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Selected my stogies and spirits for this weekend. Non-Cubans (don't hold it against me) this time ?. Ashton VSG, Padron 80th Anniversary and 1964 40th Anniversary Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, Angels Envy Finished Rye and Jeffersons Groth Reserve Cask Finished.

All, I have 2.5 days to spend in Kentucky in July and am going to hop on the Bourbon Trail starting in Lexington and finishing in Louisville. I will be arriving into KY from Cincinnati and then departing from Louisville back to Chicago. Some questions: 1. I have three nights to stay over? Where should I stay? Cities / Lodging? 2. What are CAN'T MISS Distilleries? 3. Which Distilleries should I avoid? 4. Best place to get good Bourbon other than at Distilleries? I've seen Costco, Kroger, Liquor Barn mentioned on here and elsewhere? 5. Any food recommendations? 6. Smoking laws? Can I light up outside with a drink? Or have the Nazi's invaded KY like they have Chicago? 7. Anything else? THANKS PS - It might be helpful to give you some background on my favorite / least favorite types of Bourbon / Rye. I do not like Wheated Bourbons at all. LOVE Colonel EH Taylor (all) Evan Williams Single Barrel Olds Ezra 7 Year Barrel Stength Knob Creek (everything except their "flavored" shit like Maple) Michter's (most) Willett (everything in their main name brand) Noah's Mill Rowan's Creek Old Forrester (all) Pikesville Rye Russell's (everything) Four Roses (ONLY the high end special bottlings with the 4 digit codes) DO NOT LIKE Angel's Envy Rare Breed Basil Haden's Eagle Rare (one of the least favorite things I've ever put in my mouth - yuck) Huber's Starlight (terrible) Woodford (hate it straight - fine in cocktails) Bulleit (hate it straight - fine in cocktails) Koval (I can walk to this - what a waste - terrible shit) Few (not as bad as Koval and close to me as well - yuck) Maker's Mark

Thoughts on this bourbon? This pairing? I'm loving it so far This one was listed as 15 years old by the vendor for a custom batch.

Me Beaver and I are here for a five day event with his CEO biz group. Arrived yesterday in the am from Toronto. It is beautiful here in our Thompson Hotel.. I have a terrible cold so my smoking and patience for late night is limited. This Honky Tonk joint last night, definitely not my thing, even though the music was great. This was just day one. Will continue. If you live in Nashville, send us a PM and we can meet up for a shmoke! CB

Here in The Blue Mountains, Ontario, Canada, bars have “Open Mike Night” throughout the week in the different towns, on different nights. The bars are restaurants too and the food is fantastic. Two of them, one here and one twenty minutes away are so good, I board my dog Blue on Wednesday and have a standing reservation. But last night was different. It was Thursday at The Crow Bar and Variety in Collingwood, Ontario . I will let the pictures tell the rest! That’s bourbon of course. The couple with halos brought me the present. CB

And I quote, "Some people, like Mitchell, are methodical about how they build their bottles, tweaking and testing before adding each new pour. Others choose to live dangerously, tossing the final ounces of any and every bottle into their mix, just to see what happens." From this article: http://punchdrink.com/articles/how-infinity-bottle-blend-became-whiskey-nerd-obsession/ Fascinating? Yuck? Challenging? Interesting! Up to you. CB

A recent California trip with mrbeaver allowed me to dive into the bourbon pond. I have a wonderful collection growing and I am such a fan. Tonight we cracked open a tall small bottle of 375ml of Buffalo Trace Single Oak Project. 192 Bottles total. Just tastes like pure dark alcohol? No grain/corn/flavour tones? Added a few drops of water to try and open it up a bit... ahhh there we go. Now some smoother layers including coffee and wine. Sharp! Wonderful.