One of my really good friends is from Kentucky and ever since we met about 10 years ago, we talked about going to Kentucky and doing the Kentucky Bourbon trail. We finally were able to go this year (and also did some other Kentucky-like things along the way).
There are 17 distilleries on the official Kentucky Bourbon Trail, but 73 distilleries in the state of Kentucky. Its more of a marketing thing on which distilleries are able to be on the official list, so we didn’t make it a priority to only visit the ones on the official list. I’ll note below the ones we went to that were not on the official Kentucky Bourbon Trail. One distillery I regret not going to, which is not on the official list, is Buffalo Trace. Everyone we met who went to that one raved about it. Their tours are free and the most popular one called the hard hat tour is more of a behind the scenes tour, so tickets for that one go way in advance. They also have a ghost tour that sounded fun. So I would recommend going to Buffalo Trace for sure.
In general, I would also recommend booking tickets to all the tours in advance since most of the tours we were in were sold out and they were sending people away. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail has gained more and more popularity in the past few years and has become a big bachelor party activity. The tours were all around $12- $20, but there are specialty tours that can get pretty expensive. We didn’t do any of those. A lot of general tours will also let you make your own bottle but of course you have to pay for that as well.
Sooo lets talk about Bourbon. Bourbon by definition can only be made in the United States, the majority of which is made in Kentucky. In addition to being made in the US, bourbon differs from traditional whiskey in that it has to be made with at least 51% corn, although its usually made with a lot more corn than that. Most distilleries we went to use wheat in their bourbon, but some use rye. I didn’t really like the ones with rye here because I found it too spicy (although in Maryland, I recently went to the distillery, Sagamore Spirit, and really liked their rye). Bourbon also has to be stored in a brand new barrel. The barrels are usually used for other things after the bourbon process like for wine or whiskey so they don’t go to waste.
Before this experience, I would say I didn’t really know anything about Bourbon. I used to be a promotional spokesmodel for different beer and liquor brands so I felt pretty experienced in most alcohols, but just never really tried Bourbon or knew a whole lot about it. We ended up going to 10 distilleries over a long weekend. I also rarely finished a whole sample so I would say you don’t have to “get drunk” to do this tour.
Town Branch
Our first stop was Town Branch. This distillery was in Lexington and had both beer samples and bourbon samples. They give you different tokens and you exchange them for whatever you want to sample. This was my first time seeing how they make it and the process was pretty cool. I left my chemistry degree in my other purse, but this is how its made from what I understand —they add together the corn and wheat/rye/barely and it becomes a mash which is referred to as “the cereal.” After the mash has been cooled down, it can be put into a fermenter (along with a larger amount of yeast), where a beer with approximately 9% abv is produced through fermentation. This produces a clear liquid called “white dog” which is placed in barrels for at least two years. Flavor is not added to the bourbon and its illegal to do so. Most of the flavor comes from the barrel that its stored in.
So Town Branch was the only one that also had beer samples. The beer was aged in a bourbon barrel and was pretty good. I didn’t like the bourbon from Town Branch, though, except the “Sunrise” that was mixed with warm heavy cream and was a play on an Irish Coffee. Although this was on the official Bourbon Trail, I could say you could definitely skip this one. The location isn’t pretty, the tour is average and the bourbon isn’t that great. You might want to go here if you’re more curious about the beer.
Woodford Reserve
This one was located in the prettiest part of Kentucky, Versailles. Such a beautiful drive surrounded by horse farms. The tour started busing us to where they make the bourbon. I find it more authentic when they’re actually making the bourbon during the tour, even though it gets really hot where they make it. I really liked their room where they store all the barrels. We each got to sample some of the “mash” before moving along in the tour. The mash bubbles up due to co2 bubbles and it looks like it would be hot but it’s cost.
I liked the tasting for this one. It was probably my 4th favorite, although most people really like Woodford Reserve and its more of a fancy type of bourbon. And of all the bourbon balls I tasted, these were the best. Bourbon balls were my favorite part of the whole tasting experience in general. This is definitely a must visit distillery though for the beautiful drive and because this bourbon is so well-known.
Castle and Key
This distillery is a very new one. It was nice to visit some distilleries that were well-established and some that were just starting out. This one actually just opened in November and if you remember from my lesson above, bourbon needs to sit in a barrel for at least two years, so their bourbon is not ready yet. So we did a tour and then sampled a few gin cocktails which was a nice break up of the bourbon. The grounds were really pretty with a little stream in the back. The distillery is also shaped like a castle. I would recommend stopping here to sort of compare it to the distilleries that have been around forever.
Jim Beam
This one had the best tour, I thought. Very informative and fun. The grounds are huge. We took a bus where they were making the bourbon and you were able to try the white dog IE bourbon before going into the barrels. They also make knob creek. The tasting includes 4 samples one of your choice, didn’t like any of them but the maple was okay. They also had a bbq restaurant on the grounds so we had that for lunch. I would say of all the distilleries to stop at, this would be an absolute must. Not only is Jim Beam the best selling Bourbon in the country, the tour and grounds are just awesome. Horrible, horrible bourbon in my opinion though lol.
Rabbit Hole
This distillery was a random choice because we intended to go to Angel’s Envy, but it was closed for a private event the whole weekend. But we drove into Louisville and figured we should go a distillery since we were there. Rabbit Hole distillery wasn’t too far away from Angel’s Envy so we stopped at this distillery just for a tasting not tour. It is a newer distillery (not on the official bourbon trail) and had the worst bourbon of the 10 places we went. They do have a cute bar upstairs with views of the Louisville skyline so I would maybe stop in to see that.
Bulleit
Yay, really liked Bulleit a lot! Bulleit was the first tour we went on where the crowd was younger, all the other ones were much older. The tour was pretty standard, nothing too exciting. They also weren’t making any Bourbon while we were doing the tour. They had a nice lounge area where you can hang out and drink water and free coffee while waiting for the tour. I really enjoyed the bourbon at this one but don’t think the tour is necessary. I didn’t know this at the time but Bulleit is actually one of the most popular bourbons being sold at just regular bars so now when I’m at local bars at home and want bourbon, this is the one I will order.
Evan Williams
Evan Williams was the least interesting tour. It felt like the Disney World of Bourbon tours with different interactive things going on. Since this one is located downtown, they can’t really make their bourbon on premise so that’s something to keep in mind when doing the tour—its better to tour places that are in the middle of nowhere rather than right in the city so you’re actually seeing them make it. This one took you from room to room showing videos of the history. We did get to taste their white dog though and the tasting room was really cute. This was my favorite tasting for sure. I liked all of the bourbons we tried and they also had bourbon balls. I would probably do the tour again, though, just to hang out in their cool tasting room.
Old Forester
Old Forester was also located down town and we just did a tasting instead of a tour. I really liked this bourbon as well but I haven’t really seen it offered at many bars outside of Kentucky. This bourbon was also the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby as I had a mint julep with Old Forester when we went to Churchhill Downs.
Maker’s Mark
Maker’s Mark was the prettiest location of them all. The distillery is basically in the middle of nowhere and the tours work as a first come first served, as you can’t book times online. We got there early and were on the second tour of the day. They have specialty tours that seemed like they would be fun, but we were there on a Sunday so they didn’t offer them then. I loved this tour just because it was so pretty and you got to go into all the different buildings and walk around the grounds. The tasting room was like a classroom and they had Bourbon balls. This is seen as more of a high-end fancy bourbon brand. But I actually didn’t like any of the bourbons we tasted. They have a restaurant at this location as well.
Four Roses
We did a tasting instead of a tour for this one and the tasting was nice because they brought you out to the gazebo instead of sticking you at the bar and went through some history and information on each bourbon. The bourbon was okay, but not my favorite. I liked all the rose displays but you might want to check out Wild Turkey, a distillery close to Four Roses that is more popular.
Conclusion
So everyone obviously has different taste preferences so I wouldn’t recommend visiting the places I mentioned above just because I said I did or did not like the bourbon. My favorite bourbons in order were from Evan Williams, Bulleit, and Old Forester. My least favorite were Rabbit Hole, Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark. My three must visits would be Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve and Maker’s Mark. Jim Beam I think is a must visit because the tour was the best one and I really liked the grounds. Woodford Reserve is located in such a gorgeous location and most people really like their bourbon. Maker’s Mark has the best grounds with so many cute buildings and I really loved the vibe there. The last one I would say even though I didn’t get to go would be Buffalo Trace because everyone we talked to who had been there absolutely loved it. As for bourbon in general, I really enjoyed learning about it and trying so many. I think as for drinking it regularly, its more of something I might drink at home to relax than drink out because it makes me feel sleepy, like wine does. We did seven tours and three tastings. I don’t think you need to do as many tours as we did, but I don’t think I really got bored even though they covered a lot of the same information. If you just want to go to Kentucky for the bourbon trail, you could probably do it in three days I would say, but we did a lot of other Kentucky things. I am also going to write a post of all the other things we did in Kentucky besides the bourbon trail soon. To see a break down of how many distilleries we did each day and what else we did, you can check out the itinerary.
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