Tours of BT, WR, 4 Roses and WT

[Jono]

I just got back from a short trip to KY and wanted to give a few impression of the distillery tours:

My brother-in-law and I stayed in Frankfort...The Hampton Inn (excellent choice...wow...since the Hilton Family runs them now great improvements..first class beds, great breakfast..continental plus etc.)

Anyway, by far, the best experience was had was at Buffalo Trace.

We were lucky to arrive when a hard hat tour was to begin and were able to join it. Fred (Homer)...third generation association at BT..was our guide. A fantastic gentleman...as many here know..his father is 92 and has rolled out the historic barrels...2M, 4M and recently 6M. We saw the entire operation complete with grain samples and white dog. Superb tour. The relatively new visitor center and grounds are very nice. Tasting included Rain Vodka...not being a vodka drinker..I enjoyed this corn based one. Bourbons - Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare Single Barrel.

Woodford Reserve...we didn't take the pay tour/tasting..I have completed it before...and it is very good. Beautiful grounds. Certainly worth a visit.

4 Roses...more of an in-house instructional tour...video and presentation. Both were informative...but...no actual tour of the facility. A free tasting was included...Yellow Label, Small Batch and Single Barrel.

Very nice grounds, buildings...to bad we could not see more of them.

Wild Turkey....an embarrassment. What a disappointment. We arrived at the small visitor center "cottage house" with rough gravel parking lot...a rather poor impression right off the bat. A group of four Italian tourists stopped by as well. Since the plant is not operating during the summer on Friday and Saturday...the nice "tour" guide (none of this is her fault) was only able to offer a video and a description of the buildings. She could not open the door to even allow a view of the rack house etc. So, here we stand outside on a concrete walk looking at buildings and being told what is in them and what takes place. The site is very much a working area...ugly in comparison to the other distilleries. It was such a disappointment for the Italians to come all this way and to be given such a pathetic opportunity to see the facility. At least they saw Makers Mark earlier in the day.

Obviously, the managers at WT or Pernod Ricard do not think much of visitors and customer good will, word of mouth etc. NO tastings.

[Jono]

P.S. IF you stay in Frankfort....the best downtown restaurant that we tried was Serafini....excellent food and huge bourbon / whiskey bar....I counted at least 86 Bourbons plus other whiskies for about 150+ total. Mark behind the bar is very informed about his product and was very helpful..the pours were generous. We started off with Rittenhouse 23...then a flight of PVW, Weller, Willet and Rock Hill Farms. All were very good.

We met the chef, a very nice guy originally from Trinidad...and had good ribs with dry rub, red trout (ocean variety..like salmon), bruschetta appetizer very good.

Definitely visit this place if in town.

[cowdery]

That's too bad about Four Roses and Turkey. I was under the impression Four Roses gave a full tour and have written as much. I have heard of other people having similar experiences at Turkey, while other people who wander in equally at random get a full tour and even a meet-and-greet with Jimmy Russell.

It's just insane in both cases if they don't keep their visitor's operations going even during Summer shut down, since that just happens to come at the height of the tourist season. I'm sure people will be disappointed if things aren't running, but on most tours there is often something, usually the still, that isn't running. People understand that, but they would still like to see the still, see the cistern room, see the fermenters, see the grain silos, and have the process explained to them. How tough is it to keep a barrel house open? Even if it's summer shut down and nothing is running, they should show everything that doesn't have to be off-limits because of major maintenance. That's just ridiculous. Shame on them.

To keep a gift shop open but not give a real tour is just insulting to the visitors.

Turkey is supposed to be upgrading its visitor center soon, but they need to address these operational issues that have nothing to do with the facility. I'm really surprised at Four Roses, who usually is tops in visitor care.

If shut down came at a time of the year when tourism also was low I could see it, but summer shut down comes at exactly the height of tourist season.

The traditional summer shut down is something the distilleries might want to reconsider now that they've started to really drive and promote tourism. They invite a guest into their home then slam the door in their face. That can't be good for business.

[Jono]

At least most of the distilleries offer a good tour year round...BT, Woodford, MM, HH. I just don't understand why the WT guide could not be trusted to unlock the door to the rack house etc. All she could suggest was that we peak through the dark grimy windows. Either offer something nice or don't bother would be my suggestion. Look at the other distilleries..if you have no interest in something similar...forget about it. No tasting at WT was a real shocker...they explained they were not set up for it. What...no table or cups? Unbelievable.

I am not sure why the 4 Roses tour was so limited. The young man working there was informative...and the visual representations were actually quite good at explaining the inner workings of the continous still.

P.S. the Italians, on a 3 wk U.S. tour, came because they saw WT in Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarrantino...they don't get much WT in Italy. It was embarrassing for all around.

[TomH]

When we went to Four Roses the end of July, they told us that because of they are out of production during the summer. Production and actual tours will begin around September.

Tom

[Jono]

That speaks to Chuck's point about being market smart...tourists in the summer come by to see your operation and .......not much. As their main focus is still export that is at least some excuse...not that they used it.

WT...that is simply unexplainable to me...very poor image...in fact, my brother-in-law said he would not purchase WT products because of it....not that they would notice...but the point was made.

[doubleblank]

Imagine California wineries not giving tours because they aren't actually making wine at that time. Those expensive destemmers, bladder presses, fermentation tanks, etc are actually in use a few weeks out of the year but visitors want to know their purpose even if not in use. I didn't know until now that Four Roses shut down their tours for the summer.

Randy

[Jono]

After seeing the 4 distilleries listed....we refrained from the trip to MM and Heaven Hill as we were heading to Cinci that day....sorry PhilsFan! Next time we will be sure to connect for a tour. We did get together with PhilsFan for the Reds / Cards game that evening and had a great time...nice park...being a Cubs fan I was pulling for the Reds but they got shelled (but avenged it on Sunday). PhilsFan gave some good liqour store info....Red Dot in Frankfort had a decent selection and it was near the Hampton Inn....very nice place to stay...surprisingly so. Hopefully, during the Bourbon Fest all of the distilleries will be able to provide full tours.

[cowdery]

I know for a fact that many, perhaps all, of the producers monitor this site and others, which is why I felt it was important to put this up and get people to give them the visitor's perspective. I'm shocked by Four Roses, because they're usually so good about taking care of their customers.

I guarantee without even asking that Maker's Mark gives a full tour regardless of what's actually going on in production at the time.

I also wrote about this here and here. Thanks, Jono, for bringing this to our attention.

[Jono]

Checked the KY Bourbon Trail site: http://www.kybourbontrail.com/

4 Roses...M-Sat ...tours year round....9-4:00

"If you are planning a summer trip be sure to call us ...to confirm when we are open."

They were open...why not a tour?

WT ...conducts free tours M-Sat...closed holidays, first wk of Jan and last two wks of July.

> Should have been open for a real tour.

[barturtle]

I guarantee without even asking that Maker's Mark gives a full tour regardless of what's actually going on in production at the time.

Yes, they even have a cool video presentation showing what happens in the bottling house on days they aren't running it(Sundays for instance)

[craigthom]

I once couldn't get a tour of Wild Turkey because they were doing inventory in the gift shop. At least they didn't pretend to give me a tour without going into any buildings. The Turkey tour was SO much better before they moved the bottling off site.

I do want to take exception to the comment about how "ugly" it is there, though. That's what I like best about Wild Turkey: it is a working industrial facility, not a tourist attraction.

[cowdery]

For me, part of every Wild Turkey visit is driving across the gorge, turning around, and driving back across to Turkey's "perch." That's something to see.

[Jono]

I once couldn't get a tour of Wild Turkey because they were doing inventory in the gift shop. At least they didn't pretend to give me a tour without going into any buildings. The Turkey tour was SO much better before they moved the bottling off site.

I do want to take exception to the comment about how "ugly" it is there, though. That's what I like best about Wild Turkey: it is a working industrial facility, not a tourist attraction.

In comparison to the manicured lawns and landscaping, beautiful visitor centers and buildings at the other distilleries it pales..(from the whiskey tourist point of view)...but it is not pretending to be anything other than what it is...a work place...and that comes over loud and clear.

[cowdery]

Jim Rutledge of Four Roses asked me to tell you he's sorry, Jono, and he agrees that they need to do a better job of providing a good visitor experience during shut down. He did mention that they post the shut down schedule on their web site, and alert the local tourism folks, but he agrees they need to do better.

[Jono]

Thanks Chuck,

I want Jim to know that the young man present did a fine job with what he had to work with (the video, grain samples and models were informative)....so no negativity is directed at him...and they had a tasting...unlike WT.

[ThomasH]

I have had good experiences with distillery tours. I got to tour WT just before they stopped bottling on sight. One of my favorite parts of the WT tour is where they fill the barrels and then roll them into the semi trailer. The guy filling the barrel didn't quite get the spout into the barrel opening and got showered with new make whiskey. He shivered and said it was really cold. His co-workers joked and asked if he had a designated driver to take him home from work as he now reeked of whiskey. WT is the only place I have seen barrels being filled!

Thomas

[Jono]

What really surprised me about BT was the bottling room and sprecifically for the Eagle Rare....a gentleman sits and hand fills each bottle...the room absolutely smells of alcohol....something you would have to get used to...I don't know if I could...it was strong. All that inhaled ETOH must yield a slight buzz all day!

[jeff]

What really surprised me about BT was the bottling room and sprecifically for the Eagle Rare....a gentleman sits and hand fills each bottle...the room absolutely smells of alcohol....something you would have to get used to...I don't know if I could...it was strong. All that inhaled ETOH must yield a slight buzz all day!

At BT, that is considered part of the benefit package.

[cowdery]

It's also why they usually keep all the doors and windows to that little building open except when it's really cold.

[callmeox]

How long are the tours at BT and 4R? I've scheduled the hard hat tour for Monday afternoon, but I want to try to sneak the VIP tour in at 4R before hand.

When I called BT today, they piggy-backed me on to another group of two tourists at 1:00PM. I don't want to have to rush all over the place if I don't have to.

[barturtle]

FR is so small you can almost see the whole place by turning around

The biggest issue could be driving time...

[callmeox]

Thanks, Tim. Google says that it's about 30 min from BT to 4R. Is that reasonable?

I'll ask 4R tomorrow how long it is when I call to schedule the tour.

[barturtle]

Thanks, Tim. Google says that it's about 30 min from BT to 4R. Is that reasonable?

I'll ask 4R tomorrow how long it is when I call to schedule the tour.

Sounds reasonable, I'd plan 45 min to be on the safe side (gives time for fuel/burger stops, wrong turns)

[callmeox]

I have Garmin as my guide and who needs burgers?

Thanks again.