Over the Newfound Gap

Today's drive in the Smokies took us over the top (Newfound Gap), leaving Tennessee entering into North Carolina. At the higher elevations, we experienced the remnants of Sandy's wrath which dropped 3 feet of snow, stranding one hiker walking the Appalachian Trail. Our day was much warmer than the hikers with temps in the 60's. The views from Clingmans Dome at the top were breathtaking and the clear air provided views for miles. Once we reached the bottom and the park entrance at the southeast corner we stopped at the visitors center which has a nice example of a typical farm that was found 100 years ago in the region.

Cades Cove Great Smoky Mountains National Park

36 deer, 1 black bear, 3 turkeys and a flat opossum. No shortage of wildlife spotting's today as we drove up into the Smoky's.

Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg

If you have a family and like the crazy adventures of the Midway at the state fair, with a pancake house on every block, these are the towns for you. Not for us except for the fact that they sit on the edge of the Great Smoky National Park. Both towns are best viewed from the mountains.

Misty Morning

We found a nice campground at Indian Mountain State Park TN and woke in the morning to a heavy fog.

Touring the Bourbon Trail.

Just a short drive south of Louisville is the beginning of the Bourbon Trail in what was voted the most beautiful town in America, Bardstown. In fact the song, “My old Kentucky Home” was written for a house in Bardstown. The town hosts two smaller distilleries, Barton 1792. We toured Barton and enjoyed a tasting at the tour completion, best of all, it was free. We took a short trip to the Jim Beam facility for a totally different experience. Jim Beam is the largest Bourbon Distillery in the USA and the tour reflected this in it’s scale and new Stillhouse. The cost was minimal and worth it.

The process is not as simple as one would imagine given the tails of moonshine and bootlegging throughout this region for many years. While the Barton facility is much smaller and a lot older, it was interesting to see that much has remained the same for 100 years. Like the barrel barns built in sway (note the plum bob in the photo) to handle the areas instability to the charred white oak barrels that house the bourbon to the distillation process itself. Why Kentucky? As we say back home, it’s the water. The area is limestone which filters the iron out of the water which insures a clear pour liquid after distillation. Barton still uses coal to cook the mash because natural gas is not piped into the area yet.

While all bourbon is whiskey, not all whiskey is bourbon. By law, bourbon must be:

1. Produced in the US. 2. Made of a grain mix with at least 50% corn 3. Distilled at less than 160 proof 4. Free from additives except water to cut the proof 5. Aged in new charred white oak barrels for a minimum of 2 years

Our last stop for the day was to Heaven Hill near our campground. It has a very nice gift shop but the tasting was only available with a tour and at this time, we had enough tours for one day.

As you travel the area you are aware when you get close to a distillery by the sweet smell of the cooked mask and the dark color on all the trees and buildings. In fact, when Gary asked why the buildings were painted black, we learned that the process creates a fungus that turns everything in the area black. From the tree bark to the buildings, there is a darkness to the process of creating bourbon beyond the obvious.