Oscar Getz Whiskey Museum

In May of 2010 when I visited the Maker’s Mark Distillery, I had a few hours free to wander around Bardstown, which is the nearest town, of any size, near the distillery, in Loretto. There I spent a very pleasant time looking around the Oscar Getz Whiskey Museum. The museum houses his collection of whiskey memorabilia as well as items donated by the local distilleries. The museum is housed inside Spalding Hall which was part of a Catholic college in the 19th century and is named after Bishop John Spalding.

The Getz family bought the Tom Moore Distillery in 1944 and changed the name to The Barton Distillery. Oscar was also involved with Brown-Foreman in the 1970’s when, as owner of Barton Brands he was convinced by Brown-Foreman to buy Canadian Mist, which they had previously only bottled.

Inside you’ll find an amazing variety of exhibits from how they make cork stoppers to the origins of the word “booze” in the English language.

Bardstown itself is charming and has many period houses near the city square. There is the famous Old Talbot Tavern, which is rumored to have been the oldest western stagecoach stop (since 1800) in America as expansion brought travelers to Kentucky.

Although locals warned me off of their food, they have a nice whiskey bar below, the Bourbon Bar. As is usual for such places, they claim many famous individuals including Abraham Lincoln, “Slept here”.

Bardstown is in the middle of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and several distilleries are nearby. The town is located about 45 minutes South of Louisville, Kentucky.

Other Media:

http://www.whiskeymuseum.com/

http://www.talbotts.com/html/history.html

www.makersmark.com

http://kybourbontrail.com/

http://www.kybourbonfestival.com/events.htm

http://www.jimbeam.com/