Samantha Brown's Places to Love

Louisville & Bourbon County, Ky

Kentucky is synonymous with Bourbon. At Buffalo Trace Distillery, Samantha talks all things Bourbon with third generation employee, Freddie Johnson, including the history of Bourbon and how it got named. Visiting the Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest, Samantha learns how German immigrant Isaac W. Bernheim in 1929 used his fortune from Bourbon to buy this land and give it back to the people of Kentucky, and how art has always been an important mission of the Forest. Amongst the 50 oldest business in the USA and the oldest in Kentucky, Stoneware & Co. is the next stop for Samantha, where she learns about the process of making stoneware from Master Mold-Maker Ngoc Phan. At Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farms, Founder Michael Blowen shares with Samantha how he first got into horse racing and how that evolved to his current mission to saves these horses. They visit various resident horses, including 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Silver Charm. The Muhammad Ali Center celebrates the life of the Louisville-born and "greatest of all time" boxer. Here, Samantha and Laura Douglas discuss Muhammad growing up in Louisville, becoming the greatest fighter ever, his huge personality and his focus on humanitarian work after fighting - including what the center does for the community now. In Bardstown, aka the "Bourbon capital of the world", Samantha meets Jamar, a local Bourbon expert, who explains why Bardstown is considered "the Napa Valley of Bourbon" and takes her to Bardstown Bourbon, where they sample 3 different whiskeys and talk about the history of Bourbon. Finishing off her trip, Samantha re-joins Jamar at his favorite Bourbon bar, Bourbons Bistro, along with his Bourbon club friends as they chat, sample Bourbon and sit by the fire.