Bardstown & The Kentucky Bourbon Festival Grounds

On Saturday the 15th, after we went to Heaven Hill and Maker's Mark, we had the opportunity to stroll the festival lawn and check out the Distillery's Booths. They were all interesting and some, like Four Roses and Heaven Hill were simply amazing! They put a lot of work into these displays. Noticeably absent though was a Brown-Foreman booth, alas. Besides the booths, there is a typical country fair, which is something I love, with local vendors and food carts and the like. Also, on the festival grounds is the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History, which I wish I would have taken pictures inside. Overall it this was the first time I spend appreciable time in the actual festival, but it was a BLAST!

(The Barton Brands Tent.)(Buffalo Trace's Setup.)(Jim Beam.)(The Wild Turkey Saloon.)(Heaven Hill's Mini Heritage Center!)(Maker's Mark Mini Visitor's Center.)(Four Roses. . .)(Indepentdant Stave's Tent.)(The World Bourbon Barrel Rolling Championships!)(Fried Gator On A Stick.)(Where you get your bourbon in Bardstown.)

The Kentucky Bourbon Festival is a weeklong event consisting of more than thirty events in Bardstown, Kentucky, United States, dedicated to celebrating the history and art of distilling bourbon whiskey. The town, known as the "Bourbon Capital of the World", has been the site of bourbon distilleries since 1776.

The event started in 1991 as a dinner and bourbon tasting for 250 people. It is now in the Top 10 autumn events in the Southeast United States.

Besides concerts by such famous names as the Kentucky Headhunters, many local distilleries have impressive displays on the lawn, as well as craftsmen such as Bardstown's own Kentucky State Fair blue ribbon Bourbon Baskets. By being on the property of Spalding Hall, the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey is extremely popular during the festival. In 2006, 52,000 people from 37 U.S. states and 13 foreign countries attend the annual festival, making it one of the top three events in Kentucky.


TomC

Josie Maran

Johanna Selhorst Maran known as Josie Maran (born May 8, 1978) is an American supermodel and actress.

Maran's modeling career began at the age of 12; when an agent spotted her at a local barbecue restaurant, she began modeling part time. Maran graduated from the Castilleja School, then began to pursue modeling more seriously. As those in the fashion industry consider her height of 5'7" to be too short for runway modeling, Maran works mainly in editorial modeling and advertising/image modeling.

Signed at age 17 with the Elite modeling agency of Los Angeles, Maran appeared on her first cover with Glamour magazine in 1998, and she was the featured Guess? Girl in their summer 1998 and fall 1998 campaigns. After building a resumé of over 25 commercials and advertisements, including a music video for the popular boy-band the Backstreet Boys, Maran moved cross-country to join with Elite in New York City. In 1999, she landed a multi-year deal with Maybelline. Maran appeared in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for three consecutive years; from 2000 to 2002.

Josie's interest in the arts extends beyond film. When not in acting class, Josie is training herself in "dance classes... violin classes, speech classes, everything. I'm just trying to train myself in the arts, you know? Nobody else is gonna do it so I'm going to. I'm gonna take on the world." Her interest in music led her to play casually in two bands: Darling, with actress Nicole Richie, and Hollywood 2000, where she sang and played violin.

In 2001, Maran appeared in an independent film, as title character Mallory in The Mallory Effect. In 2002, Maran appeared as Susan in Swatters. In 2004, she appeared in three films - as a French model in Little Black Book, as one of Dracula's brides in Van Helsing, and briefly as a cigarette girl in The Aviator. Maran appeared in a short film "The Confession" alongside Wentworth Miller in 2005, and as Kira Hayden in The Gravedancers in 2006. Maran will not play Polly Hudson in The Final Season, scheduled for release in 2007. This role is now played by Rachael Leigh Cook

In 2005, she was recruited by EA Games to appear as a main character in the street-racing computer and video game, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which was released on November 17, 2005. She plays the game's second lead Mia Townsend, who guides the lead character through the game.

In June 2007, Josie Maran launched her own cosmetics product line, named Josie Maran Cosmetics.

On August 29, 2007 ABC announced Josie will compete on Dancing with the Stars. Josie and dance partner Alec Mazo took part in a chat session held at JosieAndAlec.com

TomC

Black Patch "Reserve 2003" Maduro Caldwell

We found this cigar at a booth on the Kentucky Bourbon Festival Lawn while wandering around on Saturday, and decided to buy one on a whim. Now it gets the full review workup, now lets see if it was worth it:Size: 5.5" X 52
Wrapper: Kentucky Broadleaf Sun Grown
Binder: Cibao Olor
Filler: Dominican Republic South Bonao Pilato Cubano, Villa Gonzales Seco, La Vega Carbonell/Havana Seed
Website: http://www.blackpatchcigarco.com/

Appearance: As you can see in the photos above, this is a bit of a rustic looking cigar. It isn't the smoothest cigar you have ever seen but it is not nearly the worst either. the wrapper is dark like french roast coffee, and equally as oily. Further perusal showed that the cigar was reasonably firmly packed and there did not seem to be any soft spots.

Pre-Light: Clipped very easily with my Credo Synchro Cutter. Nosing this cigar revealed a richness and some tangy notes, as well as a note that resembled charred oak barrels. The prelight draw was just right and revealed notes quite similar to the initial nosing.
Burn/Draw: This is an aspect where this cigar really shines. This cigar burned like a dream, long and slow and cool. the burn line was light and forget, it never really wandered much farther than the photo shown above, and this is a very good thing. The draw was just perfect, forgiving but providing just enough resistance to keep the burn cool. This cigar produced volumes of bright white fragrant smoke (earthy, and oaky with a sweet offsetting tanginess.). As far as the ash is concerned, it was light grey and a tiny bit flaky, but it held as long as I wanted it to. Flavors: This was one intriguing cigar, where you have to put your preconceptions regarding American Cigar Tobacco aside. One might be tempted to discount a cigar with a wrapper from Kentucky, and this would be a mistake. For the baseline flavors, you have all the basics of any good maduro cigar. There are notes of coffee and earth, chocolate and a tangy note that provides a pleasant counterpoint and keeps the cigar from getting dull. this cigar is medium full in body and medium in strength. There is also some woodiness, and I think that this might be what makes this cigar special.

In most of the cigars I have smoked to this point, when I have mentioned that there was a woody note, it was usually cedar like in nature. That is not the case with this cigar. This cigar has a not that tastes almost exactly like that of toasted oak. Like the oak in bourbon barrels. I wonder if this is intentional, being the wrapper leaf is from Kentucky. Either way, this not definitely lends itself to being a bourbon drinking cigar. Overall this cigar reminds me very much of a richer, more refined version of the Helix Maduro (perhaps a bit stronger and with that fascinating oak note), which if you know me is not a bad thing. In my formative cigar days I went through several boxes of the Helix. Overall if you want a change of pace with your morning coffee or favorite Kentucky Whiskey, try this out. It has given me hope for the possibilities of American grown wrapper leaves from places outside the Connecticut River Valley.

TomC

PS The Four Roses Single Barrel is everything I could have hoped for, but thats for another post. . .