Tuesday & Thursday: 15 min runs

Saturday & Sunday: 20 min runs

*The 4th run is optional

Jim Beam is where we'll start our Ragnar in Clermont, KY. Known for its funk, Jim Beam produces a wide range of products using only two different mashbills and the same wild yeast strain that was cultured by Jim Beam on his back porch just after prohibition. Not only does the distillery produce bourbons under the Jim Beam label, but it also produces Knob Creek, Baker's, Basil Hayden's, Booker's and Old Tub. This week I'll be tasting Old Tub!

Tuesday & Thursday: 15 min runs

Saturday & Sunday: 20 min runs

*The 4th run is optional

This week's distillery focus is Heaven Hill Distillery! We'll be passing by Heaven Hill in Bardstown, KY a few hours after the race starts. The distillery produces a wide variety of whiskeys including bourbon, rye, corn and wheat whiskeys. Elijah Craig is one bourbon brand that they produce and it was my first true bourbon love. Out of all the KY bourbon distilleries, I think that Heaven Hill has a wonderful balanced distillery character: sweet, spicy, oaky, fruity and peanutty. Of course, I'm biased. But what I'll be tasting this week is Elijah Craig 18 year old!

Tuesday & Thursday: 15 min runs

Saturday & Sunday: 20 min runs

*The 4th run is optional

This week's distillery focus is Lux Row Distillers/Luxco! They started as a non-distiller producer (NDP), which is how most brands in the US operate. Luxco has been sourcing whiskey and other spirits from distilleries and bottling them under their various brands since the 50s. However, The Luxco brands have grown in popularity, so much so that they announced in 2016 the plans to build a distillery in Bardstown! Lux Row Distillers began operation in 2018 and some of the brands they produce are Ezra Brooks, Rebel Yell, David Nicholson & Blood Oath. What I'll be tasting this week is Blood Oath Pact No. 6!

Tuesday & Thursday: 20 min runs

Saturday & Sunday: 30 min runs

*The 4th run is optional

This week's distillery focus is Willett Distillery/Kentucky Bourbon Distillers! They're located right outside of Bardstown, near Heaven Hill and Lux Row. Similarly to Lux Row, Willett operated only as a non-distiller producer (NDP) under the name Kentucky Bourbon Distillers from the 1980s until 2012 when they began distilling once again. Some claim KBD is one brand that helped save bourbon in the 1980s as they stored old stocks of bourbon in their warehouse that would have otherwise been lost. They produce some delicious whiskeys such as Noah's Mill, Rowan's Creek and Willett Pot Still Reserve bottled in the iconic pot-still shaped decanter. This week I’ll be tasting Rowan’s Creek.

Tuesday & Thursday: 20 min runs

Saturday & Sunday: 30 min runs

*The 4th run is optional

This week's distillery focus is Maker's Mark Distillery! According to my dad, it's pronounced Make-uh's M-ahhh-k. Maker's was founded in 1953 by Bill Samuels, Sr. and his wife Margie Samuels. It's said that Bill figured out the mashbill he wanted to use for his bourbon by baking loaves of bread using a variety of grains instead of distilling a bunch of batches of bourbon. Rumor has it, he also had help from others in the industry like the Van Winkle's (sound familiar?). Many distilleries have expressions using wheated bourbon mashbills (using wheat in place of rye as the secondary grain), however Maker's exclusively uses one wheated mashbill for all of its releases. If you did A NEAT Dive Into Bourbon with me, you'll probably remember that wheated bourbons are known to be superior to the traditional mashbills that include rye (think Pappy), however that has yet to be proven in a blind tasting. With that being said, Maker's is definitely a popular bourbon that is, for lack of a better term, quite drinkable. Maker's is also known for the red wax on the bottle. Margie is responsible for creating that and the name Maker's Mark. Maybe when we run through Loretto, we'll stop and dip our own Maker's bottle!This week I’ll be tasting Maker’s Mark Cask Strength.

Tuesday & Thursday: 25 min runs

Saturday & Sunday: 40 min runs

*The 4th run is optional

This week's distillery focus is Limestone Branch Distillery! This was my parents favorite distillery from their trip to KY. It is a small distillery along the Craft Bourbon Trail producing about one barrel per day using a copper pot still for distillation. They also use yeast that was harvested from a donna jug used by their distilling ancestors in the 1800s. Limestone Branch was founded by Stephen and Paul Beam, so can you guess who their ancestors were? It's a little bit off our route in Lebanon, however it isn't one we should pass up. They produce bourbons under their Yellowstone label and rye under their Minor Case label in honor of their maternal and paternal grandfathers.

This week I’ll be tasting Yellowstone Bourbon.

Tuesday: 30 min run + 10 x 30 sec sprints (1 min rest)

Thursday: 25 min run

Saturday: 40 min run + 6 x 1 min sprints (90 sec rest)

Sunday: 45 min run

This week's distillery focus is Wilderness Trail Distillery! Wilderness Trail was founded in 2006 by Shane Baker and Pat Heist in Danville, KY. Although they are a relatively new distillery, they are growing very quickly with over 100,000 barrels aging in their rick houses. This distillery produces bottled-in-bond bourbons with a traditional and wheated mashbill and a barrel strength rye. They source all of their grains from KY farms and use a sweet mash for all of their whiskeys. This is unique, especially in bourbon, where a sour mash is typically used. But they take a very scientific approach to everything they do and using a sweet mash gives them more control over the beer that they produce. We'll be running through Wilderness Trail Friday night!

This week I’ll be tasting Wilderness Trail Wheated Bourbon!

Tuesday: 30 min run + 5 x 90 sec sprints (2 min rest)

Thursday: 35 min run

Saturday: 45 min run + 8 x 1 min sprint (90 sec rest)

Sunday: 30 min run

This week's distillery focus is Four Roses Distillery! We'll be passing by Four Roses as we run through Lawrenceburg sometime in the middle of the night. They produce 10 unique high rye bourbons using two mashbills & 5 different yeast strains. This allows them to blend these bourbons and create various expressions like their small batch, small batch select and single barrel. This week I’ll be tasting Four Roses Small Batch Select Bourbon!

Tuesday: 35 min run

Thursday: 35 min + 4 x 3 min sprints (5 min rest)

Saturday: 50 min run

Sunday: 40 min run

This week's distillery focus is Wild Turkey Distillery! Similarly to Four Roses, we'll be running by Wild Turkey on top of Wild Turkey Hill in Lawrenceburg while it's still dark out. As the story goes, Wild Turkey (the brand) was born in the 1940s after the distillery executive brought some bourbon with him on a wild turkey hunting trip. The bourbon was so popular among his hunting friends that they requested he bring "that wild turkey bourbon" with him every year. Wild Turkey is also where Jimmy Russell, the longest-tenured master distiller, calls home. Jimmy has been in the bourbon industry for 60 years and has earned the nicknames "the Buddha of Bourbon" & "the Master Distiller's Master Distiller" among his many other accolades. In 2015, Jimmy's son Eddie joined him as master distiller. The distillery produces both bourbons and ryes under their Wild Turkey and Russell's Reserve labels. This week I’ll be tasting Wild Turkey 101!

Tuesday: 40 min run + 6 x 2 min sprints (3 min rest)

Thursday: 45 min run

Saturday: 60 min + 4 x 3 min sprints (4 min rest)

Sunday: 45 min run

This week's distillery focus is Buffalo Trace Distillery! Funnily enough, Buffalo Trace is not technically part of the Bourbon Trail, however it is a VERY popular tourist destination to say the least. They produce some of the most popular bourbons in the industry and have only been getting more popular (and harder to find). Buffalo Trace produces all of their bourbons using three different proprietary mash bills: Mash #1, Mash #2 and Wheated. Those different mash bills combined with the variety of warehouses on the campus means that Buffalo Trace is able to bottle bourbons under a plethora of different labels such as Buffalo Trace, Blanton's, Weller, Van Winkle and Eagle Rare. This week I’ll be tasting Weller Full Proof!

Tuesday: 40 min run

Thursday: 40 min + 2 x 5 min sprints (7 min rest)

Saturday: 60 min run

Sunday: 45 min run

This week's distillery focus is Woodford Reserve Distillery! We'll be running past Woodford Reserve in Versailles at about 7:30 am Saturday morning. If you're a fan of horse racing, you'll know that Woodford is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby. While attending the race, you can purchase a $1000 mint julep made using Woodford's bourbon. The Woodford brand was released by Brown-Forman in 1996 and has since expanded beyond bourbons to rye, wheat and malt whiskeys. This week I'll be tasting Woodford Rye (Batch 1)!

Tuesday: 25 min + 6 x 30 sec sprints (1 min rest)

Thursday: 20 min run

Friday & Saturday: RACE

This week's distillery focus is Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co! They'll be hosting the finish line at Ragnar and are known in the bourbon world for producing Town Branch. This brewstillery began producing Town Branch in 2012 and uses a mash bill of 72% corn, 15% malted rye & 12% malted barley. They distill their whiskey using copper pot stills from Scotland and age the bourbon in new, char #5 American oak barrels. We'll get to pass by the distillery after we taste some delicious bourbon and beer at the finish line!