “boys”. After some careful consideration (OK, drinking), I chose a couple distilleries around Louisville and got ready for our trip. The only other thing I needed to do after that was let them know what I wanted for lunch. They sent out a confirmation about our itinerary, and also offered some other suggestions for things to check out during our stay.

The day of our tour came and Roger, our driver / guide for the day, came to pick us up where we were staying. We didn’t have to travel to some central meeting point and get on a bus with a bunch of strangers. The tour was just the six of us and our host. He brought a bag of snacks, some water, Gatorade, as well as a sense of humor and a lot patience, which probably came in handy for dealing with our six dumbasses all day. By coincidence (honest!) four of us went on the tour in red polos and khaki shorts. We looked like a crew of greeters from Target on our lunch break. After we loaded onto the bus, we went to our first stop: Stitzel-Weller Distillery.

Stitzel-Weller is one of the more impressive distilleries I have seen. The grounds have some large buildings that were used to store hundreds of thousands of gallons of whiskey. While the original distillers went out of business, the grounds (as well as the aging whiskey casks in those tall buildings) were sold to Diageo and turned over to another Kentucky bourbon maker: Bulleit. We joined a larger group for this tour, where a bachelorette party assumed our red shirts meant we were the tour guides. One of the women assured us the girls would have followed us “anywhere”…but only after we told them the truth! Damnit!

The tour here was probably the most impressive: our guide walked us through the distilling process in their experimental lab, showed us how some of the barrels were stored for aging, then brought us into a nice big room for the most important part: sampling. We got to try four different whiskeys they make, explained the different processes used for them, and gave us some scoring sheets to help us identify the flavors. I just focused on drinking the whiskey in front of me – the paper and pencil made me feel like I was taking some kind of whiskey SAT.

With our bellies warmed with whiskey and bourbon (yes, there is a difference – all bourbons are whiskies, but not all whiskies are bourbons), it was time for lunch. We made our way back to downtown Louisville for lunch at Against the Grain Brewery. Lunch was preordered, so it was ready for us when we got there. Though it was not included in the cost, we all decided to get a sample of their beer while visiting – also well worth it. If you find yourself in Louisville, make sure you stop by for some of their beer as well as their brisket with a side of their Brussel sprouts. They were delicious.

Next stop was a tasting at a distillery that was new to me – Kentucky Peerless Distilling, also in downtown Louisville. They are a craft distillery that only uses sweet mash – fresh yeast, as opposed to reusing previously fermented yeast from other batches. Our host there was very friendly and knowledgeable – she told us all about their history and processes, while also giving some insight into each of the whiskies we were trying. We also found some nice red shirts for the other two guys in our group to purchase in the gift shop. Sadly, they decided they were too cool for Team Target.

Finally, we made our way east of the city to the one I was most looking forward to: Kentucky Artisan Distillery, makers of Jefferson bourbon. Though the facility was smaller than Bulleit’s, they also gave a pretty impressive tour – they even had some sour mash in open vats so that we can have a taste. And don’t worry – they scooped it out. I didn’t stick my nasty-ass hands in your beloved bourbon. They also told us about one of the most interesting whiskey aging processes I have heard of – they stick a bunch of barrels on a ship that travels around the world for eight months a year, aging and mixing the whiskey as it goes from the Artic to the Equator along the ocean. Jefferson’s Ocean had an interesting flavor as a result. It was not my favorite of their offerings, but I was impressed with the creativity in aging and flavoring it. You should set up a visit and try it for yourself.

With our tours for the day over, Roger was still cool enough to drive us around a bit more. We stopped at the Louisville Slugger Museum store so we could pick up some mini-bats (OK, weapons) for the kids. After that, he brought us back home to drop off some of our things, so we could head out for the night unencumbered. He then brought us to a cool bar he recommended: Holy Grale, a former Unitarian Church converted into an awesome bar with some great food. Sacrilicious!

Kentucky Bourbon Boys – Just Get in the Car

Getting to know Tim Hagan and The Kentucky Bourbon Boys

-Shawn

Louisville, the Bourbon City

-Shawn

Exploring Louisville with The Kentucky Bourbon Boys

~ Shawn