Today is Statehood Day in Kentucky, which was the 15th state admitted to the Union on June 1, 1792 (although technically we are a commonwealth and not a state).

What better way to celebrate than with a toast of 1792 Ridgemont Reserve, produced at the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown? It is, after all, the official toasting bourbon of the Kentucky Bourbon Festival.

Cheers, Kentucky!

HOPPY ANNIVERSARY: I’m wrapping up my report from WhiskyFest Chicago with this shot from Goose Island Wrigleyville Brewpub. Goose Island Beer Co. celebrates 25 years in business this year. Although purists went crazy when Anheuser-Busch bought the brewery two years ago with plans to make it a national craft-beer brand, we found that Goose Island was still serving unusual tasty beer when we visited in May. Case in point, that dark beauty on the left: The Gomez, a Russian Imperial Stout created by Erwin Gomez, the winner of Goose Island’s “Quest for the Imperial Goose” homebrew competition.

I’d been hearing quite a bit lately about Koval Distillery, the first craft distillery to open within the Chicago city limits since Prohibition. So while my husband and I were in the city recently for WhiskyFest, we made a point to stop by. Koval is located at 5121 N. Ravenswood Ave. in a quiet, tree-lined neighborhood on the border of the Ravenswood and Andersonville neighborhoods. It’s kind of an unassuming building - be careful or you might drive right past it!    

We didn’t, though, and we arrived just in time for the 5 p.m. Saturday tour. It was led very capably by the unflappable Annie, who wasn’t thrown by the (very) staggered arrival of the members of a bachelor party group or by the showoff from Kentucky who couldn’t resist answering some of the questions Annie asked us (for example, Where does bourbon have to be made? The United States - not just Kentucky, as many people think).

Annie explained the difference between white, or unaged, whiskey and aged whiskey and then let us sample several of the distillery’s products, including their new bourbon, made from a mash bill of corn and millet. It was good, but what I really fell in love with was Koval’s liqueurs. I brought home bottles of Rose Hip and Orange Blossom and can’t wait to try them in cocktails.

I came away impressed by Koval’s ambition and its attention to detail. Aren’t those liqueur bottles beautiful? And speaking of beauty, get a look at Koval’s unhammered copper potstill, custom-made in Germany (photo by Koval): 

Tours of Koval are $10 and are generally scheduled every Wednesday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 1, 3 and 5 p.m. and Sunday at 2 and 4 p.m. Those times are subject to change, though, so check the distillery’s website before you go. In fact, it’s a good idea to register and prepay on the website to make sure you get on the tour you want.

To celebrate its 14th birthday (can that be right?? It seems like just yesterday it was a baby), the Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour today unveiled the new Official Kentucky Bourbon Trail app.

Available free on Apple’s iTunes Store (search “Kentucky Bourbon Trail”), the app features maps, GPS directions and tour hours for all Kentucky Bourbon Trail and Kentucky Bourbon Craft Trail Tour distilleries; digital check-in for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Passport program; a trip planner for other local attractions, restaurants and lodging options near each distillery; a Bourbon 101 tutorial; and more.

You can also find these features on the redesigned Kentucky Bourbon Trail website. 

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour features Four Roses and Wild Turkey in Lawrenceburg; Heaven Hill’s Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown; Jim Beam in Clermont; Maker’s Mark in Loretto; Town Branch in Lexington and Woodford Reserve in Versailles. Heaven Hill’s Evan Williams Bourbon Experience is scheduled to join the tour when it opens this fall in downtown Louisville.

(Detail of app)

Established in 2008, Koval Distillery is the first craft distillery within Chicago’s city limits since Prohibition. The name Koval is Yiddish for “blacksmith,” but also refers to a black sheep.

Wild Turkey Tradition

14 years old; 101 proof

About $115/750ml

Wild Turkey Tradition has the most impressive packaging I’ve ever seen. It comes in a large, rectangular wooden box (see image below). You have to push in buttons on the side to release the lid, which lifts up to reveal a handsome glass-and metal bottle nestled in the box’s gold-flecked base. The only thing missing is a choir singing. Of course, all the frills in the world don’t matter if the juice doesn’t measure up. Does it? Read on.    

Aroma: Vanilla, brown sugar, slight floral note; fresh, light oak.

Taste: An immediate explosion of flavor powered by the Wild Turkey signature 101 proof that quickly and smoothly coats the entire palate. This is no “Kickin’ Chicken”; it continues to bloom with flavors of vanilla, maple syrup and baking spices (nutmeg, cinnamon). Very well balanced, with a nice, long finish.

Verdict: Press materials say master distiller Jimmy Russell aged this bourbon in the “sweet spot” of the oldest warehouses. Whatever he did, it worked. Bourbons aged more than about 8 years often pick up harsh tannins from the oak, but at 14 years old, this has taken on only the best of the flavors that wood can bring to whiskey. It is remarkably balanced. Many bourbons fire on only part of the tongue, but this kept all of my tastebuds happily engaged. My new Tradition will be to bring out this bourbon to toast special events or achievements. And once it’s gone, I will pour something else into the bottle so I can keep using this crazy cool box.

Sidebar, Louisville’s newest Whiskey Row enterprise in the shadow of the YUM! Center, was the setting this week for the semi-finals of the Four Roses/Magic City Cocktail Competition. The contest was created by the United States Bartenders’ Guild in conjunction with Starz Network, and the winner, who’ll be crowned after the finals at the Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ky., on June 9 and 10, could win a walk-on role on the Starz show “Magic City.”

OK, that’s the fine print. I wasn’t judging this cocktail contest; I was mostly there to sip some Four Roses and to check out Sidebar. My first impression is quite favorable. It has a great location and a cool, slightly upscale vibe, and if the sliders that were offered as appetizers truly represent the burger-centric menu, I can’t wait to try a full-size one.

(The bar)

While I sampled, I watched the six contestants - five from Indianapolis and Louisville’s own Colin Shearn (St. Charles Exchange) - prepare their cocktails. You guys, the USBG is tough! Each contestant was judged on things like over- and under-pouring, spillage and “garnish neatness” - and they were being timed. And that’s before the four judges, who were in an adjoining room, even started assessing each drink’s aroma, taste, presentation, etc. No wonder most people’s hands were shaking a little.

Because they were already under a lot of pressure, I didn’t want to bother them, and so I took a photograph of only one. That would be Kendall Lockwood from Ball & Biscuit in Indianapolis, who is preparing her cocktail, “The Hooch,” above. It was a savvy choice, because she ended up winning. (The recipe is below.) Unlike some of these things, where only the judges get to taste the competing drinks, we hoi polloi also got a sip, and so I can tell you that Kendall’s cocktail is smooth and sweet and would make a nice dessert drink. 

I will be visiting Sidebar again soon for that burger and for a barrel-aged cocktail. Watch for updates.

The Bourbon Babe, left, with Nick Clark and Ellen King for Four Roses. (Yes, we often just stand around holding a bottle of bourbon while we chat here in Kentucky.) Photo by Jerry Zegart.

Kendall Lockwood’s “The Hooch”

1.5 oz Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon

0.5 oz Prunier VSOP

1 oz simple syrup

1 oz vanilla infused organic whole milk

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake and strain into Embassy glass and sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg.

“How do you tell a moonshiner in Kentucky? That Mason jar makes a little mark on their nose.” That’s the wit and wisdom of Jimmy Russell, master distiller at Wild Turkey. Jimmy loves to have a little fun, so here is the real trivia: Occasionally, he will lead tours at the Lawrenceburg, Ky., distillery without telling people who he is, so that he gets honest feedback. If you find yourself on a tour led by someone who claims to be the Wild Turkey janitor… well, you might want to doublecheck that with someone else.

As I’ve mentioned here, I recently went to Chicago for WhiskyFest. When I told people I was headed to the Windy City, at least three times I heard: ”Oh - you HAVE to go to Delilah’s!” Well, you usually only have to tell me twice, and so I did go to Delilah’s, and now I’m telling you to do the same.

Let’s get this part out of the way: Delilah’s, at 2771 N. Lincoln, is a dive. So don’t expect a fancy atmosphere. But do expect a big wall of bourbon (above) and some knowledgeable bartenders.  

Eric, above, was slicing fruit and setting up following a late night the previous evening, when Delilah’s hosted a WhiskyFest After Party. He described the energy that ran through the crowd when a car pulled up and dispensed Mr. Jimmy Russell, master distiller at Wild Turkey, who proceeded to the upstairs bar to have a few more drinks. “That guy RULES!” he said, admiringly. That might sound funny about any other guy in his mid-70s, but trust me: Jimmy Russell can drink you under the table any time, anywhere. 

We played a little Stump the Bartender, asking Eric to bring us something we might not have tasted. He made some good recommendations - among them Heaven Hill’s new Larceny - but we’d had them all. Then he brought out an old bottle of something I’d not only never tried, I’d never even heard of it: Old Mork. According to some quick research, Old Mork was distilled in Louisville, Ky., for medicinal uses only by A. Ph. Stitzel (which would eventually have a Van Winkle connection). 

Delilah’s had it priced at $125 a shot, so I still haven’t tried it, but be sure to let me know if you have or do. Tell ‘em the Bourbon Babe sent you.