What Has Been Your Favorite Distillery Tour?

[smokinjoe]

On the Friday of KBF, Jimmy and I toured Woodford Reserve. We both came away mightly impressed. The place is absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous. For that matter, just the drive from the main road to the distillery is enough to make you swoon. The tour is well done, hits about everything you'd want to see, and proceeds at a good pace. The rock lined walls of the building containing the 3 copper stills is very impressive, indeed. Our tour guide, (Steve?) I think his name was, was without a doubt the best guide on any tour I've done, so far. Knowledgable, informative, and funny without being corny or kitschy. As a whole, I think that the industry does a very good job with these tours. I've really enjoyed all of them that I've been on, with 4 Roses, Maker's, and BT being other favorites. For now, the Woodford tour may be at the top of my list. Until, I take my next one, of course.

Anywho, that's my fave. What has been your favorite regularly scheduled distillery tour?

[Josh]

Anywho, that's my fave. What has been your favorite regularly scheduled distillery tour?

Woodford is definately a great one. Went on that once, and it was great. Haven't been on the 4R yet, unfortunately. They're never open for tours whenever we've been there.

But I would have to go with the BT Hard Hat tour. The grounds aren't as pretty as Woodford & MM but Unfortunately, the way things were scheduled we didn't get a chance to take the regular tour through the warehouses. We tried to sneak into a warehouse while another guide was taking an elderly couple thru, but we got busted.

Maker's Mark would be at least a close second. I've been on that one three times. It's pretty much a complete tour of the whole process from beginning to end and the grounds are beautiful too. The last time Bill even made an appearance and chatted with a few of the tour groups. He even touched my shoulder.

[jburlowski]

I concur with the BT Hard Hat tour... none better!

[fishnbowljoe]

I've been to WR a couple of times, but haven't been on any of their tours yet. That's the only distillery that I haven't toured so far.

I agree with what smokinjoe said about all the distilleries doing a pretty good job with their tours. I also would agree with John and Josh that the BT hardhat tour is probably the best tour overall.

Last year I went to BT and had Freddie as a tour guide. He was great. This year my tour guide was our very own Fred (mobourbon). I went with p_elliott, and as luck would have it, we were the only ones that signed up. :grin: Talk about a personal tour. Paul and I had a great time. Fred was fantastic! Fred had an uncanny knack of knowing just the right times to say or point out something. His low key approach and timely use of humor was perfect. I wouldn't hesitate a bit to go again, especially if Fred was my tour guide. :bowdown: Four thumbs up! Joe

[smokinjoe]

Although, I've never been (I've only done the regualar BT tour), everybody and I mean everybody I talk to loves the BT Hard Hat Tour. My neighbor went a couple of months back, and was gaga. I'm going to have to make time for it in the Spring. But, the Hard Hat is kinda special. What would you guys say regarding a "Normal" regularly scheduled tour?

[camduncan]

Of the tours available to the public, I've only done Four Roses... so I'd have to give that one my vote :grin:

[callmeox]

If you're talking "last minute, walk up and get a tour", WR has the reputation for being good (though I've not taken it...I'm not paying 5 bucks for what others give away for free). The standard MM tour is great as well.

The BT Hard Hat tour is easy to get in on and I think that the Tom Moore tour is on par with it but both require phoning ahead (*more or less). Pam has done a great job with building the tour and there's plenty of history on the grounds there.

My overall fave tour was the one on one Mellow Moments tour that I got from Al Young at Four Roses. A very comprehensive tour from the encyclopedia of Four Roses history.

[Gillman]

By far Heaven Hill. But then Bettye Jo Boone organised it so it was super-special.

Next to that, Barton (as it then was) due to the in-depth look we got at the full operation. At the time, tours were not offered, this was a one-off and they went all out. Then there was that barrel sample of 1792...

Gary

[TNbourbon]

...WR has the reputation for being good (though I've not taken it...I'm not paying 5 bucks for what others give away for free)...

As Chuck has explained on a couple of occasions, WR's admission fee is more a case of tourism self-defense than corporate greed. Because of its scenic locale and drive-up, many tour-bus companies were inundating the distillery with more (free) visitors than they could handle before they instituted the admission charge. The admission fee caused the tour companies to either swallow the charge or increase their rates -- neither very palatable, so the mass visitations dropped -- which left much more space for the individual tourists who visit Woodford Reserve on their own accord.

[callmeox]

I understand the reasons for the fee, but I'm still not paying it. :grin:

[whskylvr]

My Favorite tour:

Would have to be the Four Roses Cox's Creek Tour.

I got to see Clocking of the barrels, where the Bulleit Bourbon is stored (shoosh I really didn't say that), holding tanks, how they filter the bourbon, all that fun stuff. Also, filling of the barrels (I actually got to fill four barrels at once and hammer the bungs in), bottling of the single barrel, storage area, and I got to taste a single barrel at barrel strength right on the barrel filling room floor (I got to open the bung, roll the barrel and fill my glass) that was awesome.

Four Roses Cox's Creek just awesome!!

[IronHead]

There were two tours that I was privledged to be a part of when I was still working in restaurants. The first was a day spent at Woodford Reserve. I was part of sort of a research panel when WR was rolling out its "Flavor Wheel" tool for bourbon and food pairings. We toured the facility then went through a guided tasting. Then we were treated to an awesome lunch. After lunch we did more tasting but this time we geared it toward flavor components in Bourbon and complimentary foods. Each participant was presented with a personalized bottle, a barrel wood cheese board and barrel wood utensils. It was a beautiful early fall day and the drive on the road into and out of the distillery was particularly gorgeous.

The other was set up by one of our liquor sales reps. A mini tour bus came and picked us up at the restaurant and drove us down to Maker's Mark. We were given a VIP tour through the entire operation which, of course ended at the gift shop. We all were given mini bottles to dip and to top it off they wouldn't let us pay for anything we got in the gift shop. Then we were treated to a picnic lunch followed by a guided tasting by David Pickerell. It was outstanding.

Woodford and Maker's are definitely two of the more picturesque distilleries on the Bourbon Trail.

[Luna56]

I've done two so far, the HH and FR. Loved 'em both.

The HH tour was mostly a walk-through of one of the rickhouses. Very cool. There was an old barrel in there that at that point nobody at HH could identify. It looked very, very old, lots of black stuff had accumulated on the barrel. Walking through the rickhouse and seeing all those barrels made me wish I had brought a small drill. The beautiful smell of old charred oak and evaporating whiskey was just fantastic. The angels surely got a smaller share that day.

At the end of the tour we were treated to a tasting of two bourbons, EC12 and EC18 if I recall, but one might've been an EWSB. Seemed like the gal running the tasting was a doing bit of a sales pitch to encourage us to buy some at the gift shop. No problem with that, it's a business after all. Great tour, lovely whiskey. I like HH whiskey a great deal.

The FR tour was a highly aromatic tour where you could smell the mash fermenting in giant vats. It was beyond beguiling, I didn't want to leave. Fascinating look into the process of fine whiskeymaking. At the end we got to sample some FRSB and even got a taste of white dog. Really loved that. Don't know if other tours offer up the dog, but they all should. It is quite illuminating.

The HH tour was informative but was geared a little more towards selling some whiskey. The FR tour was more educational (and an olfactory paradise).

HH's gift shop was great, I bought some stuff there, including a handful of Glencairns. The FR gift shop was a little puny in comparison, but I got some great glasses and a few bottles of FRSB. I spent way more there.

I hope to tour some other distilleries in the future, but I'd do either of these again in a heartbeat. Both get three thumbs up from me.

Cheers!

[SippinCharlie]

This past weekend for a buddy's brithday we took the Buffalo Trace Hard Hat tour and the standard Woodford Reserve tour.

I don't have any other tours to compare these too, but The Hard Hat was FANTASTIC! Including the four of us in my group there were only 10 people on the tour. We got hung up by highway traffic but a guide was nice enough to catch us up with the group (being very informative and entertaining along the way) and it was really great to get such a personal, up close look at the BT process and facilities. I thougth it was a VERY generous tasting for a free tour! Great folks, great place ... loved every second of the tour!

The WR tour was nice. The grounds were breathtaking (late fall in central Kentucky ... 65 and sunny all day long) and the actual facilities were fantastic (the smell in the store house was amazing). The tour guide we had was ok but from what we were told they were only planning on running 6 tours last saturday and ended up running 22. So i'd definitely have to tip my hat to the folks from WR for being so accommodating (I suppose that's more proof of their afore-mentioned willingness to accommodate guests). We're definitely planning on taking another tour at WR, but next time perhaps one of the call-ahead tours.

My favorite of the two would be BT, but WR definitely has it in the "picturesque" category.

[fishnbowljoe]

Charlie, Do you happen to remember the name of your tour guide at BT? One of our members here is a tour guide there. Fred Mozenter is his name. He's a great guy, and he does a fantastic job. Really knows his stuff. Let us know. Joe

[SippinCharlie]

The gentleman who caught us up with the rest of the tour was Jeffrey ... I don't recall the name of the guide with whom we finished the tour. He was taller and middle aged with glasses. Very nice guy ... spent a few minutes with us afterwards talking about Blanton's and encouraged us to try rye if we were ever feeling "froggy".

The name Fred sounds like it might be right, but then again that might just be the power of suggestion, lol.

On a related note ... though WR was a more picturesque setting I found the black moss on the red brick buildings at BT to be very charming. Great grounds!

[OscarV]

My favorite distillery tour was George Dickel. Hands down.

Fun getting there and being there.

I will admit that I haven't done the Four Roses tour yet or Tom Moore.

I have done Maker's Mark, Buffalo Trace, Wild Turkey and the Heaven Hill Rick House/Heritage Center tour.

[mobourbon]

... I don't recall the name of the guide with whom we finished the tour. He was taller and middle aged with glasses. Very nice guy ...

Coy was the tour guide who's hardhat you were on. That fits his description and he did work Sat. He does a great job, along with the other guides. Coy and I were hired at the same time. December of '08. Almost exactly 1 year! Lovin' every minute of it:grin: :woohoo:

[cowdery]

Fred is my hero. Talk about following your bliss.

[bigman]

This is a hard one, my wife and I went to 7 distilleries on our honeymoon, and did the standard tour at all of them, and we did the HH tour twice (miscalculation of a trolley tour, but it was a bonus tasting so all is well), and of them all except one were present. The one that was lack luster was the Jim Beam (here is the place have a look around and when you’re done go to the house for a drink) tour. With that said, the drive to the MM and WR distilleries were the two most scenic, and the FR structure (Spanish Mission) was our favorite. But, I guess if I had to pick one the MM was the most complete single tour we did. BT and FR were right behind, then WR followed close by HH, and WT and JB a dead last. Of the Two HH tours we took on the same day, the first one, just my wife and I, along with a guide, was the better of the two, but the second one was in conjunction with the trolley tour of Bardstown, and more of just the tasting and shopping. I do recommend the trolley tour of Bards town though; it is very informative in its own right. I also recommend the My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, it was a great dinner and train ride to the JB property.

[Doggerlander]

Tom Moore was the best for me, so far. You have to call in advance for a reservation. No gift shop or tasting, but Pam took my dad and me around and spent two and a half hours with us answering all of our questions. They are not doing much right now while Sazerac figures out what to do with it, but I have a feeling they will do right by the place if BT is any indication.

HH had the best tasting with EWSB99 and EC18 in Glencairn glasses. We did the walk-in tour, but they have more in-depth tours that I'll try in the future. BT was a nice walk-in tour of a warehouse with a tasting of white dog, BT, and Eagle Rare in plastic (second best tasting). They had the classiest gift shop (according to the Mrs.). Maker's was a very nice tour showing the whole operation; taste of white dog, MM, and julip. Beam was dissapointing with just a 10 minute commercial and a tasting (rotates, but in my case was Red Stag and Booker's). It did save me the cost of a bottle of Red Stag as I will never have to buy one now.

Everyone seems to finish tastings with a candy that some call bourbon balls (no resemblance to what my Mom used to make).

[Josh]

Tom Moore was the best for me, so far. You have to call in advance for a reservation. No gift shop or tasting, but Pam took my dad and me around and spent two and a half hours with us answering all of our questions. They are not doing much right now while Sazerac figures out what to do with it, but I have a feeling they will do right by the place if BT is any indication.

HH had the best tasting with EWSB99 and EC18 in Glencairn glasses. We did the walk-in tour, but they have more in-depth tours that I'll try in the future. BT was a nice walk-in tour of a warehouse with a tasting of white dog, BT, and Eagle Rare in plastic (second best tasting). They had the classiest gift shop (according to the Mrs.). Maker's was a very nice tour showing the whole operation; taste of white dog, MM, and julip. Beam was dissapointing with just a 10 minute commercial and a tasting (rotates, but in my case was Red Stag and Booker's). It did save me the cost of a bottle of Red Stag as I will never have to buy one now.

Everyone seems to finish tastings with a candy that some call bourbon balls (no resemblance to what my Mom used to make).

Red Stag & Booker's, that's funny!

If you get the chance, call ahead for the Buffalo Trace hardhat tour. It's very, very cool. They take you to the other areas of the distillery that are not on the regular tour. They even take you to see the experimental still. It looks like a spacecraft out of a Jules Verne novel.

[kickert]

BT Hard Hat is by far the most "authentic" and informative.

MM is the most polished and touristy (but not in a bad way).

HH does the best tasting.

If someone could only do one, I would say go with BT Hard Hat. If they could do two, I would say do MM and BT.

[cowdery]

Best overall and best 'first' distillery tour has to be Maker's Mark. In terms of the total experience, there is none better.

Close number two is Woodford Reserve. There are some ways in which it's better.

They're all good, all worth doing. Wild Turkey seems to be the most inconsistent. Lots of people have a great experience there but it gets more bad reports than any other.

[Josh]

Best overall and best 'first' distillery tour has to be Maker's Mark. In terms of the total experience, there is none better.

Close number two is Woodford Reserve. There are some ways in which it's better.

They're all good, all worth doing. Wild Turkey seems to be the most inconsistent. Lots of people have a great experience there but it gets more bad reports than any other.