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[thebourbontruth]

Doing the Bourbon Trail 2017

A lot has changed since my last Bourbon Trail post so it’s time. http://kybourbontrail.com What I’ve noticed is people tour under very different time constraints and whom your accompanied by. Solo vs a family trip with the kids and grandparents has much different needs and results. First off do the trail sober. The Kentucky Bourbon Distillers has been enlisting the help of Uber and Lyft. There are taxis and private and public tour groups. Plan ahead for not driving when you shouldn’t be or have a DD.

Logistics As of 2016 there are over a million visits a year visiting Kentucky for “ bourbon tourism” and growing. In 10 years the number has tripled to where it is. That’s a lot. During peak days or times you will NOT be able to get a tour unless you preplan and reserve well in advance. http://kybourbontrail.com/kentucky-bourbon-trail-barrels-past-1-million-visits-2016/

The unofficial and official trail extends well north starting in Newport Kentucky (outside Cincinnati) where New Riff (craft) is to Bowling Green (almost the Tennessee boarder) where Corsair (craft) is over a 3 hour drive so limits are usually present. Most other Distilleries average a 45-60 minute drive apart but Buffalo Trace, Woodford, Wild Turkey, and Four Roses are within half an hour of each other. Regardless of the distance your not getting to them all, possibly not even all the major ones. Secondly, (I’ll say it again) during peak days and times you might not be able to tour at all or need to wait without reservations so make reservations. Another General recommendation is that you and certainly kids have a three distillery attention limit. Things will start blending in and looking the same after that. Pick carefully because if Beam is at the top of your list, do it first. If you put favorite or must see’s at the end you may never make it. If you do more than 3, make that a daily limit. If you don’t want to drive, Mint Julep Tours has some great private and public options http://mintjuleptours.com https://mintjuleptours.com/public-bourbon-tours/

Weather The summer is hot and steamy, sometimes too hot. Bring lots of water in a cooler if you can. The summer may also have distilleries that are closed or not distilling so if you really want to see a special distillery make sure they are operating the days your planning to be there. Winter has ice and when roads are icy the distilleries have been known to close completely. Pets in the car don’t mix well if hot or cold.

Where to sleep? The nicest national hotel chain in Bardstown is the Hampton Inn. There are a few bed and breakfasts but if you want central location, choice and some luxury, Louisville is your best bet (about an hour from most things). Use this as your central hub. Places like the Marriott East (Eastern suburb to downtown Louisville) are a bit cheaper than the regular high end places in downtown and a bit closer to Frankfort area Buffalo Trace, Woodford and Lawrenceburg for Wild Turkey and Four Roses. If your going to be further South, besides Bardstown, Elizabethtown is another option.

If you’re a couple or buddies or a couple touring, I’d recommend Louisville for the bars, Resturant’s and Whiskey Row attractions. Night life is practically non existent other than Louisville. I have regretted Lexington stays as its too far from most places. If your willing to switch hotels in/from other cities/towns that’s a different matter. I personally stay at the Marriott Residence Inn in downtown Louisville when staying downtown. It’s a 50 foot walk/stumble to the best Whiskey bar in Kentucky (Haymarket, a fun dive bar open late). Wandering the streets of Louisville at night, potentially drunk, when not in a group isn’t recommended.

Family trips You better pick just Three-Four distilleries or your going to hear whining. Mix things in like Mammoth Caves, Underground Zip lines, Lincoln Boyhood home, museums, rides on the river in Louisville etc.. The Beam Urban Stillhouse and Evan Williams Experience http://evanwilliams.com/visit.php in Louisville are good for kids so I don’t count those as part of your 3. If you only have two days stick to those close to the Bluegrass Parkway. Buffalo Trace to Bardstown.

Solo or Couples Pick 5 places unless you have more than two days. At five you’ll also start to get the “distillery burnout” and a potentially unhappy spouse. If your going to do more than 5 anyway try to split it up maybe with Cincinnati, Louisville, Lexington, Nashville touring. Visit the races, horse farm etc. you’ll need a break.

Smaller Distilleries Craft and lesser known names I wouldn’t try too hard to get to unless its Willett or on the way with burnout considered.

Cost Plan on about $5-20 per adult per Distillery. Buffalo Trace has the only free tours that I recall. I’ve even heard that Makers Mark is currently charging to get in even with no tour. Don’t know if this is temporary. Other Visitor Centers/Gift Shops at this point are still free to get in but tours are the extra charge. Some might offer Discounts for DD’s, Military, Seniors, Law Enforcement and First responders so ask. Children are usually free to a certain age.

The Distilleries By rough geography. If I miss or skip a distillery it’s not necessarily a skip, I personally haven’t been or not enough there to warrant the extra time to get there. Some distilleries may have a distillery exclusive bottle. I’ll try to note these. Keep in mind that by law any Kentucky retailer can carry these also but they rarely do or can get them before the gift shop gets them all from distribution. They are part of the three tier system so even the distillery exclusives technically need to go through a third party distributer.

Louisville Angels Envy The newest tour in Downtown Louisville across from Slugger Baseball Stadium. A beautiful great tour. If you can’t see the rest of the Bourbon Trail this is a great option. Nothing I could see in the Gift shop different than what you can get at home but I’d go back again. They did have their Rye which is often sold out back home. Note that tours do get sold out on weekdays off peak as they were when I was there.

Bulleit Experience If your not a Stitzel Weller geek skip it. If you don’t know what Stitzel Weller is, again, skip it. More or less a Diageo ad for Bulleit that has never had or has a current real Distillery there although one is due to open soon in Shelbyville that might have public tours.

Copper and Kings is a Brandy distillery in Louisville if your into that and have time.

Evan Williams Experience A mini distillery and showcase of distilling and history. A fun time. They have a few exclusives like a 12 year and 23 year Evan Williams.

Frankfort area

Buffalo Trace http://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/visit-us/our-tours Not an official part of or member of the Bourbon Trail. Free tours and you should reserve Hard Hat Tours as opposed to the regular hourly tours. They split production and maturation into roughly two tours so you could end up there most of the day to get tour bookend Hard Hat type tours in. This is a whiskey factory. Not much for kids but a not to be missed option. Don’t expect any bottles you can’t get at home of Whiskey, nothing special.

Woodford Reserve https://www.woodfordreserve.com/distillery/tours/ Very pretty and fairly quick tours. Drive through horse county to the nicest Distillery in Ky. A couple releases you can only find at the distillery. Real nice gift shop packed full. Usually two unique Whiskeys in .375 size avail each only there. A must stop.

Castle and Key Beginning tours soon. Read up on Old Taylor History (what used to be here) and check it out. Down the street from Woodford. If and when tastings are offered in the near future it will be new booze and young aka not too good. Keep this in mind for any newer distillery only bottling their own make.

Four Roses http://fourrosesbourbon.com Another great stop but no bottling or maturation is done here (see below). That is a separate facility near Beam that you can tour. A whiskey factory that’s a great stop for a Four Roses lover. Bottles selected by Brent Elliott the Master Distiller in the nice large gift shop usually.

Wild Turkey http://wildturkeybourbon.com/visit-us/ New distillery, visitor center and bottling. Feels a bit sterile. Tours stop at lots of windows you can only look through like the distillery. A nice stop and Master Distillers Eddie or Jimmy Russell are often hanging out signing things. Usually no special bottlings are for sale there but a good fun stop.

Bardstown They are adding lots of distilleries but the ones there are Willett and Barton. Don’t stop at Barton if you’ve been/going to one of the whisky factories. Ugly, nothing you’ll want in the giftshop.

Willett https://www.kentuckybourbonwhiskey.com/visit-willett-distillery/# You MUST get a reservation early at Willett to be safe. Its small and very very popular. A recent Saturday out of season had 500 people and they stopped counting. Willett often has private bottling you can’t get elsewhere of advanced age. They are fleeting though. A 14 year old bottling could show up without notice then be sold out within an hour. Don’t expect it will be while you are there but and a big but- If you are on the tour and ask nice you never know. Willett Family Reserve is one of the hardest to get due to the value on the secondary market. They do have their other retail brands and sometimes Rye there regularly. Great people. Expanding Giftshop about to have a bed and breakfast onsite summer/fall 2017 most likely. Periodically will have things you can’t get elsewhere at random. Still have bottles of allocated things from back home you might not see.

Makers Mark If you want to make the trip on Loretto Rd that passes Willett, Makers Mark is ½ hour each way. A cool nice Distillery if you have time. Pretty and complete tours. Can get real busy. Usually one or two things in a large gift shop you can’t get back home.

There is practically nothing but windy roads and little or no cellular coverage. It’s worth the trip but consider it’s a half day excursion. Great Giftshop. The most educational tasting of different stages of maturation, big Giftshop with some private things you can’t get elsewhere and chance to wax dip your own bottle.

If your out this way consider stopping at Independent Stave in Lebanon where they make new Whiskey barrels. Two tours a day, reservations a must. Worth a stop if you have time. http://www.iscbarrels.com/tours/

Wilderness Trace also (see below)

Heaven Hill’s maturation and bottling are here in Bardstown. If you’ve seen or will be seeing these at other places no real draw for me to recommend the tour. The Louisville distillery is not open to the public but the Evan Williams Experience fills in with a mini distillery and nice facility. http://heavenhilldistillery.com/bourbon-heritage-center.php?utm_source=BHC&utm_medium=Redirect&utm_campaign=BHCRedirect&bhc=1

The Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center and Giftshop is a great stop however with frequently special bottlings you can’t get at home or tightly allocated.

Four Roses Maturation and Bottling is near Beam and Bardstown. If you’re a fan of Four Roses or want to see these production pieces in depth, stop. It’s 5 minutes from Beam but hours are a bit more limited. Navigation will often send you to the wrong Four Roses address so make sure you enter the address so don’t trust your navigation to suggest an address. Tour cost are Interchangeable so a receipt for the distillery gets you into the other. The last tour of the day departs the Visitor Center at 3:00 p.m. 624 Lotus Road Cox’s Creek, KY 40013

Beam http://www.jimbeam.com/en-us/visit-us/book-a-tour They did a good job here setting up a complete experience. Maybe one of the best. I will say this is the tour from the Barrel picking experience so the regular tour may include other parts of the real distillery operation. You should check. Good for kids and has micro tastes of products and a couple whiskeys unique to the huge American Still House gift shop.

Wilderness Trail This is another extreme distance but worth the trip if you have lots of time and want to see a nice craft place.

Craft distilleries Remember burnout. If you want to indulge check out http://kybourbontrail.com/craft-tour/

I want more If you want even more or more on-depth experience Moonshine University runs courses from a day to 5 day Distiller classes. Also a Stave and Thief Whisky Society Certification. They are in Louisville. If you arrange your trips around their schedules it gives you this extra option. https://moonshineuniversity.com/courses/

Lastly, in the next couple years many new attractions and distilleries will be opening in downtown Louisville and it’s Whiskey Row so check to see what they have opened. Here are some suggested driving times and map http://kybourbontrail.com/map/

Enjoy your trip and be safe.