Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/46939
CATEGORY REPORT The rickhouse at Heaven Hill Distillery in Bardstown, KY. Bourbons derive their caramel and vanilla fl avors from the barrels' charred insides. Bourbon Chief Chemist Ken Pierce noses a sample of what will become 1792 Ridgemont Reserve at the Tom Moore Distillery in Bardstown, KY. Renaissance S o, you're from Melbourne, Australia, and you just married your sweetheart. Where do you take the honeymoon? You can take your new spouse anywhere in the world, money is no object. Where do you go? Well, if you're Wade Pascoe, you're taking your lovely wife, Claire, to Kentucky, so she can sip some bourbon. The newlywed Pascoes were two of the 50,000 attendees at the 2011 Kentucky Bourbon Festival, a non-profi t event in Bardstown, KY, Sept. 13–18. The majority of the attendees were international, from Switzerland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Japan and dozens of other countries, says Linda Harrison, Executive Director of the festival, now in its 20th year. Bourbon is Claire Pascoe's passion. As she waits in line to meet Jimmy Russell, legendary Master Distiller for Wild Turkey, her favorite brand, she's as giddy as a schoolgirl. "This is a dream come true," Claire gushes, as she hugs Russell. november 201 1 / the tasting panel / 107 story and photos by Fred Minnick AMERICA'S SPIRIT KEEPS ON GROWING