Day 3 on the Bourbon Trail and time to head home
The time had come, our final day in Louisville, but definitely not my last. After all, I have the field guide to finish! Yesterday, the hail came and today, the snowfall! It snowed briefly and it felt like shaved ice falling from the sky. The snow then turned into something not quite rain like before stopping. I was so excited about seeing snowfall! I hadn’t seen it before!
Breakfast at Con Huevos Craves
Breakfast was a shorter walk today as we wanted to stay closer to the hotel and Old Forester for the tour. We ate at Con Huevos and my pancakes were decadent! There are two different locations - one is a full-service restaurant and one is an outpost inside Falls City Market. I believed I was directing us toward the full-service restaurant and instead took us to the second location. We ordered at the counter and waited about 15-20 minutes for our food. I ordered the tres leches pancakes, eggs, and coffee. I am still thinking about those pancakes. Once I bit into those, I didn’t feel as bad about taking us to the smaller location.
Tour at Old Forester
The tour at Old Forester is tied with Angel’s Envy as my favorite tour of the trip. Our guide, Carly, was amazing and shared her knowledge with us. This was our fifth tour of the trip and by now I was able to put all the pieces together.
Old Forester is conveniently located across the street from our hotel making it an ideal final distillery before going to the airport. It’s still a working distillery, but makes only 10% of all Old Forester and is kept more for historical purposes and tours. The bourbon is named after Dr. William Forrester (The double R isn’t a typo here!) and the distillery was founded by George Garvin Brown of the Brown Foreman Company.
Carly explained that bourbon was sold in pharmacies as medicine. Headache? Bourbon. Toothache? Bourbon. Infection? Put some bourbon on it and drink it too! Once she shared this, I understood now how distilleries were able to receive a medicinal license during Prohibition. We learned about this on yesterday’s tour! Old Forrester received one of these licenses. It is the only family-owned distillery in America to be open before, during, and after Prohibition. It is still led by the Brown family today.
Don’t drink that, you’ll go blind.
During Prohibition, con artists would taint bourbon barrels and sell them on the black market. They added all kinds of toxic things to the liquid, including gunpowder. This led to the phrase, “Don’t drink that, you’ll go blind.” Because of this, Brown began to seal and bottle the bourbon in glass and signed each bottle as a guarantee of quality.
Where’d the double R go?
When Dr. Forrester retired from practicing medicine in the early 1900s, the company retired the double R.
Talk to me about barrels.
Bourbon can be aged in a charred container of any shape, oak, or size, but barrels are the easiest. There are 29-31 wood pieces in a barrel and they are held together by iron rivets. The barrels add 100% of the color to a bourbon and over 50% of the flavor. Old Forester is the only distiller to own their own cooperage and make their own barrels. At their downtown distillery, they make 10 barrels a day in their cooperage. We got to watch a barrel get charred and someone on our tour was able to push the button to do so! So, so cool.
Now onto the aging.
The barrels are aged in a temperature-controlled rack house. Unlike other distilleries, they don’t rotate the barrels during the aging process. Instead, they use heat cycling as it helps to mature the bourbon faster. Maturity in taste matters more than the age of the barrel.
After the tour was the tasting. Carly expertly guided us through tasting the bourbons and we got two chocolates from a local candy company. I learned I enjoy drinking Old Forester and thankfully they’re available at the liquor store by me! I wouldn’t have to schlep too much of it home. However, there was a limited edition bourbon only available at this location and I picked up two bottles.
If you’re in Louisville, definitely check out Old Forester and grab a tour with Carly!
Shopping at Art Eatables and lunch at ATG Sandwich Emporium
Following the tour and visit to the distillery shop, we quickly walked to Art Eatables a half mile away. The candy company partnered with several of the distilleries we visited to create bourbon chocolates and matching candies for the tastings. I love the modjeskas and bought a bag for me and my dad to share. I’m not usually fond of salted chocolate, but this is too good. Rachel picked up a few things and the store associate recommended a sandwich shop on our way back. ATG was the perfect place for us to grab a quick but filling lunch before our flight.
Now to pack the suitcase…
I prepared in advance knowing I’d want to bring bourbon home and offered space in my bag to Rachel. I also packed a soft duffle if I needed a second carry-on. My parents lent me their hardshell suitcase which was perfect for the trip. Combined, Rachel and I had 5 bottles of bourbon and 10 mini bottles to bring back home. I carefully wrapped and double-wrapped the bottles in our clothes, creating enough cushion around them to avoid breaking or shifting. The suitcase was 35 lbs and with my American Airlines credit card, I get one free checked bag. This was definitely working in our favor! The airlines don’t offer fragile stickers anymore for luggage. All we could do now was hope and have faith in my packing skills. Lucky for us, everything arrived in one piece and didn’t shift at all! We only purchased bottles we wouldn’t be able to find back in Florida and I actively checked the Total Wine & More store app in each distillery we visited. Not only did I look for availability, but I price-shopped! It wasn’t always cheaper at the distillery…
Wrapping it up
This was a wonderful trip. Looking back, I can piece together more of the bourbon and American histories. I have a greater appreciation and understanding of bourbon. I may not have loved all the tours, but I found value in going on each one. Rachel is a great travel partner and friend, and I can’t wait to adventure with her again!
Thank you for following along on our trip. I hope this inspires you to visit Louisville and the Bourbon Trail. If you want to support my travel blog, you can buy a digital download of our itinerary here. This 3-night Louisville itinerary includes the hotel, distillery tours, Churchill Downs, and restaurant recommendations.