Forgot about this thread and just stumbled back upon it.

I see that Herb687 has mentioned the LEX Horse and Bourbon DO, which we run (mostly) every 6 months. Version VIII coming up. Link to the Oct. 2015 version in my sig. Thread now in Community Buzz looking for peoples' preferences on April 2016 dates. Looking likely that it will be April 15-17.

Went to Four Roses this last time and had a very good visit. I am not clear on the nomenclature of their products, but the top-of-the-line ones were readily available at $72. Several in our group bought them. I am not a bourbon expert, but they were NOTICEABLY better than the $30 and $40 products. Quite good, we thought.

The tour guide at Four Roses was a chirpy, chunky, young good-old KY gal and we suspect she thought one of our guys was cute. The tour was maybe 25 people and the three offered samples were of the lesser stuff, but she quietly told us to hang back afterward and "she'd see what she could do." So we got to try the really good bourbons. Good sales(wo)manship, as the group ended up buying about 4 bottles.

Also hit a very neat place called Barrel House, which looks like some medieval alchemist's lab. They are just putting out their first bourbon and we got to sample the final bottle from the sold-out run of the spring. Very nice. New one coming I think in a few months. Also rum, vodka, moonshine, and barrel-aged moonshine (quite nice). The tour guide was the only fellow there, and he does everything. Very engaging and welcoming.

Anyway, I encourage everyone to come to this DO at least once. Bourbon fans should definitely visit at least part of the KY Bourbon Trail sometime.

I have a liquor store guy in LEX and he kept a bottle of Weller 12 back for me. Very nice, my first time. But it goes for $50 in LEX.