Fan or not. I found their tour the best. Very informative, historical etc.
Bourbon Trail
- Thread starter TheProcess
- Start date
Agreed on Blanton's. I think it's gotten too much hype due to it's limited availability and cool looking bottle. I come across that a lot.
See: Willett, Blanton's, Angel's Envy, Orphan Barrel (cool label artwork), etc.
Our group did Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, Four Roses, and Three Boys. We paid a tour guide to drive us around and glad we did as she allowed beverages on the road.
Buffalo Trace - The longest tour, got to see a good handful of buildings and everyone on the tour has the offer to purchase a bottle of EH Taylor small batch at the end for the standard price. I would say this was my favorite tour
Woodford Reserve - I will never forget the smell of walking through the building with 7,500 gallon fermenter tanks, amazing.
Four Roses - Sat at tables in a room of roughly 10 folks sampling their boubons, the most basic "tour" we did.
Three Boys - This was off the beaten path that our tour guide offered to take us to. We were reluctant but were really glad we went. Essentially a mom n pop shop in the middle of nowhere, coolest part was you can sample different burbons right out of the barrels and then fill your own bottle.
Buffalo Trace - The longest tour, got to see a good handful of buildings and everyone on the tour has the offer to purchase a bottle of EH Taylor small batch at the end for the standard price. I would say this was my favorite tour
Woodford Reserve - I will never forget the smell of walking through the building with 7,500 gallon fermenter tanks, amazing.
Four Roses - Sat at tables in a room of roughly 10 folks sampling their boubons, the most basic "tour" we did.
Three Boys - This was off the beaten path that our tour guide offered to take us to. We were reluctant but were really glad we went. Essentially a mom n pop shop in the middle of nowhere, coolest part was you can sample different burbons right out of the barrels and then fill your own bottle.
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I’ll second Woodford Reserve. The road out there is a few miles of a lane big enough for a car and a half through beautiful horse farms. The tasting was engaging and my favorite. It just feels timeless there.
Buffalo trace felt like a brewery tour. It’s a huge facility. You do get to see a lot of things. Gift shop was great.
Wild Turkey was a cool ride but not much to write home about when I was there. I didn’t catch a tour though.
Didn’t get to Four Roses, Angel’s Envy, or Maker’s but I’d like to next time.
You could probably catch a UK or Louisville bball game if you go in next 2 months. Cincinnati is also relatively close to Lexington.
Depending on how much time you have, Tennessee has some Tennessee Whiskey distilleries. Jack Daniel’s, George Dickel, Nelson’s Green Brier are drivable from Nashville, which has its own cool things to see. Louisville is just under 3 hours by car from Nashville.
Buffalo trace felt like a brewery tour. It’s a huge facility. You do get to see a lot of things. Gift shop was great.
Wild Turkey was a cool ride but not much to write home about when I was there. I didn’t catch a tour though.
Didn’t get to Four Roses, Angel’s Envy, or Maker’s but I’d like to next time.
You could probably catch a UK or Louisville bball game if you go in next 2 months. Cincinnati is also relatively close to Lexington.
Depending on how much time you have, Tennessee has some Tennessee Whiskey distilleries. Jack Daniel’s, George Dickel, Nelson’s Green Brier are drivable from Nashville, which has its own cool things to see. Louisville is just under 3 hours by car from Nashville.
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I think the Michters tour would be on the top of my list. One of my favorite whiskeys and filling your own bottle looks awesome.
Other than that I'd try to hit Makers Mark and Heaven Hill. For a smaller one, I'd do New Riff. I've had a few bottles of their stuff and it's always delicious.
Other than that I'd try to hit Makers Mark and Heaven Hill. For a smaller one, I'd do New Riff. I've had a few bottles of their stuff and it's always delicious.
It was 10 years ago, so I'm sure a lot has changed, but I did it and it was great. I was living in KY at the time so pretty much just did one per weekend.
Ranked:
Ranked:
- Woodford Reserve - definitely most picturesque of all I visited, best tour, and personally my favorite bourbon
- Maker's Mark - great tour on this one as well, and it was cool to dip your own bottle in wax. Also a really pretty location
- Four Roses - had a great tour guide which definitely helped. They had special stuff in the gift shop that you don't find at your typical liquor store. I still have a bottle of a fancy single barrel variety that I drink maybe once a year
- Jim Beam - they're the Budweiser of bourbon, and it feels that way, but I enjoyed it a lot
- Heaven Hill - they're big and have a lot of variety, but I found it lackluster
- Wild Turkey - the tour was basically taking a ride on a bus through their grounds and ended at the gift shop/tasting area. Basically heard all the same stuff I'd already heard at other places. No uniqueness to it.
Check out distilledexperiences.com.
They can curate / customize any number of unique tours or events you may be interested in, including transportation and logistics.
They can curate / customize any number of unique tours or events you may be interested in, including transportation and logistics.