Travel notes

a meandering drive through the heart of Kentucky’s horse-breeding countryside.

It’s clear where the real money in the state comes from. The ranches are imposing and immaculate, surrounded by miles of white picket fences, every blade of grass perfectly trimmed. Breeders say the region’s limestone-rich water produces bluegrass that is rich in calcium and builds strong bones in the horses. Distillers claim the same heavy limestone component is what makes their bourbon taste so good.

At Keeneland racetrack, Ron Carmichael is making sure the horses cross safely from the stables. At 76, he’s ready to retire after a lifetime’s association with the course. He’s preparing to take his first trip to “the old country” to trace the Carmichael family back to their emigration in the 1700s… and sample some Scotch while he’s there.

On the drive to Tennessee we leave the official Bourbon Trail to cross an international time zone – gaining an hour in

the process – and pass over into a different landscape altogether. From the rolling green hills of Kentucky, the land now spreads out in a flatter and less obviously manicured state. Kentucky is as smooth and polished as the bourbon it produces. By comparison, Scotland– and its spirit – feels much wilder and more challenging. It’s hard not to see a correlation between the landscape and the kind of spirit it produces.

WE head south to Lynchburg, home of Jack Daniel’s since the 1830s. It’s the oldest registered distillery in the US and its Old No7 Brand

Tennessee Whiskey is the most ubiquitous US spirit. Just don’t call it bourbon. “If you taste our whiskey before and after our charcoal mellowing process, you’ll see it’s hugely different, on the nose and on the palate,” master distiller Jeff Arnett tells us. “Without that process, the character of our distillate would be more like bourbon, but after mellowing it moves forward on the tongue, into the sweet zone.”

We can barely scratch the surface of the Lynchburg distillery, which holds around 2.3 million barrels in 87 warehouses. The Scotch industry, of course, is the biggest recipient. “I tell people that if there’s a Scotch you like, it’s probably because there are about three gallons of Jack Daniel’s soaked in it!” says Jeff. “The barrel comes in here at about 95lbs and leaves at about 115, so about 20lbs of weight gain is whiskey that soaks in. That’s the penalty we pay as the first user.”

The traffic slows our progress back to Nashville. In a flashy city playing its country music heritage at full volume, Corsair distillery is tucked away in the old Marathon Motorworks building, trying to be anything other than flashy or false.

Phoebe and I catch up with ambassador Will Atkinson’s tour, to hear a no-holds barred declaration of Corsair’s authenticity – and why customers should be wary of the labelling on some other craft distillers. “People need to know that often the source of spirits for various distillers is from the same MGP distillery in Indiana, although they are not transparent about it on their labels,” he tells our group. “We don’t buy a drop from those guys.” He’s also matter-of-fact about Corsair’s approach to ripping up the rulebook and experimenting with different ingredients. “Some work out well, a whole lot don’t,” he says.

Our tour winds up with the group in the bar, nosing a Quinoa whiskey and comparing notes on the Triple Smoke. They have the youthful energy of believers who have stumbled on the holy grail of hipster distillers. They may well have.

The US whiskey scene clearly has something for everyone.