Programing made possible by Team Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, Mercer County Tourism, Kentucky Lake Tourism Shepherds Ville, Bullitt County Tourist and Convention Commission.

Danville Tourism Historically Bold.

This production was proudly produced in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Thank you for your support.

Did you know Kentucky has more navigable miles of water than any other state in the U.S. except Alaska?

Is Alaska still a state?

There's 90,000 miles of streams and dozens of rivers.

It's also quite famous for some other liquids, those which flow from a barrel.

That being beers, bourbons and wine.

Many of the world's best known distilleries can be found right here in the Bluegrass State, and interestingly enough, pretty darn close to many of our lakes, rivers and streams.

We're here to take you on an expedition of the secrets and histories of our intricate waterways while visiting Kentucky's distilleries, breweries and wineries.

I'm Carrie.

And I'm Kyle.

And we're two Kentuckians who are proud of our state.

Share a sip of what the Commonwealth has to offer.

Excuse me.

Oh, Kyle, what are you doing here?

I don't know what happened.

If it was the hot tub time machine or DeLorean, but all of a sudden, we're the middle of a civil war battle.

Well, wait, Kyle.

There's no lead in those rifles.

Says you.

Did you know, Kyle.

That the Chaplain River was the cause for the Perryville Civil War battle.

They were fighting over access to fresh water.

What are you going to paddle around on the Chaplain River today?

Actually, I've got my sights set on a larger body of water.

And then later tonight, I'm going to head into Danville to go to the Big Brass Band Festival.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

Sounds like a lot of really good history.

Speaking of history, Kyle.

Why are we dressed like General George Washington today?

Well, as you know, Kentucky was a neutral state during the Civil War.

In fact, old, honest Abe was born just down the road and Jeff Davis, a little further down the road.

So I figured.

Can't pick a side.

I got to go with George because George was president in 1792 when Kentucky became a state.

Well, I think we might learn a little bit more about that history today in Danville.

Well, you know, I'm a little bit of a history geek, but I'm also a fan of sipping adult beverages on occasion.

So while you're out paddling around, I am going to go visit Bluerock Distillery and check out some Brazilian spirits.

And then I'm heading to copper and oak, trying some food and some signature mixology, cocktails.

So I'll be downtown as well.

Perhaps we could.

Meet up and buy me a drink Kyle.

How does that sound.

General Washington correspondence.

Thank you, son.

And it's President.

What you got there?

Oh, great.

It's a riddle.

I thought we were going to get away without one.

Okay.

It says something like this in the first seat.

Two friends meet in Kentucky First said this.

Hmm.

That's a tough one, but I bet.

Oh.

See, I told you about the lead.

Well, you want to go try to solve it?

I bet it has something to do with the time you were president, Georgie.

Perhaps you want to go find out.

All right, I'll catch up.

With you downtown.

Sounds good.

Bye.

Zach, this is quite the place you have Blue Rook in Danville, Kentucky.

I mean, wow.

Yeah, it's.

You wouldn't expect to find an oasis of Brazilian spirits and culture in central Kentucky, especially given that we're in the heart of Bourbon Country.

But I was fortunate enough to travel to and from Brazil, fell in love with Brazil's native spirit cachaca, which is a Brazilian rum found that it's really difficult, if not impossible to find, certainly in Kentucky, but throughout much of of the U.S.. Life's about taking risks.

And here we are.

So why Danville?

Are you all from Danville originally?

How do we meet up here?

I consider myself a Danvillian in my family.

Dan-villain Or Danvillian is.

A little bit of both.

A little bit of both.

My family moved in 96, so it made sense to bring this home because it's a community that we love, that we know and that we wanted to contribute to.

When we started, we were really just focusing on the cachaca.

Let's bring this cachaca up.

We're going to talk a little.

And cachaca is in the rum family, although is unique to Brazil.

So most rooms are produced from molasses.

And molasses is the byproduct of granulated sugar production.

Well, north of 90% of all of the rooms that you might see on a store, shelves are going to be derived from molasses.

And what really makes Cachaca distinct is not only its Brazilian origin, but the fact that it is distilled from freshly pressed cane juice.

Now, let's talk about that, because as we were coming up here, I didn't I may have missed them, but I didn't see the sweeping fields of sugar cane out there.

Where do you get the materials to make it right?

Freshly pressed.

So all of the cane that we use is is grown and harvested in Brazil.

cachaca has to be.

It's a product of Brazil.

Right.

Just as much as bourbon is that the bourbon rule.

Right.

Exactly.

In fact, we exchanged a distinction with Brazil bourbon and sold in Brazil has to be a product of the U.S. in exchange for cachaca.

Sold in the US has to be a product of Brazil.

Product of Brazil.

All right.

We have partners, distillery partners in Brazil that helped source and kind of take that first step of transforming the cane into ethanol.

We import that and we either imported it as a semi-finished product, these would be the cachaca, or we take that sort of raw ingredient and transform it ourselves into our gin and our vodka.

Let's see, let's we gotta try this stuff and see what?

Oh, very smooth.

Yeah.

And I think you'll, you know, it has a smokier nose than you would expect for a lot of rums.

Smokey and a little bit of pepper.

Maybe even reminiscent of tequila.

But then the flavor.

I was gonna say really almost did have a super smooth tequila to key.

And I think that█s in tequila.

I think the and correct me if I'm wrong but as soon as you take a sip you understand that like there are ties to rum as we tend to think of it.

Sure.

But that is distinct from that.

This is really nice.

Awesome.

In 2018, we broke ground on our distillery here.

As you can see, is not only a distillation and production facility, but also a place that people can come and enjoy.

The spirits and cocktails with a meal and really have a comprehensive experience that extends beyond just seeing a bottle on a shelf and hoping for the best.

That's definitely true.

And the Blue Rook name.

Sure.

So got claws on this gin.

You can see here the detail on the labeling.

Beautiful labeling, too.

Where did the Blue Rook come from?

So the Blue Rook is a real bird.

It holds a special place in Brazilian folklore because it's remarkably good at hiding, not only hiding, but then remembering where it is placed.

Thousands of seeds of a Brazil of a very unique Brazilian pine tree.

Zach, before I leave you know, we had these riddles to figure out with the show, cause we explore all these wonderful communities in Kentucky, and they're honestly frustrating and a pain in my rump, but i█m trying to figure them out anyways.

So I got this in the first seat two friends meet and Kentucky's first said this.

I like the friends element.

Friends.

Yeah, I'm stumped, though.

Friends meet in downtown Danville.

Go downtown?

I would say go downtown.

Maybe.

Maybe that's where the answer is.

It█s probably at the bottom of this glass.

I█ll have that first and then go downtown.

Cheers.

Cheers.

Saude.

Saude?

Saude!

Saude!

cachaca.. Mary.

This is a beautiful lake.

Tell me about where we are.

So this is Harrington Lake.

It's 2,335 acres of water.

KU owns the land under the water, and everybody loves to come to swim and fish and it's a recreational lake.

And we enjoy having visitors when Island has a wonderful fish camp.

So it's a highly utilized recreational lake.

In the summertime, there's boaters and you can probably hear those and see those around us.

Yeah we had a couple of jetskis go by seadunes Yes.

So I've spent a lot of time on this lake, not only paddling but fishing and skiing and raised my boys here.

So it's just a wonderful place to come visit and live.

We have people from all over Kentucky that actually have houses on the lake.

I've met people through my my career that they told me that they oh, well, I have a place to live right on that lake.

One of Kentucky's oldest reservoirs, it was built with private money to generate electricity for Kentucky utilities.

When the Dix Dam was created, it was a marvel of modern engineering upon completion, it was the largest rock filled dam in the world.

From the riverbed to the top of the dam, it measures 287 feet high.

That's 150 feet higher than Niagara Falls.

And while the majority of fishermen who visit the lake intend to catch an abundance of fast crappie, catfish and bluegill, others come looking for a one of a kind creature fabled to have called the lake home for the last century.

Although it's never been caught or photographed.

I'm talking about the elusive field pig.

The you pig is a 15 foot long creature with a body like an eel, skin like that of a speckled fish and a short stubby snout like a pig.

It's said to be able to swim as fast as a boat first sighted in the 1920s by locals.

Sightings have continued, but whether it's a prehistoric monster or just a misidentified alligator or another type of fish, the existence of Harrington Lake's eel pig remains one of the region's most fascinating mysteries.

Mary, tell me a little bit about this island.

This is Gunn Island.

I understand this is an interesting island.

So this is Dunn island.

And it's been recently purchased by an individual privately owned now probably for the last month.

And so we're kind of excited to see what kind of facility they're planning on putting on this island.

Obviously, the only way you can get to it is by boat.

And we also have, again, islands in a community where there are typically a state where there typically are no islands.

You know, Mary, I have a riddle that I need to solve.

And I was wondering if you might be able to help me with it.

A riddle.

I will try.

All right.

In the first seat, two friends meet, and the first said this.

Maybe you should go.

Downtown Danville.

A lot of friends gather in downtown Danville, especially during the Parasol Parade.

Ooo, I do you like a good parade now?

Is that part of your brass band festival tonight?

It is.

And usually the parade is midday and they march Main Street with their parasols down to Center College, where they sit and watch the bands on the big stage.

That sounds like a lot of fun.

Well, did you know that the first constitution was written and signed in Danville, Kentucky?

I did not.

Yes, it's the city of firsts.

And that was one of our first.

Oh, you know, I bet I could solve my riddle there.

I bet you could, too, because there's Governor█s Circle and there's two gentlemen standing atop that Governor circle and they're shaking hands.

So there may be some clues there for you.

I'm definitely going to solve this riddle before.

Alright.

This is a nice place.

Downtown Danville, copper and oak where█d that name come from.

Well, anyone who knows anything about distillation, you have your copper columns and then it goes into oak barrels and it just kind of works copper and oak.

Would you recommend trying food first or would you recommend trying a signature cocktail first?

Do you want Lahannah█s opinion or the professional opinion?

Let's go with yours.

Oh cocktail, I'm going to consider you a professional.

Oh, I'm a professional bourbon drinker.

So the cocktail.

Well, let's let's try the cocktail.

It looks like you got something in front of you there that could be a science experiment or a delicious drink or both.

But for sure.

So this here is our smoked old fashioned.

It is a whiskey of your choice.

Couple other ingredients.

I'll tell you all about it here in a second.

And the cool thing about copper and oak is that we make this right at your table.

So it's like a drink in a show.

It's like one of those hibachi places.

Yeah.

Our smoked old fashioned.

We have four wood chips choices?

This one here is the hickory.

And we start, bring this to your table.

Get a heavy char on every side of these chips.

I promise I will not burn you.

I do this about 20 times a day.

You can burn me It█s okay So we just like to get a good little flame rolling and.

Then.. did you bring some marshmallows.

Right?

Campfire, try to capture all the smoke, make sure that's flush with the plank board.

All right.

And here the deliciousness.

This is two ounces of bourbon or Whiskey of your choice.

Our choice for today, because we're partial is Wilderness Trails, Wilderness Trail.

This is their high rye bourbon.

It's the black label.

It's amazing.

and there's some agave syrup it's a little bit sweeter than a regular simple syrup And then there's about three shakes of Orange Bitters.

We put just a little bit of ice in there so that we don't dilute the bourbon.

Give it a quick little stir.

Here we are.

That ice ball.

All right.

This is a whole ice ball.

So this let's hope that I don't drop it here on the table it█s like the most important part of this process.

We get the iceball in there.

You ready to look at this.

And we transfer this into here and try to capture as much smoke as possible.

If you look really close, you'll still see smoke going on top.

When I do this.

Oooh.

It's pretty slow on my delivery there, but I think we still got some.

That was like.

See, all right.

Look at that.

We are almost there.

Just a couple of more steps to this drink.

We take a citrus peel.

Give a little spritz right there, and we like to put a little char on this as well.

If you're like super close, you can actually see some of the citrus oils that extract into the drink, giving it a little more flavor.

Go right around the edge here with it we drop that.

And then we top it with a Bordeaux cherry, which is amazing.

It's a little snack for later.

Oh, look at that.

That is entertainment and a beverage at the same time.

It's pretty cool.

I'm like, do you like regular?

Old fashions?

Yes.

Okay.

So you'll see the difference here, the smoke and it changes the flavor profile completely.

And like depending on your wood chips, sometimes it's sweeter, sometimes it is more like campfire.

So different chips do make a difference between the hickory or what other types do you use?

So we have Hickory.

Apple, mesquite and cherry.

And wood chips.

Your own bourbon.

This is it's pretty cool.

You can still smell the smoke like it just oh that is quite the cocktail.

You like.

It?

I see why this is popular here.

What and it's so it's crazy how different it is from a regular old fashioned.

It really is.

I mean, you know what I was like when I watched you make it, I thought, how that smoke flavor going to stay in it.

But it's there it's there it's there in the drink and then.

Yeah.

And that yes that rye is excellent.

Yeah.

I'm a huge fan of it.

And know what's kind of neat about this is you can order this.

Apparently you come here each time and you can mix it up where you do a different woodchip, different type of bourbon.

Absolutely.

and you got a different drink almost.

I can't do the math on that, but that's a lot of different cocktail variety.

It's pretty.

Cool.

And we should.

This is making me hungry.

Yeah.

Yes.

Now, we can talk about food ask you shall receive talk about food, this looks fantastic.

What do we have in front of us?

We have some staples on our menu and then also we do a weekly feature here and we switch it up all the time.

And that's one of the entrees that I'll show you.

So over here, you have our new York strip.

This is USDA prime.

And this is coming from here.

You mentioned the beef.

It comes from Heritage Farm.

Yeah.

So everything's as local as possible here.

And you have our Rosemary garlic, mashed potatoes and asparagus, which is my personal favorite.

We get seafood shipped here fresh every week from New York.

And so that's why sometimes our features change.

It's whatever they catch, they get us like, I have a picture of this big swordfish that they sent us recently and things like that.

So we are very big on fresh seafood around here.

That would be this.

Here is our catch of the day on the menu.

That's what it states because we do change it.

This week.

It happens to be a blackened mahi mahi topped with a mango jalapeno salsa.

That's my personal favorite.

That I thought the asparagus was.

I like food.

How many favorites can you have?

Oh, my goodness.

I have lots of favorites and best friends.

I don't blame you.

I'm not judging honestly.

Don't judge me.

You can it█s okay.

This here is always on our menu.

This is the shrimp and grits.

Little Creole sauce in there it is, made with a lager beer, which we took all the alcohol out, of course, but packed full of flavor there.

And over here is our weekly feature, which is LAMB Chops.

They have rosemary garlic butter on them.

And what you see here is like the top of copper and oak, which is funny.

It's a Brussels sprouts.

Brussel sprouts.

It's a Brussels sprout.

But people come up to us all the time and they're like, I█ve never liked Brussels sprouts, but I eat your Brussels sprouts.

So there's a little secret.

They look delicious.

Yeah.

So we deep fry them.

So if you deep fry anything, it automatically, goes right up?

Right Oreos, brussel sprouts.

Whatever, all of it.

Just deep fry.

We're in Kentucky and then we toss them in this housemade hot honey glaze.

And so they have like just a little bit of sweetness and a little bit of a bite to them.

But those brussel sprouts, we sell more of those than any other.

Yeah.

And we got some potatoes with it.

And yeah, we have the crispy redskin potatoes.

We smash them down, toss them in a garlic thyme butter.

This looks amazing.

We like our food around here.

Oh, and there's more.

This is just a few of the features, but it's a full menu of burgers.

Everything.

I mean, a little bit of everything.

Yeah.

And it is all Kentucky and I love that.

I hear there's going to be some sort of festival and with music happening later on today.

So I mean, good gosh.

Right here in Danville.

Yes, it is actually my favorite weekend in Danville.

I love Brass Band Festival, just watching everybody come together and have fun.

It's going to be a blast.

Oh, before I leave and eat food, you know, I've got to figure out this riddle for the show, because that's what we do for shows, is figure out riddles.

All right.

And it goes something like this in the first seat, two friends meet in Kentucky's first said this.

Danville being a city of first█s who people?

meet city at first yes.

There's a lot of firsts in Danville.

It was the first seat in the state of Kentucky.

Really.

So people went around without chairs for that long.

Their backs must█ve hurt from standing all day.

Amazing.

I bet you'll find the answer probably down that way, because I think two people that way, that way down Main Street.

Down Main Street, there's Constitution Square down there.

I heard something about Constitution Square.

Yeah.

That's where our local farmer's market is pretty cool.

It's just a square.

Well, after we eat all of this drink six or seven more of these, we'll head to Constitution Square and solve this riddle.

Take that, Carrie.

And Bill and.

Well, Carrie.

Hey Kyle fancy meeting you here.

Well, how did you find this place?

Well, it's funny you should ask.

My new friends at Blue Rook Distillery taught me all about Brazilian cachaca .

So they taught me about caccha We may have sampled a little bit.

They also asked him about that riddle thing, and I found out that this was the place that people used to meet up.

In fact, those two people met up here.

How did you figure out?

Well, Mary told me on our paddle today on the beautiful Dix river that there was going to be a parade started here.

As there was, there was.

I also learned of my friends at Copper and Oak that Danville is the town of first.

It is.

When I came through the park, I stopped to see these beautiful log cabins and I noticed that the first state constitution was written here.

So Riddle first seat two friends meet Kentucky's first said this.

And what did they say?

Well, our first governor was in the constitutional assembly.

Okay.

And I bet you've seen that statue somewhere else before.

I've never seen that statue anywhere else before.

And that statue.

have you seen those two friends somewhere else before.

Well, I was out late one night in one of the shows and we were at the bar and they could have been there.

What about uh, on one of those flags over there, Kyle.

The blue flag.

Yeah, you know which flag that is.

That's the Kentucky flag.

It is.

And you know what?

Do you know what that flag says?

Live free or die hard?

No, no.

Says United we stand.

Divided we fall.

I think we got it.

That's it.

It is?

Yes.

We got a riddle.

Yeah.

Teamwork.

Yes.

First time.

Can we go drink now.

Celebrate.

I think we.

Should.

Let's go.

All right.

So, Carrie, you know, this is quite the moment now.

Our very first downstream episode, 2016.

We were at Wilderness Trail with Jared.

We tried sorghum, molasses, rum, blue heron vodka.

But you know what wasn't ready?

This the bourbon.

This is the rye.

Rye whiskey right here.

Rye whiskey.

Bourbon, whiskey.

We got it all.

Now it's ready and to close out the Danville Boyle County, we will see you at I.

Wait, wait.

I got a question first.

Yeah.

Are you going to explain the DADA on your shirt?

You know, it's funny.

You should ask that.

What have you done, Kyle?

It just so happens I've made a miniature me.

Oh, Lord, help us.

This is Xander, Hi!!

And he is going to be so excited here in a few years to try a wilderness trail himself.

I mean, I think it will be great.

What do you think bud?

it looks good doesn█t it.

Mom.

Hi.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

i know, don█t drink and drive people.

You wanna go listen.

Some brass band music.

Let's do it.

Let's go.

I think we can drink a toast to that.

Let's do it.

We'll see you.

Downstream.