Going to Bourbon Trail for first time

[DreamTheater]

In a few weeks time my Dad and I are going to be driving to Kentucky and make a few stops on the Bourbon Trail. While I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable about the various bourbons out there that I enjoy and would like to visit on my trip I also have absolutely no clue whatsoever where the best places to go, must sees, best places to buy bourbon down there, etc. So, if you all would be so incredibly kind as to help me out here are the questions I have:

1. Which distilleries are "must-sees"? The bourbons I most enjoy would be Booker's, Parker's Heritage, Woodford Reserve. Are these distilleries nice to tour? Are there other distilleries that really do a great job on the tours even if they are not necessarily my favorite to drink (i.e. Four Roses is great bourbon but I do not care for it personally much. Should I still go b/c the experience is so great?)

2. Again, showing my ignorance, can I experience the more high-end bourbons that Jim Beam is behind (i.e. Bookers) if I go to their regular distillery? I do not have any particular interest in the regular Jim Beam line up.

3. Where can I find just a wonderful array of bourbons to purchase and take home with me? I live in Nebraska and, like most places I suspect, I can lay hands on lots and lots of different bourbons. So I'm looking for some of the rarer stuff or stuff I can only get in Kentucky. Ultimately this is the question I most want answered so any help you can give would be tremendously appreciated.

Thank you to all that take time to help me out!

[393foureyedfox]

Ive been to WR, BT, HH, Beam and Willett. I dont think you can go wrong with any of them. HH is cool if for nothing more than the visitors center...their tasting room is made so you feel like you are sitting inside of a huge barrel, but they only offer two tastings last time I went and you didnt get to choose them (IIRC, it was EWSB and EC18). Beam was recently redone and is quite nice, plus you get a card that allows you to go to a series of machine dispensers and try two of your choices of Beam products, and they have available most of the stuff they offer ( I chose Booker's and Baker's). Willett was pretty small, and obviously in the process of building themselves up, but it was nice. BT puts on a good tour (get the hardhat tour), and it'd be pretty there this time of year, and more so in a few weeks. WR was a nice tour as well, but we got a personalized tour as a good friend used to do the tours there and they (then) allowed him to give a tour to about 20 of his friends, which made it even more cool. Im not a BF fan, but its a beautiful setting!

Though also not a fan of 4R, and only MM46 of MM, I plan to go see both of those this year myself. The pics Ive seen of 4R look enticingly beautiful.

Again, I dont think you could go wrong with any. Pick your favorite few bourbons and start at those distilleries. I LOVE the smell of HH rickhouses in particular!

Is your forum name in regards to the band?

[ThirstyinOhio]

I have been lucky to complete the bourbon trail a few times and love every time I get to go back. The tours I'd recommend are the BT hard had (can't stress this one enough), Willett, Four Roses, Maker's Mark, and Woodford Reserve, the last two just for how beautiful the surroundings are at the distilleries. Truth be told, I enjoy all of the tours, but those are my favorites. If you are looking for "rare", you are pretty much out of luck except maybe at the HH heritage center, but you will pay WAY over retail. If you simply want a wide variety of bourbon, stop at a Liquor Barn or The Party Source, they have massive selections, but once again, you will probably not find any "rare" stuff. Understand that Bourbon has never been hotter and that stuff simply doesn't last more than a day if it even hits the shelves. If you have never tried some of the rare stuff, then I recommend hitting some of the bars/restaurants on the Urban Bourbon Trail in Louisville, as they often have a lot of it available, but that can be pricey too.

[tanstaafl2]

Beam provided a pretty decent array of their bourbons for tasting to include Booker's, Baker's, Basil, Knob Creek although a choice of two was all that was included on the tour. It was a pretty decent tour and a nice setting.

Woodford is in a pretty setting if a bit out of the way (although still close to BT, FR and WT) and a decent tour with a taste of both of their only current offerings. They have a special tour in the afternoon on Tuesday and Thursday by reservation only I had wanted to do but waited to late to make a reservation. Limited to 6 people and sounded interesting. Called the Corn to Cork tour.

[Conquistador]

The distilleries associated with the big boys all have worthwhile aspects, not all of which are shared by the other distilleries. It will depend on what floats your boat (or fills your barrel, to make it a whiskey-related euphemism). I'm sure others will have their own take on things, but here are some highlights that I recall from my recent trips to distilleries along the Bourbon Trail, plus Buffalo Trace Distillery, which isn't on the official Bourbon Trail.

1. Jim Beam: a lot of people like to bash on Beam, I think because they are the bourbon behemoth. However, I really liked taking their tour, as this was the most hands-on of all the distillery tours (and I've been through all of the tours on both the standard Bourbon Trail, as well as the Craft Bourbon Trail). We all got to tour the entire process, and even got to add grains to the cooker, tipped/emptied a barrel of mature bourbon, fill a barrel with new make, take part in bottling some Knob Creek, and of course we tasted samples of Beam whiskey.

2. Heaven Hill: a good place to go if you have a lot of time to spend touring Bardstown as well as taking a tour of the HH warehouses and gift shop/Bourbon Heritage Center. A few tours of Bardstown start here (and tickets are sold in the gift shop). Don't expect to tour an actual distillery on this tour, since no distillation takes place here. Tastings are set up for you (no input on your part, unless you schmooze the tour guide into letting you try some special stuff).

3. Maker's Mark: a very beautiful property, and one of the best overall stops on the trail, IMHO. It is typically crowded, though, as many people recommend this tour to their friends and family. The portion of the tour that takes you through the steps of distillation and maturation are nothing you won't see on many other tours, but the grounds on which the facilities sit are beautiful, particularly during the fall, but it will still look great when you are there in the spring. Yeah, if you can't visit all of the trail, then this should be one of the distilleries that you should visit. Limited tasting options; you'll get the standard Maker's, Maker's 46, and their white dog (ugh!).

4. Four Roses: one of the more "industrial" looking facilities, but their gift shop is great with typically one or two barrel strength offerings that you won't easily find in a big box liquor store. If you time it right, you might even be their when the 2014 SBLE is released. And of course, the tastings: Yellow Label, Small Batch, and their Single Barrel.

5. Wild Turkey: I've only been on the tour prior to the recent opening of their new Visitor's Center, which I hear is very nice. Basic tour, but with the tastings, you get to choose 3 samples from their lineup, similar to how it is done at Beam.

6. Woodford Reserve: one of the more visually appealing properties on the trail, up there with Maker's Mark, IMHO. The basic tour is good, but relatively standard. If you have the time and some extra funds, take one of the specialty tours (Corn To Cask, or the National Heritage tours). Both of the specialty tours gets you past the velvet ropes, and into the bowels of the operations. The National Heritage tour is good, but I preferred the Corn To Cask tour, as you get to go into their onsite lab to test corn for quality, distill some new make, etc. The tastings are very limited, and are typically only going to be their standard offering. But we struck up a conversation with our tour guide, and she went into the back room and got us samples of their Double Oaked product. And they have complementary bourbon balls, too; excellent stuff if you have a boozy tongue and a sweet tooth like I do.

7. Town Branch: the newest distillery addition to the standard Bourbon Trail, and the one I liked the least. Not that it was bad, but it is a relatively small place, located in downtown Lexington, and is very industrial in nature (it shares a common space with their brewery). They give you 5 sample tickets for the tasting. One of the nice things about the tasting is that it is split between a spirits tasting and a beer tasting. You decide how many of your 5 tickets goes towards beer or spirits (beer tasting comes first, so remember to hold one or more tickets back if you want to try their spirits).

Of course, there are the craft distilleries on the Craft Bourbon Trail, but your post was directed at the standard Bourbon Trail. Hope this helps.

[gooneygoogoo]

I haven't read this whole thread due to the length so please excuse if this has been mentioned before but here are some of my thoughts.

1. You aren’t going to taste that much at any distillery. It is a nice touch but don’t get too excited or pick which distilleries you plan on going to based what you hope to taste. Save the tasting for when you get back to where you are staying or the bar

2. The distilleries are all very different so choose what you like. BT is very industrial, Woodford (go to Midway and have lunch at Wallace Station) and Makers are the most beautiful in my opinion, Beam is a nice property too but I haven’t done the tour. Four Roses was a great tour because we are Mellow Moments members and we got a private tour but the property is kind of small and there are no rickhouses at the distillery property.

3. Go to Liquor Barns but don’t get your hopes too high on finding anything particularly rare. Spend some time and try to focus because it is easy to miss some stuff just because of the huge space. There isn’t much there that I can’t get in GA except for a few cheap BIB’s etc.

Have fun...you’ll be back so don’t pack your day too full.

Edited April 28, 2014 by gooneygoogoo

[petrel800]

I can't disagree on the tours listed above, there are some really nice restaurants with great bourbon selections in both Lexington and Louisville. That being said, there is a great selection of both value bourbons and private selections in KY. As for the rare stuff, it's pretty much a wasteland unless you are willing to shell some absurd prices for some stragglers in some smaller stores. That being said HH always has some high priced stuff on the shelf and a few other distilleries have some rarer expensive stuff on the shelf right now (Beam and Turkey come to mind). The Diamond release has a thread in the premium section where you can read a little about what others think vs the price tag. The good/bad news is you may be in KY for the 4R LESB when it shells, but as you said you're not a big fan.

Any how, go enjoy your trip, the distilleries and the landscape are worth the trip.

edit - Personally, I'd avoid the food at the distilleries, I haven't found any of the food to be very good for the price. That being said, there are some great options in the small towns around the distilleries.

Edited April 28, 2014 by petrel800

[gburger]

I just got back from a week in Kentucky.

I did the 8 distilleries on the "Bourbon Trail" and a few others.

A must see is Buffalo Trace, they are not on the "trail". Call ahead and book the "hard hat" tour. You don't wear a hard hat, but the tour takes you behind the scenes and you get to see much more than other places. It does fill up on the week-ends, so call them early.

Maker's Mark is just a wonderful place to walk around and enjoy the scenery. And the gift shop is nice.

Pass on Wild Turkey in my opinion. The gift shop is nice, the tour not so much.

Woodford is always nice along with Four Roses.

The new Beam tour is alright.

Stay away from Town Branch unless you find yourself there. Not bad, just very small.

The Bourbon Experience in Louisville is okay.

Heaven Hill's behind the scene is really nice, but runs on Tue and Wed only.

Willet is nice and only two minutes from Heaven Hill. Also Barton is in Bardstown, another nice free tour.

Just about any of these are great to spend some time at.

Edited April 29, 2014 by gburger

[ThirstyinOhio]

The distilleries associated with the big boys all have worthwhile aspects, not all of which are shared by the other distilleries. It will depend on what floats your boat (or fills your barrel, to make it a whiskey-related euphemism). I'm sure others will have their own take on things, but here are some highlights that I recall from my recent trips to distilleries along the Bourbon Trail, plus Buffalo Trace Distillery, which isn't on the official Bourbon Trail.

1. Jim Beam: a lot of people like to bash on Beam, I think because they are the bourbon behemoth. However, I really liked taking their tour, as this was the most hands-on of all the distillery tours (and I've been through all of the tours on both the standard Bourbon Trail, as well as the Craft Bourbon Trail). We all got to tour the entire process, and even got to add grains to the cooker, tipped/emptied a barrel of mature bourbon, fill a barrel with new make, take part in bottling some Knob Creek, and of course we tasted samples of Beam whiskey.

2. Heaven Hill: a good place to go if you have a lot of time to spend touring Bardstown as well as taking a tour of the HH warehouses and gift shop/Bourbon Heritage Center. A few tours of Bardstown start here (and tickets are sold in the gift shop). Don't expect to tour an actual distillery on this tour, since no distillation takes place here. Tastings are set up for you (no input on your part, unless you schmooze the tour guide into letting you try some special stuff).

3. Maker's Mark: a very beautiful property, and one of the best overall stops on the trail, IMHO. It is typically crowded, though, as many people recommend this tour to their friends and family. The portion of the tour that takes you through the steps of distillation and maturation are nothing you won't see on many other tours, but the grounds on which the facilities sit are beautiful, particularly during the fall, but it will still look great when you are there in the spring. Yeah, if you can't visit all of the trail, then this should be one of the distilleries that you should visit. Limited tasting options; you'll get the standard Maker's, Maker's 46, and their white dog (ugh!).

4. Four Roses: one of the more "industrial" looking facilities, but their gift shop is great with typically one or two barrel strength offerings that you won't easily find in a big box liquor store. If you time it right, you might even be their when the 2014 SBLE is released. And of course, the tastings: Yellow Label, Small Batch, and their Single Barrel.

5. Wild Turkey: I've only been on the tour prior to the recent opening of their new Visitor's Center, which I hear is very nice. Basic tour, but with the tastings, you get to choose 3 samples from their lineup, similar to how it is done at Beam.

6. Woodford Reserve: one of the more visually appealing properties on the trail, up there with Maker's Mark, IMHO. The basic tour is good, but relatively standard. If you have the time and some extra funds, take one of the specialty tours (Corn To Cask, or the National Heritage tours). Both of the specialty tours gets you past the velvet ropes, and into the bowels of the operations. The National Heritage tour is good, but I preferred the Corn To Cask tour, as you get to go into their onsite lab to test corn for quality, distill some new make, etc. The tastings are very limited, and are typically only going to be their standard offering. But we struck up a conversation with our tour guide, and she went into the back room and got us samples of their Double Oaked product. And they have complementary bourbon balls, too; excellent stuff if you have a boozy tongue and a sweet tooth like I do.

7. Town Branch: the newest distillery addition to the standard Bourbon Trail, and the one I liked the least. Not that it was bad, but it is a relatively small place, located in downtown Lexington, and is very industrial in nature (it shares a common space with their brewery). They give you 5 sample tickets for the tasting. One of the nice things about the tasting is that it is split between a spirits tasting and a beer tasting. You decide how many of your 5 tickets goes towards beer or spirits (beer tasting comes first, so remember to hold one or more tickets back if you want to try their spirits).

Of course, there are the craft distilleries on the Craft Bourbon Trail, but your post was directed at the standard Bourbon Trail. Hope this helps.

[gooneygoogoo]

I also thought the "over aged" was really good. I asked why they didn't sell it. To me it was the best of the bunch

[dcbt]

dumb question: why is Buffalo Trace not part of the "official" Bourbon Trail?

[flahute]

dumb question: why is Buffalo Trace not part of the "official" Bourbon Trail?

[dcbt]

They (Sazerac) don't want to pay the membership fees and do just fine on their own.

[kwshannon]

My wife and I just finished a KY trip and visits to several distilleries. One of the fun things is to compare size, and subtle production differences. Woodford and BT had beautiful grounds, almost all did very good tours. Most had 3 or more to pick from for your 2 samples. I tried to find liquor stores in KY, but we drive, so I was also able to stop and shop in IN and IL. Big selections, and several dollars cheaper than IA. I also went to Omaha recently, and their prices and selection were better than IA. Enjoy your trip and visits, and let us know after your return about your experiences.

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?22005-KY-spring-break-trip

[gooneygoogoo]

My advice...1) You don't taste much at the distilleries so don't base your decision on where to go on what you want to drink. Your better off getting your sampling in back where you are staying or at a restaurant/bar. 2) All of the distilleries are worth seeing. They are all different with BT being very industrial, WR and Makers very Scenic. I had a great tour at FR since we are mellow moments members and we got a private tour. Also, if you tour Woodford, have lunch in Midway at Wallace Station. You will be back, so pick a few that fit with your travel plans and hit the others next time. 3) You won't find rare stuff and if you have a good selection back home, probably only some cheap BIB's that you can't normally get. Don't get your hopes up too much about going home with a bunch of Limited Editions. Go to Liquor Barn, spend some time since it is overwhelming and you don't want to miss anything. 4) Don't try to do too much in 1 day. You're better off taking your time and relaxing. Like I said, you'll be back. It's a great place so enjoy! Let us know how it goes.

[BTshorty]

Am very excited about our (my wife and I) upcoming Bourbon trail trip in September during festival week!!! Appreciate all the

opinions previously given in this thread. We're staying down all week and will take our time and soak up the experience!!

[cazolman]

I have to second the "don't do too much in 1 day". You CAN do three tours in a day, but will likely feel rushed. Take your time and enjoy your visit. Another thing to keep in mind is the tour times. Most distilleries begin tours around 9-10 and end about 3-4. This gives you a rather small 6 hour window to get things done. It is very easy to spend 2+ hours at each distillery while waiting for the tour, taking the tour, looking around the gift shop and of course enjoying a couple samples.

[p_elliott]

They (Sazerac) don't want to pay the membership fees and do just fine on their own.

dumb question: why is Buffalo Trace not part of the "official" Bourbon Trail?

It's a little more complicated than that do a search there is a thread on it. There was a law suit.

[DreamTheater]

First off, thank you all very, very much for your advice. I am pretty serious about planning out trips to maximize my efficiency and it is wonderful to know how to approach this thing.

I do want to apologize for not checking back here sooner given the thoughtful time you each put into your response. I truly appreciate the thoughts though!

And yes, my screen name is after the band. I am a very big fan of the group!

Well - I am going to be limited on time. Probably only really have 1.5 days so it is sounding like 3-4 distilleries will be it. I am thinking (I need to check a map to see if this is all doable): Maker's Mark, Buffalo Trace, Jim Beam, and I would like to get Woodford Reserve in there. I would like to talk to them about their Master's Collection - of which I am only missing the very first bottle. Not that they can help me with that probably but I'd like to know more about the series.

Thanks again! I will check back in periodically before I go (a week from tomorrow!) and let you guys know what I find when I visit.

Thanks again and please do not hesitate to share some "must sees" while in the area.

[HighInTheMtns]

Jim Beam is one of the westernmost distilleries open to the public (I guess Evan Williams Experience gets that title now), and Buffalo Trace the easternmost. That said, they're only about an hour apart. Maker's is out in the boonies. So... You'll pretty much be covering the entire bourbon producing region ofnth state. Versailles, where Woodford is, isn't too far from Frankfort, where BT is and you could probably make it there.

Where will you be staying?

[gburger]

If you start at Trace, you can do that, drive down to Woodford, then head over to Four Roses and end up at Wild Turkey. If you miss the Turkey tour, no big loss, but their new gift shop is worth a look.

You should be able to do all those in one day. Trace opens at 9:00 the last tour at WT is at 4:00.

Then your half day can be Maker's which is 30-40 minutes from Heaven Hill, Willet and Barton in Bardstown

[DreamTheater]

I hope you do not feel like I'm abusing your good graces and generous help - but I am a Planner and I have never been to the South before. And I really want to experience some of the amazing things that Kentucky has to offer. So I'm going to ask for some restaurant advice: on Friday, May 16th we'll be looking for lunch in Bowling Green - somewhere that I can eat in 40 minutes or less. Then Friday night I'll be in Bardstown and would love a great dinner - Southern cuisine - recommendation and a bar recommendation.

Saturday I'll need a 40 minute lunch recommendation right around Buffalo Trace and I don't know what I'll do for dinner - we'll be driving back to Omaha. Maybe something in Louisville?

Truly all - I really appreciate your help. It has been a dream of mine to visit Kentucky and Bourbon Trail. Dying to experience the best that I can.

[flahute]

Look in the Bourbon Social sub forum. Some of the threads near the top are about the recent Sampler event and if I recall correctly, there are a number of restaurant recommendations in some of those threads. There are also some Bourbon Trails threads over there.

[p_elliott]

Friday night in Bardstown eat at Kurtz great home town cooking. Don't order the steaks.

[dmarkle]

I hope you do not feel like I'm abusing your good graces and generous help - but I am a Planner and I have never been to the South before.