Our adventure begins at the Baltimore Airport just outside arrival door A1. I've flown in from Portland, Maine to meet my good friend, Carlo DeVito. Carlo is an exceptionally talented writer, published author, wine maker and one of the most gifted publishing minds in our business. In essence, he's a renassasance man, and a terrific traveling companion. As promised, he's waiting in his ragtop Chrysler Sebring, topdown, sporting sunglasses, khaki cargo shorts and a blue polo short sleeve t-shirt... and a slight hangover. (I learn he’s been attending a mid-Atlantic wine makers mini convention and last night was a sort of grand finale event. Need I say more? One can imagine how much wine is consumed when wine makers gather to taste wine together.)
The morning sun is already bright and hot as we embark on our drive west to bourbon country. His Mediterranean complexion soaks in the sun and I swear I see him tanning before my eyes, while my pale Irish skin begins to cry foul and “tan” as a lobster does in boiling water.
We have 8 hours of open highway ahead of us, and three state borders to cross, our first order of the morning is gas for the car and breakfast for us. We track down both options, complete our tasks, and are crossing through West Virginia in no time. Somewhere a sign catches Carlo’s eye and we detour off the objective of Kentucky bourbon and I find myself tasting wine at a West Virginia Winery. I’ve never known my wine maker friend to pass a winery without stoping for a quick tasting, some enjoyable conversation, and to purchase a bottle or two in support of their vines. Like everyone’s favorite uncle, he makes friends wherever he stops, fills every room with good cheer and parts making everyone feel as if they just had the spirit of Christmas in their presence even if it’s a hot July day in West Virginia.
We’re following a handcrafted itinerary by a talented young editor, Taylor Bently. She had only been interning with us for a short period of time when she was given the assignment to map out and reach out to as many of the whiskey distilleries of Kentucky and Tennessee as possible creating a driving tour (the ultimate whiskey tasting road trip) which we had dubbed, the Big Whiskey tour. Carlo would interview as many master distillers along the way, and I would document the distilleries, their distilling process, and the various personalities that crossed our path. We broke the adventure up into two tours of duty. The first week had us racing along the back roads and highways of a Kentucky and Tennessee, while the second week would have us fully ensconced in the wide and beautiful countryside of Tennessee.