Labrot and Graham to become Woodford Reserve Distillery

[pepcycle]

L&G to WR Distillery
Well, the days of the free tour are over.
L&G will be renamed Woodford Reserve Distllery and they will charge for the tour.

[Marvin]

I agree!!! I guess they don't care who is buying their bourbon and I think they forgot something-namely their customers. So I guess I will just have to forget about them. This is greed "in the first degree". . By the way, where did this information come from!!

Cheers,
Marvin

[CL]

I don't like it any more than you, Marvin, but we do live in America. It's BF's right to charge what the market will bear. The horse pastures on the drive out to L&G are absolutely beautiful. L&G is a postcard picture perfect place itself. If my single visit to L&G in 2002 is any indication, they will have no problem getting tourists to pony up the $5. When I was there, the overwhelming majority of people taking the tour were well-to-do 50-something couples, who were there for the sights, not the bourbon. So, if you ask me, they understand their market perfectly and they are doing what any reasonable business would do. Sad for us, but good for them.

[Paradox]

I'm glad I did L&G this year because I will never spend $5 to see their distillery again. One because no place else charges for tours, I dont care how beautiful L&G may be... MM is nice as well and even with their high prices for just about everything they do not charge for tours. Secondly because their (L&G) bourbon doesn't do much for me anyway so seeing the place isn't that important, horses or no horses on the ride in. Actually maybe #2 would be because they showed their true colors trying to run Barton's out of the marketplace over something that is trivial.

[boone]

High Five to ya

I couldn't have said it better...Maker's does not charge a fee for thieir tour and in my opinion...Maker's Mark has L&G beat by a country mile...Wild Turkey does not charge...and Heaven Hill does not charge for a tour...

Brown and Foreman is going after Barton's...and now they are comming for us


Bettye Jo

[CL]

I'd still recommend that someone who hasn't gone to L&G that it is worth the $5. I think it's worth it for the ability to stand next to the fermenting vats and to walk right up to the pot stills. Sure, it sucks to pay for something that was once free, but if someone is from out of state and has spent alot of time and money to get to KY, what's $5 more?

[Paradox]

Hell, we come from out of state and I'd put that $5 towards buying bourbon, dessert with dinner or an array of other things. There are simply WAY too many other distilleries to go to that have beautiful tours and gounds such as BT, MM, FR to name a few, for free. Seeing all of them will fill up plenty of time in a day or probably two. Once you've seen things like the frementing vats at one distillery they are damn near the same at the next. And if they are hoping to get the $5 because people will want to stand next to the infamous pot stills, here. Nothing so special about it, a picture will do fine... For me it's the principle behind it and I am sure others feel the same way, but I do see your point as well Chuck.

[CL]

So, if we are ever in Lexington at the same time, let's skip L&G (oops, WRD) and buy each other a drink with our $5 we saved!

[Paradox]

Now that's making good use of the $5 we can save!

[doubleblank]

I hate to keep comparing the bourbon business to the wine business (I own 10 acres of vinyards in Anderson Valley, CA), but here goes. Give me something really cool for my $5 in addition to the tour....like an etched bourbon glass as a souvenier. It could have their logo, one of their products,etc on it and I'd probably drink out of it back home. 20 years ago, wine tastings were free in Napa....but not any more. But they do give you the glass.

DoubleBlank