The Bar Belle: Louisville: Twin City of Bushmills

Feb 26, 2008 at 7:27 pm

Let’s shut our traps for a moment on the whole Barack-Hillary debate and cast our vote for something that really has some weight — Louisville has a one-in-three shot at being named “Twin City of Bushmills” and nabbing a $40,000 grant.


The competition marks the 400th anniversary of the license to distill, granted to the Northern Ireland region of Bushmills — home of Bushmills Irish Whiskey — in 1608. Cities across the United States entered, and Louisville was chosen as a finalist (along with Boston and Portland, Maine) based on its application on how it represents the four values of Bushmills: pride of place, hospitality, craftsmanship and humor.


Jeremy Morris, special events contractor for the Mayor’s Office for Community Relations & Events, filled out the four-page application and said it was easy to draw comparisons between Louisville and Ireland. “We have always had a historical link with immigration,” he said. And on the application under Pride of Place, Morris wrote: “People in Louisville celebrate their history and heritage with festivals like Oktoberfest, Irish Fest, Greek Fest, Italian Fest and WorldFest, and by giving their neighborhoods names like Germantown, Irish Hill, Paristown and Limerick.”


So how can you help seal this deal? Vote early and often at www.Bushmills400years.com. There’s even a free trip to Ireland up for grabs. You have until March 17 to vote, and the winner will be announced in April. As far as a citywide kegger/whiskey fest if we do win, Morris said probably not, but that half of the money will go to the Irish Fest and WorldFest folks, and the other half to responsible drinking programs. Bummer. But go vote! It’d certainly be a cool title to show off.

Buckets O’ Beer
I was at Willy’s, er, the Dublin Cellar last weekend and saw a sign for $3 buckets of beer. Usually when bars refer to buckets of beer, it means five or six bottles thrown into a bucket and covered with ice, so I was shocked at the low price tag. I quickly ordered a Bud Select bucket, and out came … a bucket of beer — about 32 ounces of draught beer served in a plastic pail, the kind you might build a sand castle with. It even had a handle! I felt special.

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