Urban Bourbon exhibit opens at the Kentucky Derby Museum

Beginning a yearlong celebration of bourbon, Kentucky Derby Museum tells BourbonBlog.com that the new Urban Bourbon exhibit presented by Four Roses Distillery has opened. This week, the exhibit premiered for an evening ribbon-cutting ceremony and special event in the museum’s Great Hall

Urban Bourbon features several interactive sections while showcasing the importance and history of bourbon in the city of Louisville.

Visitors can ‘order’ a selection off of a bar menu which will activate several short video clips. An interactive Ipad technology allows the exhibit bar to be hosted by a Virtual Bartender at all hours of the exhibit. (Menu items include: Savor the Flavor, Bourbon Babble, Bourbon basics, Modern Manhattan, Bourbon Twisted)

– Visitors can ‘order’ a selection off of a bar menu which will activate several short video clips. An interactive Ipad technology allows the exhibit bar to be hosted by a Virtual Bartender at all hours of the exhibit. (Menu items include: Savor the Flavor, Bourbon Babble, Bourbon basics, Modern Manhattan, Bourbon Twisted)

– Why “Bourbon?”: how the native American spirit got its name.

– By a Nose: how to taste, what to smell. Demonstrated by glass beakers and sniff containers mounted on the wall, guests can put their noses to the test.

– Timeline of bourbon and racing in the city of Louisville and the parallel growth for the two native traditions.

– Family Affair: the family dynasties that became the leaders of the industry.

-Vintage ads from many of the bourbon industry branding campaigns

– Definitions of Bourbon: all bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon… why?

– And a fully functional bar in the middle of a museum! This well- stocked bar was constructed by local craftsman to give the essence of a bourbon bar that might be found in Louisville (hint: very similar to a newly-installed bar in the Derby Café at the Derby Museum). The bar itself was created from one of the last original trees from the farmland of John and Henry Churchill here on the museum’s property. The tree had to come down during a renovation in 1999 but the wood was saved and sent to the Bluegrass Cooperage’s Benton Sawmill where it was milled into planks. Those planks make up the body of the new exhibit bar which will be used in the museum for years to come!

Urban Bourbon Kentucky Derby Museum presented by Four Roses Distillery, LLC. will be open to the public with regular Museum admission now  through December 31, 2012.The Kentucky Derby Museum is a 501c3 non-profit located near the historic Churchill Downs race track.

Four Roses Master Distiller Jim Rutledge addresses guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Urban Bourbon exhibit in the Great Hall of the Kentucky Derby Museum

Hideki Horiguchi, President/CEO of Four Roses Bourbon, greets guest and friends of Four Roses at the opening of the Urban Bourbon Exhibit at the Kentucky Derby Museum

Special Thanks:
Wendy Treinen, Dir. of Marketing & Communications and Nick Clark, Bandy Carroll Hellige