Tastings versus tours

[Hokiegal]

Hello. We are a party of four planning to visit distilleries the week of September after Labor Day, which means that we need to get started reserving our spots. We plan to start at Buffalo Trace our first day then Woodford then Willett OR Heaven Hill. We plan to spend two night in Bardstown, visiting Maker’s Mark,  Willet OR Heaven Hill, Bardstown Bourbon, Lux Row, and Preservation. Then on to Louisville for two nights, stopping at Jim Beam, and visiting Angel’s Envy and Rabbit Hole, as well as tourist sites. We really only want to TOUR unique distilleries or ones that require a tour to taste.

With that said, which ones do you suggest we definitely tour, which ones do you suggest taste only, and am I missing any that are in our path that we should visit? 

 

Also, suggestions for scheduling order, especially in Bardstown?
 

 

[fishnbowljoe]

I have my favorites, but I’ll defer to others here to post their opinions. However, I would like to offer some advice. Timing is important. Don’t schedule too much in one day. Allow plenty of time at each stop so you can enjoy yourselves and not have to rush from one place to another. Good luck and have fun.

 

Biba! Joe

[PhantomLamb]

Both are fun.  IMO, some distilleries are more worth it to tour than others because with the majority you can explore the grounds on your own.

 

Hope you have a great trip!

[geclbxf]

21 hours ago, PhantomLamb said:

Both are fun.  IMO, some distilleries are more worth it to tour than others because with the majority you can explore the grounds on your own.

 

Hope you have a great trip!

I think 4 or 5 of the better tours are BT, Woodford, Old Forester, and Castle and Key (history and scenery).

That said, they get repetitive.   Not sure I would do more than 1 or 2 on each pilgrimage to the motherland.

 

Evan Williams speakeasy tour is amazing and more of a tasting.   The bottle your own at Heaven Hill is outstanding, and the thieving at Bardstown Bourbon Company are all one of a kind type experiences that are not a tour per say.

 

Hope that helps!

 

 

 

[kcgumbohead]

I would vote for Castle and Key as an outstanding tour and a wonderful historic site.

in terms of tastings are there distilleries you are curious about? I would focus on those and skew more tasting than tour as the tours can get repetitive but the various flavor profiles are where the real fun lies for me.

woodford is a beautiful site but you’re only going to taste what’s on your  local shelves so I again look to facilities that offer the potential for tasting beyond your local total wine selection.

try to group stops on the Lexington side and then another group on the Louisville side, that should help in your planning.

wilderness Trail while a newer distillery, is very interesting given their sister company ferm solutions specialize  in yeast and worldwide distillery troubleshooting.

The Pepper facility in Lexington is pretty cool too.

best scenery IMO

castle and key

woodford

makers mark

 

Cheers and have a great trip

[Hokiegal]

Thanks for all the replies. Based on this and several other forums I was able to create an itinerary that hopefully we will enjoy. We will report back after our trip.

[fishnbowljoe]

Good luck and have fun! 
 

Biba! Joe

[geclbxf]

3 hours ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Good luck and have fun! 
 

Biba! Joe

Share your experience too!   Good Luck!   Enjoy and be safe.

[flahute]

Give us an Anwalt style report when you return? (Don't buy as many bottles as him though unless you want to watch your credit card melt.)

[fishnbowljoe]

40 minutes ago, flahute said:

Give us an Anwalt style report when you return? (Don't buy as many bottles as him though unless you want to watch your credit card melt.)

Aw c’mon @flahute.   They’re driving in from Virginia.

 

Biba! Joe

[flahute]

1 hour ago, fishnbowljoe said:

Aw c’mon @flahute.   They’re driving in from Virginia.

 

Biba! Joe

They can do it!

[Anwalt]

6 hours ago, flahute said:

Give us an Anwalt style report when you return? (Don't buy as many bottles as him though unless you want to watch your credit card melt.)

 

I will finish that report in a couple of weeks.  Taking time off meant some hustle was needed upon returning to <sigh> work.

 

Upside to the excess:  The Wifey finally went out and bought shelves for Our Preciouseses.

 

Hokiegal,

 

Please do post intel & experiences.  I personally learn a lot from what people share here.  Such info made our trip soooo much better.  Also, pics of Nekkid Bottles (and only bottles, lol) is good too!

[Anwalt]

On 6/15/2022 at 3:08 PM, Hokiegal said:

We plan to spend two night in Bardstown, visiting Maker’s Mark,  Willet OR Heaven Hill, Bardstown Bourbon, Lux Row, and Preservation.

 

I'd do Willett (excellent tastings throughout the tour, mundane gift shop) AND HH (excellent bottle your own, the ECBP was amazing and what I would have gone after had the Willett SS 14y not been available, word is they are out of that for now, things appear on the counter behind the cash register in the gift shop, I heard grenades were recently there) and do MM another time (Very nice grounds, OK tour, gift shop had a few bottles of interest, OK tasting, Willett was better).  

 

We caught Lux Row gift shop at a good time, they had everything except Rebel 10 was there, did not do the tour.  Recent pics online seem to indicate that the bounty continues there.

 

BBC Thieving the Barrel was awesome and a happy departure from the "this is how we make bourbon at each stage" tour.  The 3 BBC (not other peoples distillate, BBC own 6y stuff is coming out) barrels we tried were great.  Very nice gift shop, the Disc 7 & 8 were $140 each (I have not seen better prices elsewhere, or the #8 anywhere).  Great grounds, modern.  

 

I know zip about Preservation.