URBAN RIDES MAGAZINE MARCH 2020 SPECIAL EDITION

So now we know what were looking for, lets take a ride and get acquainted
You already know me as a restaurant guy formerly called “The Wine
Guy” after the sale of many of my locations I started building Fat Tire
Bikes like my Road glide with then180 in front. We call the shop Fat
Tire Customs. When I’m not working at making bikes fat, I build live
edge tables, wine racks and benches out of slabs from walnut, cherry
and maple.
About a year ago I was traveling thru Kentucky to deliver a handcrafted
table I had made and decided to look for a distillery to visit. We had just
spent the night in Lexington and were headed back to Ohio when the
Google hit said Georgetown Ky. and Bourbon 30. I enjoy the chase in
finding small boutique distillers and craft blenders. Honestly my Bourbon
section in my house has some 50 bottles and very few are the big
guys. So Bourbon 30 was right up my alley. I had driven my car and bike
past the sign for Georgetown Kentucky for years without pause. Today
I was hoping for a great new little hit.
Walking in right away I new I was gonna love this spot. The name Bourbon 30 comes from Jeff Mattingly
(Owner) and his brothers. It was a phase they used to raid the liquor cabinet when dad wasn’t home. Jeff ’s
Family if one of if not the oldest in the Bourbon industry. His great-great grandfather and his Sons created
Mattingly and sons in 1845. They built two distilleries and sold the Marion County Distillery which was
built in 1866 to by Paul Jones, Jr. and he changed the name to the Four Roses Distillery. Margaret “Margie”
Mattingly Samuels (Makers Mark) born 1916 has ties direct to Jeff ’s family as well. The Willet Family
Distillery married two sons of the Mattingly family too. So its goes pretty deep that the family Mattingly
lineage, is Bourbon.
When I walked into Bourbon 30 they referred to me as a “guest”. By time I left I was “family”. I was met by
Miss Trish, as Jeff calls her. Tricia asked me
would I like to do a tasting…well ya! Bottle
tasting or barrel tasting she then asked.
Well that’s a first, there on the floor were 4
barrels open with a thief in them for tasting.
So I did both. Before long Jeff came
out of the back room with what looked
like 100 barrels sitting around and explained
his process. So Bourbon 30 starts
out with 4-5-year-old Bourbon and then
starts the process of blending and continued
aging. Once the barrel is 4-5 years old
it’s ready for the floor or more aging. …
But…. Jeff places these barrels of up to 4
blends on the floor, some in that old favorite
barrel he loves, others in new oak,
etc. They stay open for tastings daily and
when Jeff feels the barrel is perfect, in the
bottle it goes. So unlike a mass-produced
company churning out a similar tastes ev-
URBAN RIDES MAGAZINE March 2020 47