At the time I write this, July 2015, Heaven Hill was recently (July 7, 2015) hit by 95-mile-an-hour winds, causing the roofs of two rickhouses to peel back, exposing the barrels to the elements (no barrels were damaged). My comment on Twitter upon seeing the damage: “Looks like the angels got impatient for their share.” Shots of the damage are on the Pinterest board for this book.
The previous day, on Monday, July 6, 2015, Whiskey Row, the historic set of buildings in downtown Louisville, suffered extensive damage after a fire. Old Forester (owned by Brown-Forman, the same company which owns Woodford Reserve) was renovating the buildings. Fortunately, the distillery was not damaged and it appears the historic building fronts will be saved. Pins of the fire are on this book’s Pinterest board.
I write about Wild Turkey because it was the place that inspired Bo Davenport’s line:
“This is my cathedral.”
Wild Turkey opened a new visitors’ center in June 2014—and what a beautiful place it is. Sitting atop a ridge, it overlooks the wide Kentucky River valley, and provides sweeping views of the north, east, and south. You can see shots on my Pinterest board for ANGELS’ SHARE, along with the shot that inspired Bo’s line—a shot of the sun blazing down a hall with wooden walls on each side. When I saw the picture I had taken, my immediate thought was “this is like the cathedral of bourbon!” The visitors’ center interior is built to evoke the feeling of a rickhouse, which is the same place where Bo uttered his line.
EASTER EGGS
Just a few for this book.
Cass Davenport’s name—James Christopher—is a homage to Dr. James Christopher Crow, the reputed inventor of the sour mash method.
The Old House mini-museum on the Old Garnet grounds was inspired in part by the visitors’ center at Maker’s Mark in Loretto, Kentucky (the building where the tours begin). The structure at Maker’s resembles a house and is filled with family portraits of the Samuels family and bits of bourbon memorabilia. A picture of this building is on the Pinterest board for this book.
The reference in the epilogue to CiCi going out into the “sweet Kentucky sunshine,” is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Kentucky Sunshine, an old brand which was briefly referenced earlier in the book. If you want to see what that old bottle really looked like, check out the Pinterest board for this book.
A FEW RECIPES AND TIPS
One of the early reviewers for this book commented that after reading about Emma Davenport’s baked goodies, and specifically the Christmas stash of goods Emma sent to Lila via Bo, she really wanted to see some recipes featuring bourbon in the back of the book.
So here are a few recipes and tips, in light of that reader’s suggestion.
Proofed Brownies: The first tip comes from a tour guide, Jo, at Four Roses Distillery outside Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. She told our tour group that one of her favorite things to do was to take a box brownie mix and replace the water or milk with an equal amount of bourbon. Jo said that this substitution can turn even the most ordinary mix into something special. She advised to try this trick with a few different box mixes to give yourself some choices in settling on a favorite (if you can). I often substitute some vanilla extract for liquids in baked goods, and that turns out well. I can’t wait to use Jo’s suggestion.
It’s Better With Bourbon: Along the same lines as the above suggestion, substitute bourbon for liquids in certain baked goods. Last year, I added bourbon to a pumpkin chess pie (a Southern Living recipe).
Bourbon-Infused Fruitcake (for the lazy, like me): I happen to like fruitcake—good fruitcake, that is. My trick is to take a small fruitcake, a long loaf, perforate it with a fork, and brush bourbon on it with a pastry brush. I then take cheesecloth which has been soaked in bourbon, wrap the fruitcake in the cheesecloth, and seal the fruitcake in plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and place in a plastic bag in the fridge for a few weeks. Results vary depending on the quality of the fruitcake.
PLAYLIST FOR THIS BOOK
She Comes from Somewhere
by Chris Botti
from the album Do It in Luxury, 2003
Save Me
by k.d. lang
from the album Ingénue, 1992
Losing My Religion
by R.E.M
from the album Out of Time, 1991
Dark Cloud Rising
by Jon Weisenberger (feat. Jeremy Garrett)
from the album I’ve Been Mostly Awake, 2014
Journey’s End
by Red Allen
(some links to music on my Pinterest page 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
Epilogue
DISTILLER’S CHOICE: Chapter 1
BITS ABOUT BOURBON!
EASTER EGGS
A FEW RECIPES AND TIPS
PLAYLIST FOR THIS BOOK
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Angels' Share (Bourbon Springs Book 3) Page 30