Sometimes living in Cincinnati doesn’t feel any different from what we’re used to. The people are friendly, the beer is plentiful, and the barbeque is delish. It almost feels Southern, which is almost definitely due to Cincy’s close proximity to Kentucky. In fact, it’s only one Ohio River’s width away.
At the end of June, Spencer’s parents came up from the actual South to visit us, but mostly to partake in the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. A series of nine of the best bourbon distilleries in the nation, the trail highlights the rich history of bourbon distillers in Kentucky, and it’s just a fun, unique trip for anyone over 21. You can grab a passport at any of the distilleries, and once you collect all nine stamps, you can take it to a designated tourist center or mail it in for an official Kentucky Bourbon Trail t-shirt. (I’m actually wearing it as I write this post because it’s so incredibly comfortable)
We tackled the entire trail in three days, so I’ve put together a little itinerary for you based on what worked for us. Let’s get our bourbon on, shall we?
Day One — In and Around Lexington, Kentucky
Four Roses
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Tour Cost: $5 per person
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Four Roses was the first distillery on our itinerary, and it actually worked really well as a first experience. The tour begins with a short video that explains the history of Four Roses (which is supposedly really popular in Japan!) and gives you some insight into the bourbon-making process. From the viewing room, we walked through the different buildings on the property. The entire distillery was built in a Spanish mission style, which is really unique for the area, and I cannot believe I didn’t get any photos of it.
Of course, we had our first tasting at the end of the tour. You get samples of their three domestic bourbons, and they even let you keep the glass! Overall, Four Roses is a nice little distillery, but it’s difficult to compare it to some of the monster bourbons that we saw later on the trail. I would definitely recommend visiting on your first day if you plan to do the tour.
Wild Turkey
Location: Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Tour Cost: $10
Rating: ★★★★☆
Wild Turkey just felt like home. The people in the gift shop were the friendliest of the entire trail, we got to meet the master distiller (and get a bottle signed!), and they even have a cute little cat that hangs around. I named him Honey, as in Wild Turkey American Honey, the bourbon-liqueur mix that I could drink straight from the bottle. Not that I ever have… Okay, I totally have.
Wild Turkey has a huge, new gift shop that sells just about anything bourbon-related you could want, and it also has an area that details the interesting history of the distillery. From there, you and your tour guide take a little van out to the warehouse (pictured above) where you learn about the specific mash bill used by Wild Turkey and take a tour of the fermenters. We also got to take a peek at the assembly line where the bottles are filled, and then we went out a little further to the quite picturesque area that houses Wild Turkey’s rickhouses, the warehouses where the filled bourbon barrels age.
Wild Turkey has more bourbon types than I ever realized, so it was a difficult decision to choose two at the tasting. Luckily there were four drinkers touring with us, and we were able to taste eight different bourbons thanks to a little thing called sharing. I would recommend Russell’s Reserve and the Wild Turkey American Honey Sting. Yes, it is infused with ghost pepper; no, it is not too spicy to be enjoyable.
Woodford Reserve
Location: Versailles, Kentucky
Tour Cost: $10 per person
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Watch out, you are in Derby country! Woodford Reserve is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby, and it’s also one of the oldest on the trail. There are some really gorgeous historic buildings on their property, and they do a good job of showcasing their rich history throughout the tour. In my opinion, the overall feel of the distillery was completely different from what we experienced at Wild Turkey: less down home and more uppity. Just my personal opinion; it was still a great tour, and I loved all of the old buildings.
My favorite thing about the Woodford Reserve tour was the tasting. We got to sample both of their bourbons, and they really put the emphasis on the tasting experience. Plus they threw a bourbon ball into the mix, which was 1) tasty, and 2) a great way to show how bourbon is complemented by the flavors you enjoy with it.
Town Branch Bourbon
Location: Lexington, Kentucky
Tour Cost: $8.50 per person
Rating: N/A
Why is there no rating for Town Branch, you ask? Because we didn’t get a chance to take the tour. We stopped by, walked around the gift shop and distillery, and got our passport stamped, but it was a little late in the day for another tour. If you get a chance to tour Town Branch, let me know what you think. You should also stop by next door to the distillery for a pint of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. It’s got a strong whiskey taste, but it’s so good.
Day Two — Central Kentucky
Maker’s Mark
Location: Loretto, Kentucky
Tour Cost: $9 per person
Rating: ★★★★★
If you follow me on Instagram, you already know my favorite part of touring Maker’s Mark: meeting Whiskey Jean, the distillery’s resident cat. But really, I loved everything about Maker’s. Alainna, our tour guide, was fantastically down-to-earth, the distillery grounds are expansive and well-decorated, and they produce all the Maker’s Mark in the world in this Kentucky distillery with only 100 employees! Isn’t that insane?
We got to take home an extra bottle label, try the sweet mash in four different stages of fermentation, and witness the dipping of the bottles into that iconic red wax. Maker’s Mark really focused on the history of the family, which I appreciated.
The tasting was another great experience, perhaps because the tour guide got to drink along with us and help those of us who are bourbon newbies develop our tasting skills. We got to sample four bourbons, including their white dog (aka moonshine) which can’t be sold outside of their distillery. Maker’s also sent us on our way with a bourbon ball, and their gift shop gives you the opportunity to dip your own bottles or anything in the store. For instance, Spencer purchased a shot glass dipped in red wax.
Heaven Hill
Location: Bardstown, Kentucky
Tour Cost: $10 per person
Rating: N/A
Heaven Hill is the bourbon company that I had never heard of… except that they own all sorts of alcohols, including Evan Williams! But more about that on day three. They run the Bourbon Heritage Center, and we stopped by but didn’t take the tour. There’s honestly so much history included in the exhibits outside of the tour that I didn’t feel like we needed to spend the time, although I would’ve been interested to see what they show in the Evan Williams Theater. One thing that we did do was taste about fifteen different sauces, marinades, jams, and butters that are made with Heaven Hill products. So no whiskey tasting, but it sufficed.
Jim Beam
Location: Clermont, Kentucky
Tour Cost: $10 per person
Rating: ★★★★★
Oh Jim Beam. It’s the largest bourbon distributor in the world, and you can definitely tell by how awesome their American Stillhouse distillery is. Because they have the money to, Jim Beam’s tour included a small scale distillery operation and a large scale one, which gives you a good idea of how bourbon is made on both levels. They also tricked us into doing some manual labor for them, such as hammering bungs into bungholes and de-bunging (?) barrels that were all ready to go. One of the coolest things was probably getting the chance to sanitize a bottle (with whiskey, of course) and then watch it go down the assembly line. You can even purchase the bottle that you helped fill if you so choose.
Jim Beam’s tasting experience was certainly the most impressive. We each got to sample two of their many bourbons, but instead of having the tour guide pour or sitting down at a tray of samples, you get a little key card that you insert into the dispenser that corresponds to whichever bourbon you’d like to sample. It’s a pretty awesome automated system, and Jim Beam doesn’t have to worry about heavy-handed tour guides!
If it hadn’t been the very end of the day, I would have made us stop by Fred’s Smokehouse because they have a bourbon ball ice cream that sounds divine. Instead, you should show up a little early and get it beforehand. You can thank me later.
Day Three — Louisville, KY
Bulleit
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Tour Cost: $10 per person
Rating: N/A
Bulleit is the one distillery that I wish we would’ve toured. I’m not entirely sure why, but I fell in love with the whole area. The gift shop, rickhouses, and old cooperage building have been so well-maintained, and they just ooze history (and probably bourbon in a few places). Now I’ll be honest and say that I don’t know a ton about the actual history of the distillery except that it is very old, was abandoned for a while, and is now back in use as the home of Bulleit bourbon. Give this one a whirl and let me know what you think!
Evan Williams
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Tour Cost: $12 per person
Rating: ★★★★☆
The Evan Williams Experience is just that—an experience! It’s unlike any of the other tours, which is why you should do it during your second or third day. Basically by the end of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail you’ll know everything that you ever wanted to about bourbon and also a lot of things that you never cared to learn. Bourbon is bourbon is bourbon, so having a stop on the trail that doesn’t focus so heavily on how the bourbon is made was actually a blessing.
Our tour guide said she’d read a review that called the Evan Williams Experience the “Disneyland of bourbon,” and I couldn’t agree more. Instead of discussing a specific bourbon and the history behind it, this tour is almost like a ride all about the history of Evan Williams, the first commercial bourbon distiller in America and the namesake behind Heaven Hill’s arguably most recognized brand. There are elaborate sets and professionally filmed video segments, which just scream Disney. The tour also touches on the history of bourbon in Louisville, taking you from Prohibition through to the present day.
I was a big fan of this tasting because we got to do it in a speakeasy setting complete with tasting service trays hidden within the tabletop. We got three samples of Evan Williams bourbons, and the tasting was done along with another video that told a little more history and explained specifics about the bourbon.
So there you have it—the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in only three days! We didn’t do all of the tours, but we did visit all of the distilleries, and the people working are typically happy to stamp your passport whether you decide to do the full tour or not. Don’t forget to have your passport stamped at each location because the free shirt is super comfy, and you get prime bragging rights for wearing it.
The entire thing was a great experience, and it gave us something fun and unique to do that was honestly pretty budget friendly. Kentucky is a beautiful state, and the trail winds through some of its prettiest countryside, so I would highly recommend it for anyone going through the area. I’m even planning to put together a “Best Of” post about the bourbon trail, and then you could even decide to stop at one or two on your way through Kentucky. I’ve never been much of a bourbon drinker, but the trail helped me learn what I like and what I don’t, and for that I’m grateful!
Have you ever been to a bourbon distillery? Are you thinking about taking on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail? Leave all of your questions for me in the comments!
