The Bardstown Fire Department and state and federal environmental regulators treated the spill as a hazardous spill accident and responded similarly.

A dike pooled some of the spilled 180-proof alcohol, but a whole lot more spilled down a creek and into a lake at the rear of the building, Bardstown Fire Chief Anthony Mattingly said.

The spill was caused when a tanker full of the alcohol left a shutoff valve open letting the alcohol overflow into a containment area. Another valve had been opened to handle excess rain which let the spill reach the creek and lake.

occurred after a tanker delivered the alcohol to the distillery in Nelson County. A shutoff valve between a large tank and a smaller tank was left open, allowing the liquid to flow into the smaller tank, which then overflowed into a containment area, Mattingly said.

An environmental contractor helped mitigate the spill, the chief said.

He is traveling across the state of Kentucky eating barbecue with one thought in mind.
He wants to make Kentucky famous for its barbecue.

“My home state has been grossly neglected when it comes to barbecue fame,” Berry said. “I watch these food and travel channel shows where they talk about America’s best barbecue and they focus on North Carolina, Memphis, Texas and Kansas City.”

Berry says Kentucky is unheralded for it’s barbecue, a hard fact to reconcile when Moonlight Bar BQ consistently ranks among the world’s best.

“I’ve had good barbecue in Texas,” he said. “I’ve had good barbecue in North Carolina. There’s some fine stuff in Memphis, but not any better than what I have here in my home state.”

In the summer of 2009 he started traveling the state and has eaten in 80 different barbecue joints says the College Heights Herald.

“We have stuff here you can’t get elsewhere, like mutton,” Berry said.
Pulled pork, sliced shoulder, ribs, chicken, brisket and mutton have all been covered in Berry’s book from his various stops, which only include mom-and-pop joints.
Berry’s roots in barbecue go back further than his idea for writing this manuscript.
Growing up in Barren County, Berry’s uncle was an entrepreneur who would “flip meat all day.” When Berry would visit his uncle, he would be given chores to do. His uncle would reward him with smoked meat.

“I like a real good smoky flavor, tender and juicy with a bit of salt to bring it out,” Berry said, “The biggest crime is to sell old meat, really old meat.”

Berry said he expects the book to be out by May 2013.

Acclaimed chef and TV personality Amanda Freitag recommends this delicious bourbon-infused sweet potato side dish and Chef Elizabeth Karmel of New York City’s Hill Country Barbecue has whipped up a pecan pie recipe that will have everyone asking for a second slice. Pair these with an Apple Manhattan or Pomegranate Smash cocktail and you’ve got yourself one heck of a Thanksgiving meal!

Apple Manhattan

RECIPE:

2 parts Maker’s Mark®

1 part Berentzen® Apple Liqueur

Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a granny smith apple wheel.

Pomegranate Smash

RECIPE:

2 parts Maker’s 46™

1 part POM Wonderful® Pomegranate Juice

½ part honey

½ part fresh squeezed lemon juice

Garnish with pomegranate seeds

Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Pour over ice into a rocks glass.

Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Maker’s Mark®, Chestnuts and Sage

Recipe by Amanda Freitag, Executive Chef and TV Personality

Prep Time: 15 minutes. Cook Time: 30 minutes. Level: Easy.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

4-5 large sweet potatoes, peeled & large dice

¼ cup Maker’s Mark®

½ cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

½ cup celery, small dice

1½ cups whole peeled chestnuts, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon fresh sage, chiffonade

Salt and Black Pepper to taste

1. Place diced sweet potatoes into a large pot and cover with cold water. Add salt to the sweet potatoes and bring to a boil. Simmer the potatoes for approximately 25 minutes or until just tender, not too soft.

2. Drain the potatoes until dry and place them back into the pot. Stir in the ½ cup of butter and the Maker’s Mark® while the potatoes are still hot. As you stir the potatoes they will naturally mash and still hold some of their shape. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a ceramic serving dish and hold.

3. Prepare the chestnuts by first melting the 2 tablespoons of butter into a sauté pan and sauté the celery on a medium heat. After 2 minutes add the chopped chestnuts and the maple syrup to the celery and cook together until incorporated. Finish the chestnuts with the sage and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the chestnut mixture over the sweet potatoes and serve.

Maker’s Mark® Double-Nut Pecan Pie

Recipe by Elizabeth Karmel, Executive Chef, Hill Country Barbecue Market

Prep Time: 2 hours. Cook Time: 1 hour. Level: Easy.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

1 cup whole pecans

¾ cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ cup granulated white sugar
½ cup dark corn syrup

¼ cup light corn syrup
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons Maker’s Mark®

1 pre-baked 9-inch pie shell*

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Put chopped nuts into the bottom of the prebaked pie shell and set aside.

2. Combine melted butter, granulated sugar, the dark and light corn syrups, eggs, vanilla extract and bourbon.

3. Pour this mixture on top of chopped nuts. Place a decorative row of whole pecans on the top. Bake about 50-60 minutes on the center rack of the oven or until cooked through. The pie will spring back on top but still giggle a little until it cools. If the top is getting too dark before the center is done, tent with aluminum foil.

4. Cool for a minimum of three hours. The pie is best made the day before.

*Note: Pre-bake the pie shell according to package directions at least two hours beforehand to allow time to cool.

Evan Williams will motivate Bourbon drinkers to enter a Fall sweepstakes to win an ultimate “mancation” getaway—a trip for two to “The Bourbon Capital of the World®”, Bardstown, Kentucky, to visit the Heaven Hill Distilleries, producers of Evan Williams Bourbon. The lucky winner will enjoy a private dinner grilled by celebrity chef Grady Spears, known as “The Cowboy in the Kitchen”, along with the 6th and 7th generation Master Distillers at Heaven Hill Distilleries, Parker and Craig Beam. And the winner will also take home a large size Big Green Egg cooker, the ultra popular ceramic cooker that is a smoker, a grill and an oven all rolled into one.

“We know that grilling, Bourbon and football are complementary Fall passions for a lot of our Evan Williams consumers, and competitive Bourbon consumers as well,”

noted Susan Wahl, Evan Williams brand manager at Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc.

“The ‘Grill With the Greats’ promotion brings these together for our consumers, along with iconic brands and names such as Big Green Egg and chef Grady Spears, and presents a great merchandising opportunity for Evan Williams retailers.”

The “Grill With the Greats” promotion will run through mid October, when the drawing for the Grand Prize package will be held. Consumers can learn more through the Evan Williams website (www.evanwilliams.com).

Promoting Bourbon Lifestyle

No.

Despite the dire warnings at the conclusion of the story in The Atlantic, craft whiskey distillers will not destroy the bourbon biz.

My concern is that if even a sizable minority of distillers accept shortcuts like this as part of being “craft,” then American whiskey as a whole will see its reputation threatened. It’s happened before, after all: The sector is only now climbing out of its decades-long purgatory as the bottom-shelf bastard son of Scotch. It was there largely because, after a wave of consolidation, too many owners decided to focus on profits over quality. They had forgotten the maxim of Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle: “We make Fine Bourbon. At a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always Fine Bourbon.” It would be a shame if many craft distillers, in a rush to compete with the big guys, made the same mistake.

Just a craft beer brewers and flavored vodkas,m(and flavored bourbons, for that matter) the craft distillers will not make a dent in the market share developed by years and millions of dollars of marketing.

It just won’t happen.

Ever.