Forty years later, it still gives you chills. Watching video of Secretariat blazing down the home stretch in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, winning the third leg of the Triple Crown by 31 lengths, a crowd gathered at the Kentucky Derby Museum earlier this week cheered as if they were seeing it live.

The occasion was the unveiling of a limited-edition bottling of Four Roses commemorating the 40th anniversary of Secretariat’s Triple Crown run. Things didn’t go quite as planned. A special commemorative decanter didn’t measure up in quality and was scratched (buyers received full refunds), and Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery, 91, was unable to attend due to illness. But the bourbon and racing fans in attendance didn’t seem too upset. The food and drink were plentiful and tasty, and Chenery’s son, John Tweedy, was there to give his mother’s regards and to show a clip of an upcoming film about her, “A Horse-Powered Life.”

Master distiller Jim Rutledge then led the group in tasting the barrel-strength batch of Four Roses that Mrs. Chenery hand-selected in a visit to Kentucky in March, pointing out its chocolate-cherry flavor notes. Bottle No. 1 was given to the Derby Museum. Many of the 3,503 other bottles - all signed by jockey Ron Turcotte and adorned with a tag sporting Penny Chenery’s signature - were purchased at the event; the rest will be sold at outlets along the Triple Crown trail.

Meeting Penny, Jim said, was the highlight of his career: “I don’t see how anyone could spend more than five minutes with her and not fall in love.”

That’s also how racing fans felt about Secretariat, who set race records in every leg of the Triple Crown that still stand today. There hasn’t been a Triple Crown winner since 1978. Will this be the year we see another? The hunt starts tomorrow. 

Col. Bourbon here and I would like to welcome y’all to Derby week, whether you are visiting from afar or are fortunate enough to call old Kentucky home.

There’s a lot going on in the week leading up to the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports, and some of it isn’t even associated with bourbon, believe it or not. But let’s start things off with some breaking news from the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, which reports this morning that for the first time in 40 years, Kentucky distilleries produced 1 million barrels of bourbon in 2012, further proof of the industry’s renaissance.

To be precise, distillers filled 1,007,703 barrels last year. The industry hasn’t created that much bourbon since 1973, when 1,004,877 barrels were filled, the KDA said. 

That year - 1973 - is remembered around here for another reason: It was the year that the great horse Secretariat won the Triple Crown. That anniversary will be celebrated on Wednesday evening at the Kentucky Derby Museum when Secretariat owner Penny Chenery and jockey Ron Turcotte will join Four Roses master distiller Jim Rutledge to unveil a commemorative bottle filled with a special selection of Four Roses chosen by Mrs. Chenery herself.

As I reported here earlier, there was also to be a special commemorative Secretariat decanter. Unfortunately, when the decanters arrived from the overseas supplier, they did not meet quality standards, and so Four Roses, the Derby Museum and the Secretariat organization have reluctantly decided not to provide them. Those who ordered decanters are being given a full refund and the option to purchase one of the 3,500 bottles instead. While that is disappointing, it’s ultimately less disappointing than receiving subpar merchandise. The bottles will also be sold along the Triple Crown trail. Having tasted the limited-edition bourbon that Mrs. Chenery selected, I can tell you it’s good stuff. 

That’s enough for now. Check back often this week for more Derby Week updates, reports from my first-ever visit to WhiskyFest Chicago over the weekend and maybe a julep recipe or two. Cheers!

So, judging a julep recipe contest is harder than I thought it would be. I know, I know: I can feel the eyerolls from here. Tough job, Bourbon Babe! But hey, you taste 10 different - VERY different, in some cases - juleps and try to pick a winner. Especially when you sense that some of the very best ones are toward the end, but then wonder if they truly are the best ones, or if they just seem like the best ones because the room is suffused with the heady scent of mint and you’ve sipped from six or seven julep glasses and you are feeling really happy. And you’re wondering how you are supposed to judge “originality” on a scale of 1 to 10. If an entry is really out there - so original that if it wasn’t labeled “julep,” you’d never, ever guess - is that a 10? Or a 1?

These were some of the challenges facing my fellow judges and I last night at the 10th annual Four Roses Rose Julep Recipe Contest. The juleps we sampled contained everything from maple syrup to melon, from pesto to pineapple. Some were presented in glass so that we could better appreciate their color (we judged on presentation, too, as well as aroma and, of course, taste). Others were served in traditional silver julep cups, including the one by St. Charles Exchange mixologist Colin Shearn, who said,  ”You should know what a julep is from across the room.” (That’s his entry in my hand, above.)

When the score sheets were tallied, the winner was Isaac Fox of Volare, with a watermelon-flavored julep. Second place went to Adam Breitenstein of the Silver Dollar, with an orange-kissed julep, and Jacqueline Zykan of Doc Crow’s took third with a tiki-inspired concoction featuring pineapple and ginger. I will share the recipes as soon as I receive them.

Thanks to Four Roses for inviting me to participate (and for the bottle of Single Barrel signed by master distiller Jim Rutledge). And cheers to my fellow judges: bartender extraordinaire Joy Perrine, bourbon journalist Fred Minnick and Forecastle Festival founder (try saying THAT after 10 juleps) JK McKnight.

Here is the winning julep from Volare’s Isaac Fox:

And the ingredients that went into it:

Our second-place finisher from the Silver Dollar:

… and Adam describing it to us:

Jacqueline preparing her julep:

… and the finished drink in its tropical glory:

The Bourbon Babe is thrilled to announce that she - er, “I” - will be one of the judges this year for Four Roses’ 10^th Annual Rose Julep Recipe Contest. I’ll be joined on April 18 at the Ice House by My Morning Jacket drummer Patrick Hallahan, nationally acclaimed bartender Joy Perrine and wine/spirits journalist Fred Minnick to sample variations on this classic theme by Louisville-area mixologists and declare a winner. We’ll evaluate each entry on taste, presentation and creativity.

Competing bars and restaurants include 211 Clover Lane, Asiatique, Bourbons Bistro, Doc Crow’s, Lilly’s, Monkey Wrench, Martini’s Italian Bistro, St. Charles Exchange, the Silver Dollar, Village Anchor, Varanese and Volare. The winner receives $500 cash, two tickets to the Great Steamboat Race, a silver engraved Mint Julep cup and an engraved plaque. Additional prizes will be presented to second- and third-place winners. Last year’s winner was Kyle Tabler of the Village Anchor.

But there’s something in this for you, too. The event is free and open to the public and includes Four Roses drink specials, a limited number of swag bags provided by Four Roses and a performance after the competition by local band Kudmani.

The Ice House is at 217 E. Main St. and the event is from 5:30-8 p.m. April 18. Join us, and be sure to say howdy!

It is slightly less than one month until the Kentucky Derby, which means that people around here are starting to talk about mint juleps. It can be difficult to make a good mint julep; many of them end up way too sweet, or tasting sort of like mouthwash. If that’s been your experience, help is on the way.

Master mixologist Joy Perrine, the “bad girl of bourbon,” will demonstrate how to make the perfect julep from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, at an event called “Juleps: Mint & More” at Locust Grove, 561 Blankenbaker Lane. As the name implies, Joy won’t just focus on the traditional julep - she’ll be making strawberry, pineapple and chocolate juleps too, and you’ll get to sample all four.

In addition, Woodford Reserve master distiller Chris Morris will be there to talk about the juleps served at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, from the ones in the souvenir glasses to the special $1,000 Woodford Reserve Julep. (Woodford is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby).

The julep event is $30 ($20 for Friends of Locust Grove) and includes light hors d’oeuvres. Call 502-897-9845 to make your reservation. 

You know, the more you type the word “julep,” the weirder it looks. Which, of course, made this English major wonder about its origin. Here’s what Merriam-Webster has to say: “Middle English, from Middle French, from Arabic julāb, from Persian gulāb, from gul rose + āb water. First Known Use: 14th century.”

So there you have it: Rose water. Feel free to drop that bit of trivia at your Derby parties. 

Four Roses’ official video of Secretariat owner Penny Chenery selecting the single-barrel bourbon for commemorative bottles and decanters, and a look at the artist behind the decanter.

“If you like bourbon, this will be fun,” Four Roses master distiller Jim Rutledge told Secretariat owner Penny Chenery as he escorted her into the brand’s bottling facility in Cox’s Creek, Ky., where she was to select two single-barrel bourbons to fill a special decanter and bottle commemorating the 40th anniversary of her horse’s incredible Triple Crown sweep.

“I love bourbon!” she replied. And soon, everyone in the room loved Penny, a warm, witty woman who still cracks wise at the age of 91.

“Is this the earliest in the day you’ve enjoyed a dram of whiskey?” my bourbon-writing colleague Fred Minnick asked her (the event started at 10 a.m.). “Don’t be personal,” she shot back immediately, to the delight of the media crowd.

Wearing a deep blue jacket and a blue-and-white checked scarf, the colors of Meadow Stable, Penny sampled barrel-strength Four Roses from 10 barrels - five each for the decanter and the bottle. She chose Barrel No. 5 both times. The bourbon will be cut to the brand’s usual 100 proof for bottling, said Jim, who signed the winning barrels along with Penny following the selection. The 500 decanters will be sold at the Kentucky Derby Museum on May 1; the 3,500 bottles will be sold along the Triple Crown trail this spring in Kentucky, Maryland and New York.

I asked Penny whether, as a female thoroughbred owner, she was conscious of being a trailblazer during Secretariat’s record-setting career. “No, I had a job to do,” she said. “As a woman, you have to realize that any time you step out of the ordinary, you’re going to get some criticism. But the way I looked at it was: They could have their prejudices. I had the horse.”

The Triple Crown run was a remarkable time in her life, she said, and the mystique of her horse has carried on through the generations. Secretariat wasn’t just an amazing athlete, she noted: “He turned out to be a ham. He loved attention, and so did I. My trainer and I made a deal. He didn’t like talking to the fans; he wanted to focus on the training. So he said, ‘I’ll do the horse; you do the people.’ And that’s what I’ve been doing for 40 years.”

She certainly charmed everyone at the event, including Jim, who said the partnership with the Secretariat team was the most exciting thing he could recall in his 47 years in the business.

Making her final choice, Penny said, “I will take any of them home.” “You can take ALL of them home,” Jim replied. “Barrels?” she asked. Jim: “We might be able to work something out.”

It has been 40 years since Secretariat swept the Triple Crown, becoming the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby in under 2 minutes (1:59 2/5, still the record), making a last-to-first finish in the Preakness and annihilating the rest of the field in the Belmont with a winning margin of more than 31 lengths.

To commemorate the 1973 Triple Crown, 500 ceramic decanters in the style of those that became collectibles in the 1970s are being created in the image of Secretariat, with jockey Ron Turcotte aboard. They will be filled with 750ml of Four Roses bourbon hand-selected by Secretariat owner Penny Chenery and master distiller Jim Rutledge during a visit to Four Roses’ Cox’s Creek facility next month and unveiled on May 1 at a special event at the Kentucky Derby Museum.

Each of the numbered decanters will be signed by Chenery and Turcotte, who will attend the event. Also available that night will be a special barrel selection of Four Roses in limited-edition “Secretariat bottles” featuring the blue-and-white checks of the Meadow Stable silks. Rutledge will lead a tasting of the Four Roses barrel selection.

The decanters are $320 each, and the May 1 event ($50/person) is the only opportunity to purchase them. The commemorative bottles of Four Roses are $124.99 each. For more information and to reserve your spot, click here.

As a Kentucky girl, I certainly relate to Ms. Chenery’s quote in the Four Roses news release about the decanters: “Fast horses and fine Bourbon are two of my favorite things.” And I am sort of absurdly excited about this decanter, maybe because I remember seeing similar ones when I was a kid and thinking they were cool.

The Triple Crown also carries huge interest here in Kentucky, where the journey begins. Secretariat was just the ninth winner of the Triple Crown, and there have been only two others since, although there have been several heartbreaking near-misses. Maybe we’ll find ourselves toasting the 12th winner this year, the 40th anniversary of Secretariat’s record-breaking run. (But not with the bourbon from this decanter. No way I’m opening that!)   

Now that’s a dozen Roses. Does my husband know the way to my heart, or what?

Last night I spent some time playing around with ingredients for a Valentine’s Day cocktail. I knew that I wanted to use bourbon, of course, and I settled on Four Roses Single Barrel, which has a bit of a bite to it. I also wanted to include chocolate, because chocolate and bourbon pair really well. Godiva Liqueur filled the bill. I tried adding some Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur as well, but the resulting drink was way too sweet. The solution? Replacing the Luxardo with a few dashes of Woodford Reserve’s new Spiced Cherry Bitters. This new product (more about it soon) gave a hint of cherry flavor while its spiciness added complexity to the chocolate.

I call this cocktail The Valentine because, as my husband noted, it has all the elements of the holiday: roses, chocolate and a kiss of cherry.

The Valentine

2 oz. bourbon (Four Roses Single Barrel)

1 oz. Godiva Liqueur

4 dashes Woodford Reserve Spiced Cherry Bitters

Combine ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake, then strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Enjoy.