The feast of Bourbon
The Kentucky Bourbon Festival is starting to attract people from across the world.
Dominic Roskrow went to find out why
The party for Tom Bulleit at a private house in the suburbs of Bardstown was dead as a dormouse.
We â Whisky Magazine managing director Damian Riley-Smith, myself and a Polish writer weâd adopted called Jaroslaw Urban, had missed Bulleit Bourbonâs brands ambassador earlier in the evening and had promised to return later - which we did.
But when we entered the house there wasnât a soul there. We tried the next room. Nothing. On to the kitchen. Zip. Then it dawned on us.
âI think,â said Damian, âweâre in the wrong house.â
We were.
Given the ways things are in Kentucky, though, it really wouldnât have surprised me if someone had appeared and said âhow yâall doinâ. Can I fix any of you guys a drink?â
Kentucky in general and Bardstown in particular could put up a strong claim to be the most overtly friendly and hospitable place on the planet.
Every local person welcomed us to their state with a genuine warmth. Everybody I spoke to from outside of it â and there were people who had travelled hundreds of miles to be there â had let the generosity and kindness rub off on them.
Iâm not sure Iâve ever seen so many smiling people in one place.
But thereâs a tangible sense of excitement about Bardstown, too, a sense that something special is starting to happen for bourbon â that people from countries across the world are starting to appreciate what itâs all about.
Certainly the people at Four Roses have plenty to be excited about.
Frid.....
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By Dominic Roskrow
Section : Special Report
Page number : 27
