Jack Daniels or Jim Beam

[Neville Bastian]

Hi guys, Which is best to drink when you are problem solving?
Gotch ya. On my road trip I was going to call in and see a distillery. Which is the better one to visit? Is the whiskey cheaper to buy at the distillery?
These are two well known down under. Is there any others that are a local secret that are good to try?

I am going to do the Blue Ridge Park drive. Has anyone done that? Is it worth doing the whole length or certain sections?

Looking at going to Dale and have a look at the Thermwoods getting made. Is there anything site seeing worth doing near Dale?
From Dale it will be a straight trip back to New Jersey. Is there any highlights or slight detours I should do?

Thanks

Neville

[DanEpps]

You can't buy either at the distilleries--they are in dry counties!

[Neville Bastian]

Is that like having a pub with no beer?

[Will Williamson]

Worst than that. NO PUB and NO BEER

[Jason Susnjara]

Hi Neville,

Even if you could purchase at a distillery, it would be cheaper to buy at a liquor store. Makers Mark is a popular one as it is made in Kentucky. If you want a very strong bourbon whiskey, Wild Turkey 101 (101 proof) is a good one. Old Forester (whiskey) is good.

It really depends if you plan on mixing it with coke or sprite or going solo. If going solo, then a higher quality would be better, kind of like tequilla. Jose Cuervo is great for margaritas as Patron Silver is great for sipping.

Believe it or not, Kentucky is filled with dry counties as mentioned before where you can't purchase any alcohol. You will also need to watch on what day you are going to purchase for example, you cannot purchase alcohol in Indiana on Sunday's. The same goes for Kentucky. I think that in Tennessee and Ohio, you can only purchase beer and wine on Sunday but not liquor.

[Neville Bastian]

Thanks for the replies.
We have also had some unusual drinking times that date back to war time. You can still only buy beer etc from hotels/Pubs on Sundays with Liquor shops shut. A few years ago even the pubs were only allowed to open from 12 to 2 pm and 4.30 to 8.30pm. It was called the rush hour so you needed to get stuck into it. You could buy beer but you were limited to 2 bottles. Those opening times are now history.

Getting back to the distrillies is one better than the other for site seeing?
Whats interesting within say 200 miles of Dale?
What sights between Dale and NY should I keep in mind?

Thanks

Neville

[Keith Neal]

Theres always the duty free shops at the airport...Or do they not have them any more(I haven't flown civilian since before 9/11)...

[DanEpps]

Duty-free shops are usually a big rip-off as they have higher prices than one can find in local shops. Most countries allow a certain amount of alcohol and tobacco duty-free anyway. A good example is cigars from the Domenican Republic. I can buy a box of 50 premium cigars (Cohiba, Davidoff, etc) for $50USD or less in a local shop. The same box in an airport duty-free shop is close to $500USD!!!

Weird alcohol laws? Just wait until you get to Georgia. You can buy on-premise (by-the-drink) on Sunday in some locales but nowhere can you buy off-premise on Sunday. Some locales allow package-only (off premise) sale, some by-the drink (on-premise) only, some both and other neither. Election day closes all alcohol sales during the times the polls are open--generally 7am-7pm. Some locale will allow the same shop to sell beer, wine and liquor while others say liquor must be sold in a separate shop from beer and wine.

Outside of Georgia many liquor shops are state-operated (Virginia comes to mind quickly) while in Georgia, all are privately operated. Georgia (and many states) does not allow one to buy directly from a distillery--a distributor must be involved. I saw a story once about a micro-distillery that makes and serves their own boutique liquors. The distill the spirits, sell them to a distributor (who places tax stamps on the bottles) then buy them back from the distributor to serve in the distillery-bar.

[Rob Davis]

Neville, we are a small shop in East Central Indiana on I-70. Two possible places depending on your interests that might be worthwhile are Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio which has a fantastic military aircraft museum, including Presidential aircraft as well as every fighter in the history of the US military and several NASA crafts. Also, you might go through Indianapolis to tour the Indy 500 track. I could also arrange for you to tour a large integrated hardwood sawmill or a large ethanol plant, as I am involved in both. Thermwood might also get you into a sawmill as they are really in hardwood lumber territory. If you are starting in NY, go via Niagara Falls, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world or include a tour of Mammoth Cave, another one just a short jaunt from Dale, Indiana. Safe travels.

[Jason Susnjara]

Hi Neville,

Only a few hours from here, I have not been to either one of the distilleries. I'm sure you can't go wrong with any of them. I can't think of too many places within 200 miles from here. The ones that come to mind are the Mammoth Caves, the Corvette museum in Bowling Green, KY. You also have the West Baden Springs Hotel which at one point used to be the USA's (maybe world) biggest freestanding dome before the Houston Astro Dome was built. Very Impressive. Here is the link: http://www.frenchlick.com/hotels/index.jsp Very close to the West Baden Hotel is the French Lick Springs Hotel and Casino. There are a lot of wineries around that area along with some nice golf courses.

Hi Dan,

We are close to the same. We can buy beer, wine and liquor on Sunday's but only in restaurants that serve food and no carry out.

[Mike Seisser]

I've been to the Jim Beam distillery, there's not much of a tour, you can walk some of the grounds and poke your head in one of the barrel houses. For me, the aroma of the barrel house alone was worth the trip. There is a tasting, gift shop, and movie of their history which is interesting. The grounds have some museum type displays, one is an old cooper's shop, which I found very interesting for obvious reasons. A friend of mine was just down there recently and was told that 'tours have been suspended due to construction', but I was told something similar 3 years ago. Maybe it's an inside joke?

I regretted not going to the Maker's Mark distillery while I was down there as I'm not certain when I'll be back.

[Michael S Murray]

Lets not forget Holiday world,lots of fishing and places to ride your harley! Obviously coming from a guy who spent almost two weeks there! And if your lucky, a tornado will come though and tear the roof of your hotel!!

[Dennis Englert]

I've been to several of the distilleries. My favorite is Maker's Mark. Another really good one is Buffalo Trace. The Woodford Reserve is near Buffalo Trace and is also pretty good. Mammoth Caves is well worth it and is not too far from Maker's Mark and the Corvette Factory and the Corvette Museum. There used to be factory tours, I don't know if there still is. You'll find that it is difficult to visit more than a couple of distilleries in a day due to driving distances and times of tours. Jack Daniels is made in Tennessee, so is out-of-the-way from just about anything. It is south of Nashville, but that is a good destination also. http://www.kybourbon.com/english/pages/trail.html

As mentioned before, the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum at Dayton, Ohio is really good. That had three huge hangars when I was last there and were building another. An absolutely awesome care museum is at Auburn, Indiana. Auburns, Cords and Dusendorf's are displayed there. It is pretty large also. It might be on the way to Niagara after a stop at the Air Force base.

The Louisville Slugger bats are made in Louisville, Kentucky. They have tours that are interesting and relatively short. Worth considering.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the Maker's Mark tour and Buffalo Trace. Both had very good bourbon chocolates.

Enjoy. There's lots to see and very little time.

Dennis Englert

[Josh Rayburn]

Well, if you end up in NY I'll trade you a tour of whatever you want for a case of XXXX Gold!
Enjoy the trip if you haven't already, and be sure to let us all know what you end up doing and what you enjoyed!

[Neville Bastian]

Hi Josh,
Been back for about 2.5 weeks and its becoming a distant memory. I have work banked up which is a nice change from earlier in the year.
I could have bought you a carton or slab as we call it of XXXX. Its a Queensland beer which is on the East Coast of OZ but not as popular as others here in the west.
Not sure what customs would have thought as their security is pretty keen. They may have thought this must be a hoax. No one calls their beer XXXX.

We only saw a day of New York as I tried to do too much. Could have done with the guided tour as we ended up hiring a limo for 5 hrs which was easier than catching a number of cabs.
I'll post a more detail reply as I am supposed to be working.

Regards
Neville