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Headed to Kentucky


toddinjax
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I'm off in a few weeks to tour the trail; could someone point me to a link of info to read before going? Do you need to "book" tours or can you just show up, good/bad restaurants, and any particular bottles you can only buy in KY liquor stores . Many thanks.

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I found it helpful to read Charles K. Cowdery's book "Bourbon, Straight: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey." Even though I've been drinking bourbon for 30 years, there's quite a bit that I didn't know about its history, the process of making it, and many of the companies that have been important to bourbon's past and present. This book helped me get up to speed and I felt that I appreciated the tours that I went on because of it.

I considered going on the Mint Julep bus tour (something that requires an advance reservation), but it is limited and it seemed rather pricey. I ended up driving myself (actually my wife drove while I navigated). Though I went to all seven of the distilleries on the official bourbon trail, plus Buffalo Trace (it's worth making that an extra destination), I only went on tours at three of them: Jim Beam (Knob Creek is also one of the bourbons distilled there), Buffalo Trace, and Woodford Reserve. I would recommend all three tours for different reasons. Jim Beam because of the sheer size of their operation and the slick way that they conduct their tours (their tasting room is the greatest--it allows you to sample any of the bourbons that they make--quite a considerable choice). Buffalo Trace is nice because of the history of many of the buildings that the tour enters. Woodford Reserve is like a fine estate in the midst of quintessential horse country. None of those tours required advance reservations--just show up. Keep the hours of each distillery's tours in mind in case you're trying to fit a lot into one day and know which distillery closes last. The only advance reservation tour that I recall hearing about (and I didn't do it) is the "hard hat" tour at Buffalo Trace where you get to see a lot more of the facility than on the standard tour.

I didn't look for many bottles in liquor stores, though I did go to a large Liquor Barn store in the Louisville area. By then I had some definite ideas about what I was most interested in trying and I purchased several small bottles (even the airline size bottles of several bourbons are available) and I was able to do some tastings on my own of bourbons that I didn't get a chance to try at distilleries.

Have a great time!

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Great advice from both Bushko [the book is a must read] and Old Dusty [this board is a wealth of info] ... those two sources will allow you to plan and decide what is best for you! My only additional advice ... don't try to pack too much into your itinerary ... 3-4 distilleries a day is much too ambitious. One in the AM and one in the PM is a nice pace ...

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You definitely don't want to rush yourself on the bourbon trail. Some places (i.e. BT, MM) you just don't want to leave. Better to relax, take your time and enjoy yourself!

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You definitely don't want to rush yourself on the bourbon trail. Some places (i.e. BT, MM) you just don't want to leave. Better to relax, take your time and enjoy yourself!

To add to that, the processes themselves are so similar from distillery to distillery that unless you're looking to check them off your list you won't learn anything massively new by seeing them all.

Between the gift shops, the tours and the campuses (think wandering with a camera for photos of your trip) time will fly by.

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I went last week, staying in Louisville for three nights. On day one I ventured over to Buffalo Trace for the 1:30pm Hard Hat Tour, which I highly recommend (reservations required on the BT website). That took about 90 minutes and was absolutely awesome. Fred, our tour guide, was wonderful, though it was hard to hear him at times given our large group of 19 people and the loudness of some of the machinery in operation. From there I stopped by the Four Roses gift shop en route to Danville, where I have family.

I drove over to Bardstown and stopped by Toddy's then went back north to Louisville. The next day I visited P+M Liquors in Elizabethtown, then headed back to Bardstown to visit Heaven Hill and Barton 1792. I visited the Bourbon Heritage Center, but otherwise shied away from the tours. If you start early enough in the day, you really can hit all the gift shops and one major tour in one day.

I had a mix of family business and other things I needed to get done, so my visit wasn't the most efficient. I'll just say I've done Maker's Mark's tour in the past and have done others at other times, and I'd recommend the Buffalo Trace one the most. That's not a knock on the others (MM is great, too), I just personally connected more with the BT tour than anything else.

After that, you'll want to hit one of the prime liquor stores and check out their selections.

All in all, enjoy your time!

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Just to make it clear you want to take the Hard Hat tour at BT and you need a reservation for this. Easy as pie to get done just go to their web site for the number

Edited by p_elliott
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