Bourbon and horses and people
Teri and I set out for an adventure to Kentucky and the Bourbon Trail in late September. On the recomendation of my golfing buddy, Phil, we were going to use Rabbit Creek Bed and Breakfast in Versaillas, Ky as our base for our trips to the different distilleries in the area. Phil had mentioned that the owners of Rabbit Creek were horse people and that their son was the trainer of this years (2022) Kentucky Derby winner. I was a bit too excited for the trip. It was going to be a 6+ hour drive and I was thinking maybe we will leave Sunday and go a couple of hours and stay for the night somewhere. Well my old mind just turned that into we need to be at Rabbit Creek on Sunday. Well we arrived a day early at Rabbit Creek,, The owner, Herbie Reed was out fishing and his wife was still in Prague. But one of the sons showed us to our room and we settled in. We then went into town for dinner. We settled in for the night and there was a knock on the door. It was Herbie, he was very appologitic about not being there when we arrived, he said 'they said we didnt have anyone arriving until monday'. I said its all good , no worries. After a restful night I went down for coffee in the morning and told Herbie that I had checked the reservation and he was correct, I screwed up and came a day early. Herbie laughed as said he was glad he wasn't lossing his mind. He then showed me his jacket that says 'I am the sire of the 148th Kentucy Derby winner'. Herbie's son Eric is the trainer of Rich Strike, this years Derby winner. What a story he told about Eric and the Derby win. Then we were joined for coffee by another man who seemed to be at home in Rabbit Creek. Herbie introduced him as Jeff. Herbie said, ' Jeff is an auctioneer in town for the world's largest yearling horse sale at Keeneland. Jeff is a regular here at Rabbit Creek. Teri came down for breakfast and what a spread Gabby had preparred. First was fruit cups with a little yogart, followed by eggs, bacon, hash browns and muffins. Herbie joind us for breakfast along with Jeff. We did the usual intorductions. Herbie gave us his story of how he got into horses and how it connected to his son Eric and the Derby. Jeff lives in Tennesse and does the horse auctions at Keeneland in addition to Barrett-Jackson auto auctions and others throught the country. We told them we were here to do the Bourbon Trail. Jeff mentions that we should stop by Keeneland and see the horse auction. Herbie agreed that we should go see the auction (it goes on for a week) and see the grounds and race track. We added this to our to-do list.
First up was a trip to Buffalo Trace. I wasn't able to get us a tour or tasting reservation there. Make a note if you are going on the Bourbon Trail, make reservations here FIRST to plan the dates you are coming, the tours fill up months in advance. Buffalo Trace was about 20 min from Rabbit Creek toward Frankfort. They run an organized location. You get in line for the tours or visitor center (store), they check your ID and give you a wrist band that they can scan to prove you are of drinking age. The Visitor Center opens at 9am and they have the day's specials (usually some of their allocated, difficult to get offerings). You are allowed one per customer to purchase. Typical me, they had Blantons the day before. They have the usual shirts, bar items and most of their normal offerings. Buffalo Trace has a family of many spirits, Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, EH Taylor, Van Winkle, George T Stagg, Sazerac Rye, Blantons, W L Weller and many others. We were not in a tour but you could walk the grounds. Beautiful old buildings that were still used to make spirits.
These are the families of Buffalo Trace spirits.
Building on the left is the Blantons building. The grounds are nicely landscaped.
We spend time in the visitor center but didnt find anything we needed, there was a nice neon Buffalo Trace sign that would look really good in the house, but a bit pricey. Ha ha ha .
So we rode down the road from Buffalo Trace and found a river walk park and decied to check it out. What a surprise. There were several examples of dry stack walls and signs explaining the styles and construction. In the area there are miles of these dry stack walls around the farms. Suddenly all I could see was Whitney, tools in hand making magic.
On this wall notice the stones sticking out ,, those are steps so people can walk over the wall.
We had some time before our tour of Three Boys Farm Distillery so we decided to ride by Castle and Key Distillery. It was closed but what a beauriful building. It was the old EH Taylor Distillery and has been restored. I wish we could have seen the inside. Maybe next time.
Now it was time for our first distillery tour. Three Boys Farm is a craft distillary. They do not product the volume of the bigger distilleries.
The still.
The mash bill (ratio of Corn, Rye and Barley) of todays tastings.
What's a farm without a barn on the hill.
Mash Bill #5 and Teri is going to fill our bottle.
Barrel heads are so pretty.
We left Three Boys Farm with two bottles, the #5 bill was nice and there were two other bills we tasted. We liked the Anniversery 9.5 year 68/20/12 and also got a small bottle of it.
It was time for supper so we headed into Versailles for pizza but while Google said they had pizza, they didn't, but it was good anyway. 
I mean where else do you get a booth with Louis for dinner?
Tuesday it was time for a quick trip to Keeneland to walk around before we hit the road to Woodford Reserve Distilery. We rode over and rambled around the area to find a place to park. Keeneland is a big facility with Auction area, race track, training areas, ands LOTS of trucks and horse trailers. We found our way to the auction. It was amazing,, first the horses are walked through an arena lined with people with catalogs of the sale. Then they are walked into another arena to walk around an be seen by potential bidders. From there they go to the main stage where the auction takes place. Jeff told Teri and I that once in the auction, 'no movement above the waist unless you are bidding!' It was fun to watch the bidding trying to see who was actually bidding. After about four horses we determined that what we saw in horses was not what draws the big prices. Herbie explained to us that the catalog for each days offerings is key. It shows the genetics,, and it seems the mom carries more weight. A yearling offspring from a mare that has won races gets the price higher, then it is the confirmation, and build that the bidders look for.
Jeff the auctioneer.
Pretty horse,, $250,000 winning bid!
Jeff at work.
Fun at Keeneland but its time to hit the road to Woodford Reserve. It was very close to Rabbit Creek. What a beautiful building and grounds.
They had just opened a new visitor building and tasting rooms. We set out on the tour walking toward the ferminting building. What a wonderful smell of the mash bill fermenting.
Where the magic happens, the tall building in back is where the grains are milled. Then brought into the stone building for mixing, adding yeast, fermenting and distilling.
Fermenting 
THE stills. Beautiful room with the stone, wood and copper.
Then into the chared oak barrels,, Why yes that is Double Oak. 
Then the barrels ride the rails to the rickhouse or rackhouse where they age.
Limestone rickhouse with bars and old shutters.
The view looking up in the rickhouse.
The Vistor Center
The influence of all the pieces on the bourbon taste.
Our Tastings for the day. Woodford Reserve,, Double Oak and Woodford's answer to the mint julip for Derby Day. All were very good,, the double oak was my favorite. Their mint julip replacement was cranberry, lemon, and Woodford Reserve, more tart than sweet like a julip.
That was all for Wednesday. We got back to Rabbit Creek checked in with Herbie and Glenda (his wife who has just returned from Prague). Herbie said that a reporter that talked to him in NY after the Derby win was coming in for a visit. I guess we would see the 'reporter' in the morning at breakfast.
Thursday's schedule was 11am at Four Roses, not too far from Rabbit Creek. Teri wasn't sure she could taste bourbon before noon. I made it down for coffee, as usual it was Herbie and I for a little while before the others showed up. Herbie said the reporter arrived and she and Eric had been at the auction looking at horses. Jeff came down next and we had to hear the sales numbers for wednesday, WOW the ammount of money was incredible. Then we were joined by a blonde lady (the reporter) for coffee. I had seen that face but like grandpa Joe I couldn't remember her name. Teri came down and we went to the table for breakfast. There were introductions, where are you from. The reporter was from NY of course. I could see Teri was trying to recall who this was. I said to her I have seen you but I cant recall your name, she replied ' I am Janice Dean on Fox News , Fox and Friends in the morning, I do the weather. Janice, Herbie and Jeff were talking about horses and the auction. Janice said to Herbie, 'Today is the day' . Janice and others were going to buy a horse and have Eric train it.
We were off to Four Roses. Most of these distilleries are off the beaten path. You ride down small road and suddenly you see rickhouses and distillery.
Four Roses
Well it is afternoon so maybe I can do bourbon.
This is the main area of the distillery. Neat Spanish style.
The mash bills. Four Roses uses 5 different yeast to produce their distinct bourbons.
The tasting was Four Roses, Four Roses Single Barrel, and Four Roses Small Batch Select. I learned the process of tastings, their best is always the last one you taste!
Once we finished up at Four Roses we decided to go check out the auction at Keeneland and see if maybe would would catch Janice bidding on a horse. This time we went in the main gate and got a nice parking spot. We walked over to the race track and looked around there. This years Breeders Cup race will be at Keeneland. We then wondered over to the auction to see the action. We were again trying to see the subtle moves of the bidders and the auctioneer called out bids. We didn't see Janice.
It was time to eat so we headed into Frankfort for dinner. Once back at Rabbit Creek we went into the den / kitchen area to check in with Herbie. Everyone was back, Jeff, Janice and Eric. They were celebrating Janice getting a horse. You could see the excitment in Janice's face. It was time to call it a day.
Here is a link to the Keeneland September sale, it gives a good overview of how many horses were sold and how much.
Friday coffee and breakfast time had Herbie and I talking fishing. He said he needed to show me his fishing pond, and he would take us to see the neighbors horse farm. The neighbor was the previous president of Churchill Downs. I told Herbie that we were going to Willett Distillery and would check with him around 5:30 or so to see the horses and pond. Jeff came down and was excited that there was only one more day of the auction. Janice came down and grabbed a quick coffee and Eric took her to the airport. We had another incredible breakfast. Teri went up to get a shower and I took off to Buffalo Trace to see what todays specials were. As I was parking the truck I saw the lot was full of Triumph TR-6s a GT6 and a few spitfires. I couldn't waste time with cars, I needed to get in and see what the specials were today. I got in line to get wrist band for the visitor center. Once in todays special was Eagle Rare 10 year . I got one and a Buffalo Trace to go with it. I then headed to the parking lot to try to get a photo of all the Triumphs. 
Triumph owners group at Buffalo Trace.
I then went back to Rabbit Creek to get Teri and to head to Willett.
Once again you ride down some narrow roads into the country and suddenly there is a distillery. Willett was located on a hilltop with quite a view.
You have to have your flavor wheel. This shows the influence of the barrel and charring on the bourbon.
Willett does a tasting tour. You get a bourbon to taste as you walk to the next location of the tour. We had a great tour here. Our guide was great and there were just 4 in our group.
The Still Pot
Nice door to the distillery
Once the tour was over we had a late lunch at The Bar at Willett. I had Egg Salad Sandwich - smoked Dukes, Yolk Jam and Chives,, wonderful. Teri had the Chicken Thigh -Calabrian Chili, Lime and Honey, it was also wonderful.
We then headed back to Rabbit Creek to try to meet up with Herbie to see the horses and the fishing pond. We loaded in Herbie's truck and went to the horse farm. You could see all these differnet farms with their huge horse barns, but once inside you see how big they really are.
Ha ha ha ,, bumper sticker on Herbie's truck.
The horse barn.
Security guy's puppy.
Can't be a barn without a cat.
What a view.
Herbie
The barn from the road.
Herbie's fishing pond.
Saturday we had breakfast and then hit the TV for College Gameday and Clemson vs Wake Forest. I was glad I did a little (ha ha ha ) bourbon shopping to get me through that game.
We then went to Midway and to the Brown Barrel / Blind Harry's for some dinner. Herbie recommend this place and said to be sure to get the Kentucky Hot Brown (Ham, Turkey, Tomato, Bacon, and Parmesan Cheese on White Bread, Finished w/ Mornay Sauce). It was very good.
The story of Herbie and his son Eric and the Derby win is amazing. Here is a link to the story in Sports Illustrated. It is a long read but worth the time.
Sports Illustrated article on Herbie Reed
