DESTINATIONS THE US |KENTUCKY
NEED TO KNOW
E The nearest airport to Covington is in Cincinnati, Ohio. There are flights from the UK via New York, Austin or Dallas, with a total journey time of about 12 hours.
E It’s easy to do a twin-centre city break with Cincinnati – but taxes are lower on the Kentucky side, so the hotels are often more affordable.
E September is the best time to visit, as lots of festivals and events take place during the annual National Bourbon Heritage Month.
E There’s no need to hire a car if you’re staying in Covington and Cincinnati, as both are walkable. However, most distilleries are located around Louisville and Bardstown, about a 90-minute drive from Covington. Buffalo Trace (pictured) and Bardstown Bourbon Company operate great tours.
CLOCKWISE FROM BELOW: Buffalo Trace distillery; Wenzel Whiskey; whiskey flight at the New Riff distillery PICTURES: Clay Cook; Drawn To The Image
And for novices, there are plenty of tourist-friendly experiences to wet your whistle. In Covington, Kentucky’s final frontier before you
cross the river into Cincinnati, Ohio, a buzzy bourbon scene has developed into a thirst-quenching trail known as The B-Line. On the map are neighbourhood favourites such as Libby’s Southern Comfort, where fried chicken and hearty bologna sandwiches vie for attention, and the signature cheerwine bourbon slush is unforgettable, provided you don’t have more than two. It also sprawls into neighbouring cities. In Burlington,
BOOK IT
America As You Like It offers the 14-night Bourbon, Bluegrass, Elvis and the Blues tour, beginning in Covington, from £2,095, including flights, accommodation and car hire. The price is based on departures in September and October 2023.
americaasyoulikeit.com
72 24 NOVEMBER 2022
there’s Tousey House Tavern, where you might be ordering a salad for brunch but there’s zero judgement if you ask for another old fashioned. Or head to Newport, where you can go on a gangster-themed walking tour – previously run by the mob, this was the original ‘sin city’ – before calming your nerves at the nearby New Riff distillery.
SELLING OUT QUICKLY Fresh for 2022 is Wenzel Whiskey, which has just opened its doors in a former pickle factory, marking the first time bourbon has been made in Covington since prohibition. They ‘rectify’ bourbon by sourcing barrels from other producers and creating their own blends, rather than distilling spirits from scratch, and the result has been so popular that bottles are selling out as fast as they can make it.
I created a delicious blend of
caramel and butterscotch on the nose, but it was hard not to grimace at the bitterness when I tasted it
At its blending experiences, Wenzel offers visitors the chance to try their hand at rectifying. They get to smell, taste and learn about whiskey in a whole new way – but it’s not as easy as you might think. With a flight of four barrel-strength spirits, I managed to create something that was a delicious blend of caramel and butterscotch on the nose – exactly what I might like to drink – but it was hard not to grimace at the bitterness when I tasted it. It’s an experience that gave me a whole new appreciation for the craft that goes into these spirits. Even Dusty’s low-key boutique, with its plain cream walls and dark wood-panelled bar, is getting an upgrade of sorts – he’s opening up a new drinking den at North by Hotel Covington, a 53-suite expansion of a luxury bolthole in the heart of the city that launches at the end of this year. There will be space for more bottles, which means more opportunities to taste something special. Knowing Dusty, though, that generosity of spirit is one thing that isn’t going to change.
TW
travelweekly.co.uk
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