Posted on 06/09/2007 6:56:38 AM PDT by RKV
Later this year, an Evansville man hopes Kentucky's finest amber export will win gold for him at national film festivals. Tom Fischer says his documentary film on bourbon is nearly finished and he hopes to enter it in a number of film festivals this summer and fall around the country.
His travels for the film centered on the bourbon distilleries and festivals of central and western Kentucky. "We joked that we did this just to get free samples." Fischer says he originally went to Bardstown, Kentucky to do a podcast for his site, Tripodder.com, but soon found what he calls "American stories" about the people with a passion for making Kentucky's famous alcoholic beverage. "Bourbon is more than just a product. It's a spirit that brings people together."
Good bourbon can take a decade or more to make, but Fischer says it's only taken him about a year and a half of traveling around the country working on the film project. While most of the time was spent in Kentucky, the film locations included such places as Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Fischer says bourbon is making a comeback as a popular drink among younger adults. The annual festivals at the various distilleries feature a number of products you might not expect, such as bourbon syrup, which Fischer says is very popular in Japan.
What amazed the filmmaker most is the easy access that anyone has to the people he calls, "bourbon royalty". Fischer says at any of the festivals you can walk right up and talk with people like Wild Turkey master distiller Jimmy Russell. "It was amazing to me that we could drive two and a half hours and see what the rest of the world drinks every day." He says the documentary has taken on a life of its own. As the project has become more widely known, Fischer says he's had musicians contact him to write special songs for it. One of those is a tune called "Burn the Barrel" by Owensboro musician Rick Miller, in reference to the charred wooden barrels used by distillers to get better bourbon flavor.
The documentary includes Fischer as host and producer. He says Timothy Paul Taylor of Evansville is the principal videographer, with some help in Kentucky from videographer Chris Baggs of Louisville.
Here's the link to the preview http://www.stomfischer.com/tripodder/videoplayer.asp?movie=tribourbonvcast.wmv&item_id=82
Were you living in Boyd Hall at the University of Kentucky when you took that picture of me? If I couldn’t get a ride back up to Cincinnati for the weekend I would walk up to the Two Keys and buy a fifth of Rebel Yell every Friday. What memories!
P.S. The label on Rebel Yell used to say “ Not sold north of the Mason Dixon Line”. Wonder if that is still there. Since college I get a two day hangover headache just smelling the stuff.
I’m sipping some Maker’s Mark at this very moment. Have been drinking this excellent whisky more than 36 years. The people down in Loretto are mighty hospitable when visiting the distillery.
Sometimes, I do enjoy the flavor of Knob Creek from time to time.
You are right.
I like mine poured over a tall glass full of ice.
There ya go... tall glass full of ice...
Two fingers of WT101, one ice cube, hand cut crystal glass. Right now in action here at Casa RKV.
Here I am, Clete. Sign me up. I had an Elijah last evening along with a CAO Brazilia. MMMMmmmmmm! It bodes well for this evening, also.
Jimbo
Beam is bottled in Frankfort, KY. And bourbon can actually be distilled outside Kentucky. It's the process one follows that makes it bourbon.
The reason Jack Daniels and George Dickel aren't considered real bourbon isn't because they're distilled in Tennessee, it's because of a carbon filtering process they use that's outside the bourbon 'process'.
Thus far, my favorites are Elmer T. Lee, Eagle Rare and Elijah Craig.
Elijah is my ‘go to’ inexpensive bourbon. It beats the heck out of JD #7 at the same price. But the folks at Buffalo Trace are doing something right with the other two brands. I’ll be picking up another bottle of Elmer for father’s day.
Maker’s Mark and Woodford are fine bourbons, but a little on the soft & sweet side for me. I want to know I’m drinking bourbon.
I’m still on my tour of bourbon land, however. It’s been a fine journey so far.
Can it be poured on pancakes?
I wonder how this documentary will compare with the History Channel show about bourbon. It amazed me they had to rotate the barrels from the top to the bottom because the slight difference in the air affects the taste of the bourbon because of the “breathing” by the barrels.
I'll have to try Maker's Mark. This thread is getting me very curious about bourbon. What happened is that the first bourbon I had was some horrible cheap stuff and I mostly avoided bourbon after that. It's like rum. A lot of folks hate rum because they think it all tastes like Bacardi when there are some incredible aged rums out there like Flor de Cana. A couple of years ago, some woman was selling various bourbons at the flea market cheap so I bought a bottle. I can't recall the name but it really tasted good which is why I think I'll give Maker's Mark and Knob Hill a try.
Oops. I mean Knob Creek. BTW, is there a website that gives information about tours of the Kentucky bourbon distilleries? That would be a FUn way to visit that state.
Hugh Betcha. And it's really, really good on ice cream.
L
“Oops. I mean Knob Creek. BTW, is there a website that gives information about tours of the Kentucky bourbon distilleries? That would be a FUn way to visit that state.”
Sorry for the late reply but maybe, this site will help.
http://www.kybourbonfestival.com/links.htm
You could probably do a search for a certain brand of bourbon and get tour info, as well.
Recall your basic science class.
Heat rises.
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