“Kentucky’s Mash Appeal.” That’s how the Kentucky Distillers’ Association billed the bourbon and whiskey options from the Kentucky Bourbon Trail that were offered at a Derby Eve soiree at the Governor’s Mansion on Friday night. There really were 87 - although you had to know the password to taste the good stuff (Wild Turkey Tradition, I’m looking at you). KDA President Eric Gregory, above, kept things flowing. I took the opportunity to sample Corsair’s Quinoa Whiskey. Chewy! 

Other craft distilleries from the new Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour were also represented, including Limestone Branch in Lebanon, Ky. - that’s distiller Steve Beam, right, talking to the KDA’s Adam Johnson.

In addition to healthy pours, the bar offered some intriguing cocktails. I sampled the Pressing Charges, a drink featuring Heaven Hill’s Larceny. Here’s the recipe:

1.5 oz. Larceny

.25 oz. PAMA Liqueur

.5 oz. Sweet & Sour

2 oz. Lemon-Lime soda

Stir and serve over ice.

Take one down, pass it around …

Today is the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby. Just before the race, thousands of people will sing our state song, “My Old Kentucky Home” - you know, the one that begins, “The sun shines bright on my Old Kentucky Home.” Well, someone apparently forgot to tell the sun, because today’s forecast is for rain, pretty much all day.

This may affect one’s choice of attire. I for one will be wearing jeans and boots to the track rather than the dress and heels I’d planned. But more important, it might affect your wagering. Not all horses run well in the mud. I’m told that morning-line favorite Orb can handle a sloppy track. Others to consider: Oxbow, Normandy Invasion, Charming Kitten and Itsmyluckyday.

I’ll also be placing a Derby bet on Overanalyze, because I do. Good luck!

Photo: Churchill Downs’ Gate 1 earlier this week - the calm before the storm

Good advice as we approach Saturday’s 139th running of the Kentucky Derby.

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!

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!)   

That $15 wager on I’ll Have Another won me $138 in the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby. (The Bourbon Babe may be prescient, but she is not a big spender. Still, that’s not a bad result.)

Did anyone else cash a ticket?

At the Kentucky Derby on Saturday I ran into Chris Morris, master distiller for Woodford Reserve, the event’s official bourbon. Chris was presiding over the mixing of mint juleps in the Woodford tent, where the temperature was probably upwards of 85 degrees despite his cool, calm appearance. He said he arrived at the track at 5 a.m. to prepare for the day and had been working pretty much nonstop for the past seven days, doing television appearances, attending events and signing bottles of bourbon.

One of the biggest misconceptions I initially had about the bourbon industry was that a master distiller mostly stayed at the distillery, creating new products and maintaining the profiles of existing ones. These days, master distillers are out and about at least 75 percent of the time, and their job description should also include the words ambassador, educator, historian and entertainer. I’m sure it’s fun a lot of the time, but it has to be exhausting. So here’s to you, Chris - I hope you are enjoying a well-deserved day off.

The sun shines bright on my Old Kentucky Home - which is entirely appropriate as today is the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby.

The Bourbon Babe will be heading to the track shortly, but before I go, I’ll give you a tip - free of charge! - on how to bet today.

Am I a serious handicapper? No. But I’ve done pretty well over the years using my tried-and-true betting method: picking the horse by its name. In 1997, I had Silver Charm because I collect silver charms for a bracelet. In 2004, I backed Smarty Jones because I have a smart (and smart-aleck) friend whose last name is Jones. Most notably, in 2005 I put $5 to win on a horse called Giacomo because I read in the paper the morning of the race that his owner, who was friends with Sting, named him after one of Sting’s sons. Giacomo went off at 50-1, and 2:02.75 minutes later I was about $300 richer.

So who’s my Derby horse? As a bourbon blogger there is really only one choice: I’ll Have Another. Because whether he wins or loses, you can bet that’s what I’ll be doing.

Happy Derby!

“On Derby Day, you can always tell the tourists from the locals,” Wild Turkey Master Distiller Jimmy Russell tells Esquire magazine. “Once ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ is over, we put down our mint juleps and pick up the bourbon.” Read more here.

Kentucky Colonel mint shot with Hipstamatic app in my backyard, May 3, 2012.