Lexington or Louisville arent the only places to eat well in bourbon country. As you drive back to Louisville, you have the option to stop at the Lincoln Boyhood Home and National Museum and/or Santa Claus, Indiana. All distilleries are legally limited to how much bourbon you can drink while on a tour. Each of these bourbon distilleries must be a member of the Kentucky Distillers Association, which requires paying a fee. For more great things to do in Louisville, read our post 12 Best Things to do in Louisville. You will also notice that on some days I have included more than just distillery tours. Visit their website here. The bourbon and whiskey at Green River spend less time in the barrel than at most distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. From Bardstown it is a 45 minute drive. Morning: Makers Mark. Next up is the Buffalo Trace Distillery.
Kentucky Bourbon Trail: The Ultimate Guide - Earth Trekkers It has a relatively central location, so its easy to get to Bardstown, Lexington, and even Owensboro. TRAVEL INSPIRATION: Here are 30great travel booksand a list of the best travelmovies to feed your wanderlust. As for tours, it looks like distilleries are still offering tours and tastings, but I would get the full details for each distillery on their website (we have a link for each distillery in this post). Whether you're a bourbon snob, or you just like drinking, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail is a must-visit. It smells like you are at a bakery, only they are baking slightly sour bread. Then head to The Woodford Reserve Distillery.
Bourbon Trail Map - Etsy Copyright 2023 Kentucky Distillers Association. We chose the self-driving option. Learn how to create your own. BUDGET: Hampton Inn Bardstown. We both acquired a taste for bourbon on our long weekend in Kentucky. Required fields are marked *. For information on how to plan your visit, dont miss our Guide to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. I give links to each distillery in these daily itineraries. All of the distilleries are listed inside, with space for your own notes and a stamp from each distillery. So, its nice to break up distillery visits with other experiences. Over in Lebanon, hit up the Limestone Branch Distillery, which seeks to make everything as authentic as possible, and as a family-owned and operated craft distillery, their local heritage goes back a few generations. Required fields are marked *. Spread out over two separate trips, it took us seven days to visit seventeen distilleries (one more distillery has been added since our visit in November 2019), doing a combination of tours and tastings. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour is organized into four regionsplease toggle through the drop down menu for official groupings. The food is delicious!! It is a National Historic Landmark property and they offer several different tours depending on your level of interest. This ultra-modern distillery is located in Nulu (New Louisville). Jack Frys and the Brown Hotel Lobby Bar are also great options. The tour is very well done and you get to see a few things that many tours do not include.
Distillery Directory - Distillery Trail This is the biggest driving day on this Kentucky Bourbon Trail itinerary. 528 W Main St Louisville, Kentucky (502) 272-2623. It smells wonderful and it kind of made me hungry! You have the choice to head southeast out of Louisville to explore the Jim Beam facilities. You can also take a tour where you bottle the single barrel whiskey, but spaces are limited and the tour is expensive (but you do end up with a cool souvenir to take home!).
A 72-Hour Guide to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail - The Manual Sleep in Louisville. Old Forester Discovery Tour. Races do not run year-round. Founding Fathers Distillery. If you are short on time, or have no desire to visit all eighteen distilleries, here is a short list of the top experiences to have on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Are the distilleries open now? Visit the final two distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, plus one notable bourbon distillery that is not part of the official trail, Buffalo Trace. Again, thanks for the great article! A 24" x 18" layout will fold more efficiently than the 22" x 20" layout for example. Artsy, unique, contemporarythis is another top pick in Louisville. They like to talk about their mash bill and their yeast strains that they use. Angels Envy puts a twist on whiskey distilling. Visit the distillerys website for up-to-date pricing. There are eighteen distilleries on the official Kentucky Bourbon Trail. With more time, you can make the drive out to Owensboro and visit Green River Distilling Company or drive to Danville and visit Wilderness Trail. Enjoy like a true Kentuckian: Responsibly. If you like the idea of getting out of Louisville for the day, I recommend day #1 plus day #4 (the Best of Bardstown) or day #5 (Makers Mark and the Kentucky Cooperage). Generally, the default size of the map can be 8.5 By 11 inches. Their first bottled bourbon dates back to 1870. Click the star next to the title of the map to add this map to your Google Maps account. We are wine drinkers.
If this is part of a bigger road trip through the USA, visit our United States Travel Guide for more inspiration and travel planning tips. Please enjoy like a true Kentuckian Responsibly. Plus, if you save your ticket from the distillery tour, you can tour their warehouse operation, located in Cox's Creek, for free! We have been twice, the same weekend both times (the weekend before Thanksgiving). On day two, visit the distilleries located south of Louisville: Makers Mark, Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Bardstown Bourbon, and Lux Row. They offer a comprehensive tour of their facility, including a look into how their bourbon is bottled.
Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour Renting a car was cheap, driving between the distilleries was easy (and gorgeous), and we could make our own schedule. If you are a bourbon drinker and have a favorite distillery thats on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, make sure you include it on your tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. All content and photography shall not be reproduced without written permission from the Kentucky Distillers Association. Since it's the largest maker of Kentucky bourbon, you'll get a different view: that of a larger-scale operation. It has received accolades from Conde Nast Traveler, Southern Living, and Travel & Leisure. Bourbon is distilled year-round, with the exception of a few weeks during the summer, when some distilleries shut down for routine cleaning and maintenance. It has received accolades from Conde Nast Traveler, Southern Living, and Travel & Leisure. Kentucky Bourbon Trail in 1 Day: Follow day #1, where you get a great overview of the distilling process and get to visit three distilleries in Louisville. Located in Lexington, this bourbon distillery also produces beer. Today, bourbons popularity is at an all-time high, and in the past 20 years or so, many new distilleries have popped up among old favorites. MIDRANGE: Staybridge Suites Lexington. The tour includes a walk through their cooperage, where you get to see how the barrels are made.
Kentucky Bourbon is perfectly aged. Woodford Reserve has a historic, upscale feel to it. If you are really short on time, you can simply visit the gift shop, get your passport stamped, and do a little shopping. Your email address will not be published. Kentucky Bourbon Trail in 6 Days: Follow our itinerary for 5 days and add on day #7 (Bulleit, Buffalo Trace, and Lexington Brewing Company). For more suggestions on how to plan your time, dont miss our Kentucky Bourbon Trail itinerary planner. Yes! You can search by name, state, spirit, amenity or simply click on the map to discover distilleries you never knew existed! A Few Facts about the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. In no particular order, the three distilleries to visit in Bardstown are Lux Row, Bardstown Bourbon, and Heaven Hill. Kentucky Bourbon Trail in 2 Days: Follow days #1 and #2. This is a great resource for getting an in-depth history of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail as well as additional information to help plan your trip. All rights reserved. These distilleries are located within 110 miles of Louisville, mostly clustered between Louisville and Lexington. Local Chef Ouita Michel is at the forefront of Bourbon Trail gourmet dining, with top-notch restaurants in Midway, Versailles, and Lexington. But they see map making as a necessary problem, one which requires a significant amount of time and money. The grand finale of the tour isthe bourbon tasting. One of our favorite parts of the tour was a visit to the rickhouse.
Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Bourbon Trail and Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour are trademarks of the Kentucky Distillers Association. Get suggestions on how to plan your trip, whether you just have a few days, a long weekend, or an entire week. You also get to see the bottling line in action. If you need a break from bourbon, a fine margarita at Corto Lima, or craft cocktail at West Main Crafting Co., will do the trick. However, there are few places to visit out this way, if you are interested. If you want to tour all eighteen distilleries, you need a minimum of seven days. Pick your favorites and group them together to form your itinerary, whether you have 2, 3, or more days. Mint Julep is the most popular tour company in Kentucky that offers tours to the distilleries. But many distilleries offer special tours. The Angels Envy tour features a tasting of their Rye whiskey straight from the barrel. The historic grounds are beautiful to visit, the history behind Makers Mark is intriguing, and at the end of the tour you get to hand dip a bottle in red wax. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations? It is a very fun thing to do and it was one of our highlights on our first trip to Kentucky. More Information for Your Trip to Louisville. Thanks! Coalition Whiskey. Its located right around the corner from 21c Museum Hotel, so you can walk to many sights in downtown Louisville. If you are only planning a quick visit to Kentucky (3 to 4 days tops), I recommend choosing one place and making this your home base. Tim and I stayed here on our first visit to Louisville in 2016. Built in 2017 and open to visitors in 2019, this brand-new distillery features modern, state-of-the-art technology. This distillery is so new that their bourbon is still aging, although they do have other liquor you can sample when you visit, like rum aged in old bourbon bottles and unfiltered vodka. My husband has been thinking about taking me to one for out anniversary. My father, who is a Bourbon man, will be celebrating his birthday next month and I thought of taking him on a Bourbon tour. Cheers, Julie, Your email address will not be published. We have links to each distillery in our Best Distilleries post. This takes the headache out of planning a day of distillery tours, perfect for some people. If you collect stamps from each distillery you can redeem your passport for a Kentucky Bourbon Trail tasting glass. Did you know: If you use the Roadtrippers mobile app, your trips will instantly auto-sync over Ready for navigation and good times! Lunch: Walk, drive or Uber to the Mussel & Burger Bar, another one of our favorite restaurants in Louisville. Grab a bottle or some bourbon balls in the gift shop afterwards! Kentucky Cooperage. At the end of this article, we list specific hotel and B&B recommendations for Louisville, Bardstown, and Lexington.