Woodford Reserve Tours

[Josh]

Planning yet another KY vacation, and visitng as many distilleries as possible.

Anybody taken any of the Woodford Reserve tours in Versailles? They have three apparently, one free one and two $5 ones that require advanced booking. Any recommendations?

Also, this may be a ticklish subject, but any distilleries that I could (or even should) miss? We were thinking about trying to do HH, WT, BT & WR, but we may not have enough time.

Thanks!

[barturtle]

Actually their site lists all three tours as costing $5, but the corn to cork seems to be the best, but most limited in times...I haven't done a tour at WR since they started charging for the basic one...I would have no issue paying for a upgrade, but I sure won't pay for the basic one...

I think Four Roses is a great tour.

[Josh]

Maybe I should have said that the basic tour sounds like it SHOULD be free! I was leaning toward the "corn to cork" one myself, but the historical one sounded interesting too.

I had really wanted to do the 4R tour, but from what I could find on their website (although obviously my web research skills aren't the best) they'll be in the midst of their shutdown when we're there. So I've resigned myself to just stopping by the giftshop.

[granola82]

Yes, I think all the WR tours are $5...or at least that's the way it was when we visited there last year. The tour was good but it was on a Sunday so no samples...dangit!

Also, I highly recommend the WT and BT tours. Both are fantastic in very different ways. Our WT tour was by a lady who had worked on the bottling line for over 30 years. She was super nice and knew the ins and outs of the distillery. After the tour we hung around for a while in the shop and Jimmy Russell came over. We talked to him for about 30 minutes. Needless to say, it was the best part of the entire trip.

At BT we were among a very small group of about 5-7 people. It was a great tour and next time I'll be looking to do the "hard hat" version.

Have fun!

T

[mozilla]

There are tons of reviews in the distillery tour section of the site.

If you attend on certain days...some distilleries will be closed. So, check all their websites first.

BT's hard hat tour is great. The regular tour...not so much. WT was nice, but very slow paced and not too informative. FR is great, but you need to see their bottling facility at another site. HH doesn't have distilling at Bardstown, though if you talk to the right person....you might get a tour of the bottle house. Which, is facinating, because its like watching an ant farm while they are building at full tilt. HH gets the most out of their ants, they are very busy! There are lots of other great bourbon history type things to see, while driving from distillery to distillery.

[camduncan]

If you attend on certain days...some distilleries will be closed. So, check all their websites first.

Yeah, don't go to Woodford on a Monday like we did:smiley_acbt:

I knew they wouldn't be open (when I was planning our trip at home), but completely forgot about it when we re-adjusted our trip (and in the excitment of being in Kentucky.)

[fishnbowljoe]

Maybe you should think about substituting Maker's Mark for the FR tour. The times I've been there it was really a good tour. I would say however that I've read a couple of posts here lately where people have been on the tour at MM with a tour guide who probably was pretty new, and didn't do a very good job. Either way, I hope you have a good time. Let us know how things turn out. Joe

[TN Colonel]

I highly recommend the Buffalo Trace hard hat tour but it is only done in the fall. My tour group consisted of me, myself, and I...and one very knowledgeable guide.

An interesting side trip - while you're in Frankfort slide around to the southern end of town and take Exit 58, Route 60, Frankfort Rd, off the Interstate. Head south and make an immediate right turn onto Duncan Road. When that road ends turn right on Glenn's Creek Rd (I think that's the name). That road winds around and will take you past the abandoned Old Taylor distillery (what's left of it) and an also abandoned Old Crow distillery. Old Taylor is the old castle distillery being dismantled and sold off piece by piece. The short trip is worthwhile just to highlight the heritage being lost in the bourbon industry.

[chilidawg7]

I didn't have a bad tour when I toured 4 or 5 of them back in '05.

Wild Turkey was closed, but I did get an old barrel for $5, so I couldn't complain.

Dipping a bottle at Maker's may be a bit cheesy and tourist-y, but I loved it.

Jim Beam was one of two I recall that offered samples of the product. Nothing like a 9 AM sampling of their small batch offerings.

Buffalo Trace tour was excellent, especially with the right guide. I did not take the hard hat tour, but I hear that is even better. At the end, we were given a sample of their vodka, along with a chilled pour of their bourbon.

Labrot and Graham (Woodford Reserve) did not charge for my tour, and it was one of the more scenic venues.

Enjoy your time there and make sure to ask questions - most of the folks are willing to chat with you about the ins and outs of the industry.

[craigthom]

An interesting side trip - while you're in Frankfort slide around to the southern end of town and take Exit 58, Route 60, Frankfort Rd, off the Interstate. Head south and make an immediate right turn onto Duncan Road. When that road ends turn right on Glenn's Creek Rd (I think that's the name). That road winds around and will take you past the abandoned Old Taylor distillery (what's left of it) and an also abandoned Old Crow distillery. Old Taylor is the old castle distillery being dismantled and sold off piece by piece. The short trip is worthwhile just to highlight the heritage being lost in the bourbon industry.

And if you keep going you end up at Woodford Reserve. The road is easier to find from there, since you just keep going past the distillery.