Woodford Reserve also has the distinction of being surrounded by horse farms. The drive to get to Woodford Reserve is breathtakingly beautiful, and gives you a perfect slice of what I call the Land of Bourbon and Bluegrass. In my series, Old Garnet isn’t surrounded by horse farms, but there is a thoroughbred farm, GarnetBrooke, directly across the road. GarnetBrooke plays a prominent role in DISTILLED HEAT (Bourbon Springs Book #6).
Parts of CEDAR AND CINNAMON (Bourbon Springs Book # 5) and DISTILLED HEAT were written while I ate lunch at Woodford Reserve. I highly recommend the bourbon chocolate pecan pie offered at the distillery café.
If I could get away with it, I would live at Woodford Reserve. It is a beautiful, serene spot in the midst of the Bluegrass.
I have several pins on my Pinterest board for SECRET BLEND which have Woodford Reserve photos. Take a look!
EASTER EGGS AND OTHER INFO!
Why did you name it Craig County?
Well, there is no real Craig County, Kentucky (rather surprising there isn’t, actually). But maybe you’ve heard of someone called Elijah Craig? He was purportedly the “inventor” of bourbon whiskey—but that is a subject of some controversy. Nonetheless, he was a real person and a real distiller and has passed into something nearing a legend. There is also a bourbon brand named after him (and it’s quite good, I might add).
Why Bourbon Springs? How did you come up with this name?
Because it immediately connects my fictional world with bourbon and with one of the most important things (if not the most important thing) to make it: water.
The water in central Kentucky, where many of the bourbon distilleries are located, is filtered through blue limestone; this process removes most of the lead and adds calcium and magnesium, thus making it the perfect water for bourbonmaking.
Also, along the creek on the grounds at Woodford Reserve Distillery there is a spring—Grassy Springs (there is a road by this name which leads to the distillery). The springs are in the bank on the opposite side of the creek and flow into it. In the next two books, I write about a spring looking somewhat like Grassy Springs, and the fictional springs are crucial to the plot and characters’ journey in Book 3, ANGELS’ SHARE (Lila and Bo’s story).
Is there a real Bourbon Springs?
Oddly, yes, sort of. I didn’t know that a “real” place called Bourbon Springs existed before I came up with the name. If you Google it, you’re taken to a spot in Nelson County, Kentucky (Bardstown—home to several major distilleries and known as the “Bourbon Capital of the World”™—yes, that is trademarked).
I think it is more of a neighborhood or general vicinity than a town. But if you do Google Street View—guess what you see? Rickhouses! Yep—bourbon aging warehouses!
Is there a real Old Crow Creek?
Not to my knowledge, but does that name sound a wee bit familiar? As in Old Crow Bourbon?
Old Crow is an old brand name of bourbon which still exists, but the name has an even older history.
As noted above, Dr. James Christopher Crow was a Scottish immigrant who worked at the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery in the mid-nineteenth century in Woodford County, Kentucky. He is credited with perfecting the sour mash process and is buried in the Versailles City Cemetery (I’ve visited his grave—it’s very plain).
The Old Oscar Pepper Distillery is now known as—wait for it—Woodford Reserve.
So if the fictional Bourbon Springs really existed, where would it be?
If my town were real, it would exist somewhere along State Route 555 in the vicinity of Willisburg, Kentucky, a few miles south of the Bluegrass Parkway.
Relatedly, there is an Ashbrook, Kentucky, several miles southwest of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky (home to Wild Turkey and Four Roses distilleries, both stops along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail™). I saw the name on a map and renamed it Ashbrooke Pike in Craig County, Kentucky. On my Pinterest board for SECRET BLEND is a map I created to show the general landscape of the area. The map is also on my website.
Why Old Garnet? Why that name for the bourbon in these books?
It sounds like a bourbon. There are several bourbon brands with “Old” in the name—Old Forester, Old Grand-Dad. And I happen to think garnets are pretty (no, they’re not my birthstone).
The Rickhouse
I came up with the name for this restaurant without actually knowing there is a real one—where else—in Bardstown, Kentucky, the Bourbon Capital of the World™.
Lake Pembroke
Lake Pembroke State Resort Park is based on Lake Barkley State Resort Park near Cadiz, Kentucky. The name is a nod to MB Roland Distillery, a member of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour™, in Pembroke, Kentucky. There are some pictures of Lake Barkley on this book’s Pinterest board.
Bourbon balls
Bourbon balls are a classic Southern confection. According to Rebecca Ruth Candy, one of the business’ founders, Ruth Hanly Booe, invented bourbon balls in 1938. Rebecca Ruth Candy has a factory in downtown Frankfort and a small shop on US 60 between Versailles and Frankfort (just inside the Woodford County line). I pass by that little shop, and its massive “BOURBON CANDY” sign every day on the way to and from work. The downtown Rebecca Ruth factory is open for tours and, like Over a Barrel, you can buy bourbon balls by the pound here. They offer not-so-perfectly-made bourbon balls at a discount.
Playlist for this book
This music was on my mind while writing this book
Am I the Same Girl? by Swing Out Sister (from the album Twentieth Century Masters, 1992)
Good Vibrations by Brian Wilson (from the album Smile, 2004)
Les Fleurs by Ramsey Lewis (from the album Between the Keys, 1996)
Rubberneckin’ by Elvis Presley (Paul Oakenfold remix)
Time and Tide by Basia (from the album of the same name, 1997)
(links to some videos on my Pinterest board for this book; playlist on my website)
Thank you for visiting the Land of Bourbon and Bluegrass! Come back soon!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
FILTERED THROUGH BLUE: Chapter 1
BITS ABOUT BOURBON
EASTER EGGS AND OTHER INFO!
Playlist for this book
Secret Blend (Bourbon Springs Book 1) Page 30