Another session of the Kentucky Sampler, hosted by the Kentucky Whisky Chicks, has drawn to a close. This session focused on the Kentucky River basin distilleries, featuring Town Branch, Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey 81, Four Roses Small Batch, and Bulleit. Chris Zaborowski, proprietor of Westport Whiskey and Wine, led the discussion of the history of each distillery.
The Whisky Chicks is an organization founded by Linda Ruffenach to give women the opportunity to enjoy bourbon together with other women. Ruffenach designed this series to give the Whisky Chicks an opportunity to learn bourbon history and tasting together. Each session focuses on a different region of Kentucky where bourbon distilleries are clustered.
The history of how these distilleries came to be is always fun to hear. We’ve all heard a thousand times that the best bourbon is made in Kentucky because of the limestone filtered water. But what you may not know is that the different regions have different amounts of limestone, some deeper than others. This influences the taste of the bourbon. A Master Distiller at a Kentucky River Basin distillery might have a difficult time making a great batch of bourbon at a Salt River Basin distillery, for example. The water matters.
Zaborowski teaches whiskey tasting in a way that is not at all intimidating. Tonight he talked about that “aha” moment we all have to have in the process of discovering our love of bourbon. Many of us had bad experiences early on that made us shy away. But then we all had that one “aha” experience that made us realize that bourbon is actually really great. He added that, “sensory memory is always stronger than your rote memory.” In other words, your “aha” moment is going to make more of an impression than reading ten books espousing the virtues of bourbon.
If you haven’t started the process of learning bourbon tasting, now is the time. The next Whisky Chicks Kentucky Sampler will be November 12 at Westport Whiskey and Wine. Tickets will be available soon by clicking here.
Photos Courtesy of Maggie Kimberl
