The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is a collection of bourbon whiskey distilleries located in Kentucky. This hotel gets excellent reviews on Booking.com. Luckily, there's lots to do (and eat) in Kentucky while traveling from distillery to distillery (or rather, from sample of bourbon to sample of bourbon). One of these is the very famous Buffalo Trace (skip ahead to Buffalo Trace). All rights reserved. Local Chef Ouita Michel is at the forefront of Bourbon Trail gourmet dining, with top-notch restaurants in Midway, Versailles, and Lexington. We chose the self-driving option. They're really knowledgeable about the science of bourbon and booze, and the tour is fantastic. Id rather not print the article because of all of the adds. Very interested in a 3 day trip. Visiting the winding trail of bourbon distilleries here (now officially called the Kentucky Bourbon Trail) has become a main draw to the area, and a whole tourism industry itself. During the mid-20th century, Four Roses was the top selling bourbon in Japan but it could not be purchased in the US, even though it was being produced in Kentucky. If you want to stay in a historical, luxurious hotel in Louisville, your hotel search can end right here. Take a specialized tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Bring your military ID, if you have one. As you tour more distilleries, you can pick out the differences between the bourbons. Take a quick break from bourbon tasting and take your pick from these two amazing museums. Take the first tour of the day to give yourself enough time to get to Green River. The KY Bourbon Trail Here are some more resources to aide you in making your way to the places that make Kentucky's world-renowned bourbon. If you have any questions about this Kentucky Bourbon Trail itinerary, let us know in the comment section below. They were one of only three bourbon distilleries that were allowed to operate during Prohibition, producing medicinal bourbon. In addition, for a fee we can also make the maps in specialized file formats. The red markers are the seventeen distilleries on the trail. There are five rules that distinguish bourbon from all other whiskeys. 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. Wilderness Trail sits a bit farther away, in Danville. Printing a map gives you an image that can be used to guide your instructions. For more suggestions on how to plan your time, dont miss our Kentucky Bourbon Trail itinerary planner. The tour guides are very knowledgable and encourage questions. The brisket is renowned, especially with their Texas hot sauce. Why not? Children are allowed on the tours and generally pay a reduced tour fee or can tour for free, depending on the distillery. Save to your device to access at a later date. Many people state that the Buffalo Trace tour is their favorite in Kentucky. Download the TN Whiskey Trail brochure in PDF format. The memorial is free to visit. For more information on these tours and experience, read our article about the distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. For more information on these tours and experience, read our article, More Information for Your Trip to Kentucky. Created by Roadtrippers - March 22nd 2016. It gets to be repetitive. For more distillery rules and Kentucky Liquor laws, check out Kentucky Liquor Laws and The Bourbon Trail. This is a great bit of Texas BBQ in the heart of Kentucky. Green River is the outlier, located almost two hours west of Louisville, in a small town named Owensboro. These distilleries are located within 110 miles of Louisville, mostly clustered between Louisville and Lexington. Hotel Tango Distillery. Bourbon Country Map Use this interactive map of Kentucky to plan your visit by finding nearby attractions, hotels, shopping, and restaurants. Partners & Sponsors A combination of ideal weather, limestone water sources, and a long history of the craft make Central Kentucky the bourbon capital of the world. The tour takes you through the entire distilling process from start to finish, so you'll get to see the still, the warehouse, and the bottling process. If you pay extra, we can also produce these maps in specialist file formats. Make sure to stop for a drink at the Bluegrass Tavern, a Lexington classic that boasts the largest bourbon collection in the state. Prior to touring the Bourbon Trail, Tim and I were not whiskey drinkers. Makers Mark is a must-visit on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. The top things to do on an Extraterrestrial Highway road trip, The top things to do on a Blue Ridge Parkway road trip, The top things to do on an I-40 road trip, The Great Northern is a 3,600 mile, cross-country odyssey, A road trip along New York state's Women's Heritage Trail, 9 stops on a Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail road trip, A cross-country road trip to U.S. presidential libraries, A road trip to filming locations featured in 'The Goonies', Pay Tribute and Reflect at These US Monuments and Memorials. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail website includes a map of all area distilleries, general exploring tips, and a calendar of upcoming distillery events. To tour the Kentucky Bourbon Trail you have two options: self-drive the bourbon trail or join a tour group. LOUISVILLE: Plan your visit to Louisville with our articles about the Best Things to Do in Louisville and Best Places to Eat in Louisville. How to Experience the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Day 2: Louisville to Lexington: Clermont, Shelbyville, and Loretto, Day 3: Lexington, Frankfort, Versailles, and Lawrenceburg. Many offer tours and a few are very near to the popular distilleries! This was our all-around best tour experience. Our website uses cookies. If you have an interest in Abraham Lincoln or American history, this is a worthwhile visit. It smells so good in here!! I give links to each distillery in these daily itineraries. A stay at the boutique 21C Hotel makes a great homebase in Lexington; this artsy, modern hotel is located right downtown, and the lobby also functions as a contemporary art gallery. This distillery is located in Shively, very close to downtown Louisville. Distilling Company Tennessee | DISCUS, Hand Sanitizer 802 Royal Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38107 Beechtree Distillery You can elect to skip the tour and just do a tasting instead. Kentucky Bourbon Trail: The Ultimate Guide, Best Distilleries to Visit on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, 12 Best Things to do in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville Restaurants: Best Eats in Town. For more suggestions on how to plan your time, dont miss our Kentucky Bourbon Trail. On the other hand, you may want to sit back, enjoy the ride, and join a tour. Lunch: Doc Crows Southern Smokehouse and Raw Bar or Troll Pub under the Bridge. Browse by category to find what you're looking for, or select icons displayed on the map for detailed information. How to Use This Map: Click the icons on the map to get more information about each point of interest. Green River sits out in Owensboro, almost a two-hour drive from Louisville. Renting a car was cheap, driving between the distilleries was easy (and gorgeous), and we could make our own schedule. Map | Kentucky Bourbon Trail The samples were pretty small, but it's straight bourbon, so you're probably gonna feel pretty good afterward. If you collect stamps from each distillery you can redeem your passport for a Kentucky Bourbon Trail tasting glass. The tour gives a fabulous insight to the making of bourbon, the property is gorgeous, the history behind Makers Mark is intriguing, and the bourbon is delicious. Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays are the days that distilleries are most likely to close their doors to tour groups, but this varies from distillery to distillery. First, decide on the size of your printout. Walk across the street to Proof on Main. This hotels onsite restaurant, Proof on Main, is one of Louisvilles best restaurants and bars. They also offer seasonal classes and tours, so make sure you check their website to see what they are offering during your visit. Learn how to create your own. Dive deeper into the history behind bourbon distilling. Consider Lexington and Louisville as practical bases for your trip: most distilleries are within these cities, or in the small towns orbiting them, and both cities have vibrant downtowns full of hotels, restaurants, and notable sights. Tarpon Springs Distillery. Unfortunately, we do not have a PDF of this article. Explore the Kentucky Bourbon Trail experiences and find what youre looking for in our map below. Andrew Jackson, Henry Harrison, and King Louis Phillippe have all stayed here. The red markers are the seventeen distilleries on the trail. The 6 Best Distilleries to Visit in Lexington, Kentucky, Your Trip to Lexington: The Complete Guide, The Top 13 Things to Do in Lexington, Kentucky, The Best Day Trips From Lexington, Kentucky, The Spirits Industry Is Broken, But a Sustainable Revolution Is Coming, 12 Best Things to Do for Free in Louisville, Kentucky, The 11 Best Things to Do in Galena, Illinois, The Kentucky Horse Park: A Complete Guide. Sleep in Louisville. If you want a hotel with an awesome location and one that gets great reviews, the Homewood Suites is one to consider. We visited both but prefer the American Stillhouse. This is more than just a hotel, it is also an art museum. Once you get to Shepherdsville, visit the Jim Beam Distillery. These include Willett, Pogue, Boone County, Neeley Family Distillery, Kentucky Peerless, Kentucky Artisan and many others. This is a beautiful distillery. It's a National Historic Landmark, but it's also gorgeously maintained, and set in a dreamlike corner of the Bourbon Trail. Starting off in Louisville, visit the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. If you are really short on time, you can simply visit the gift shop, get your passport stamped, and do a little shopping. Definitely book tours at your must-see distilleries in advance, regardless of the time of year, and if you plan to do a special tour, such as a cocktail class or behind the scenes tour. Learn how to plan your bourbon tasting itinerary, when to go, where to stay, and even ideas for things to do off of the bourbon trail. A map that folds up for instance, is approximately the same size as an ordinary poster. All three of these cities have great hotel and restaurant options with easy access to the Bourbon Trail. Visit Your Favorite Distillery. For more information, visit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail website. A memorial now stands at his birthplace. On day two, visit the distilleries located south of Louisville: Makers Mark, Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Bardstown Bourbon, and Lux Row. This grain mixture is referred to as the mash bill. Plus, there is a high concentration of distilleries located right in town, not to mention lots of great restaurants and hotels to choose from. 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. The barrel making process is a key element in bourbon distilling, and this is the best place to learn all about it, since many distilleries get their barrels here. Most distilleries offer free or discounted tours for military personnel. For weekends, I would recommend scheduling your tours in advance, any time of the year. Most distilleries give you a few, tiny sips of several of their bourbons, just enough to get a good taste, and not so much that you will walk around schnockered for the rest of the day. It is not the actual log cabin of Abraham Lincolns birthplace. The Major Kentucky Distilleries and the Bourbon Brands They Produce, Mapped. Foaling begins in late January and will continue through May, so visit in the spring if you want to meet the youngest future racehorses! Its centrally located, so you can walk to many of the sights and distilleries on Whiskey Row. My husband has been thinking about taking me to one for out anniversary. Your email address will not be published. ), in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited. Rather than paying the fee to join the Kentucky Distillers Association, they prefer to offer free tours and tastings to their visitors. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, a collection of eighteen bourbon distilleries, is drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. This budget hotel gets good reviews and is conveniently located in Bardstown. Some printers from the past might require you to connect to your computer before printing. This cocktail class is only offered once a day, so if you like this idea, plan your other distillery visits around this class. Cheers, Julie. There are many advantages to printing a map. They give a really thorough background on the drink and Louisville's history with it . Louisville, Bardstown, and Lexington make a great home base for this day (and day number 7 below). Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour Fantastic article! Nothing can be added to the whiskey other than water. These newer operations often restore the beautiful, historical properties of Kentuckys original stillscenturies-old distilleries that either never reopened after prohibition or closed for other reasons. It's no secret that all American states can legally produce bourbon, but Kentucky is the spirit's undisputed . Jack Frys and the Brown Hotel Lobby Bar are also great options. It takes five days to complete this tour. Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. We took the Shaken & Stirred class at Bardstown Bourbon and it was our favorite experience on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Several distilleries now offer cocktail or mixology classes. Take the history and the gorgeous natural settings, and add delicious, often entertaining whiskey tours and tastings, and you'll see why traveling along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail is such a special experience. Louisville is the most logical choice, with its relatively central location, abundance of hotels and restaurants, and easy access to the airport. Ride sharing services are abundant in the area, and there are many guided tour options as well. After reading your article, I am sold and will make the arrangements soon. Tim and I stayed here on our most recent visit to Louisville and we had a very nice experience here. Be prepared for an experience for all five senses. Why not? With so many great distilleries spread across the rolling hills of Kentucky, planning a trip on the Bourbon Trail can feel a bit overwhelming. The grand finale of the tour isthe bourbon tasting. At Lux Row, the first few rows of the rickhouse are removed, forming a small lobby. Standing here, you get to appreciate just how many barrels sit on the shelves of a rickhouse. On this tour, you visit micro-distilleries and this takes an additional week to visit all of these distilleries. See our privacy policy here. It can be chilly, but most of the time we were indoors, so weather wasnt much of a factor. You can also select Print from your web browsers menu (the web browser menu typically looks like 3 dots in either the horizontal or vertical position). Its hot, its crowded, and during the summer months, most distilleries take a break from distilling, anywhere from a week or two or longer. On our most recent tour in November 2019, we booked all of our tours in advance but only one of them was sold out (the Inside the Barrel Tour at Angels Envy). With the many distilleries within its city limits, Louisville is a good jumping-off point on the trail. After a hearty breakfast of biscuits, its time to hit the trail! ), in whole or in part, is strictly prohibited. These regions are broken out by geographic location. A beautiful time of year, however, is mid-September to late-October. It's worth it to buy a bottle here, because you get to dip the top in the iconic red wax yourself! Chuckanut Bay Distillery. This is a beautiful property with a lot of tour and tasting options. However, with various sizes for printing come a variety of new variables. It does require more ink than printing text. Learn more about the benefits of printing maps. All other times of year, making reservations is advised but might not be absolutely necessary. Four Roses distillery was built in 1910 and features Spanish Mission-Style architecture, a rarity in Kentucky. We have visited the Kentucky Bourbon Trail twice. Visit their website here. Their signature tour is a one-hour tour of the distillery. Below is a map of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Explore our guide to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail for suggested routes, cant-miss spots, and other tips for having the best experience in bourbon country. The tour includes a walk through their cooperage, where you get to see how the barrels are made. Click OK to confirm. Cheers, Julie. It is open daily except for major holidays. Jim Beam has two locations on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail: the American Stillhouse, which is located in Clermont, and the Urban Stillhouse, which is located in downtown Louisville. Summer and autumn are busy months to visit the Bourbon Trail, so I also recommend booking your tours in advance at these times, even on weekdays. Some of them are new kids on the block, and others have been around since bourbon's inception. It was delightfully quiet, with small tour groups. 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. Woodford Reserve has a historic, upscale feel to it. You will also notice that on some days I have included more than just distillery tours. It is said to be the oldest western stagecoach stop in America and legend has it that Jesse James left behind bullet holes in the tavern. Four Roses. There is also the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour. Whether you're a bourbon snob, or you just like drinking, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail is a must-visit. $20 is the average price for a tour. Our favorite experience on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail was the cocktail class at Bardstown Bourbon. On Google Chrome, go to Bookmarks -> Bookmark This Tab and then this post will be saved in your bookmarks. You take a tour, learn about the art and science behind the distilling of bourbon, and end with a tasting. If you have specific non-KBT distilleries in mind I recommend checking their websites for pricing information. PRO TRAVEL TIP: Most distilleries do not offer tours seven days a week. Use it to customize your trail experience. Did you know: If you use the Roadtrippers mobile app, your trips will instantly auto-sync over Ready for navigation and good times! 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. Best Distilleries to Visit on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Day 1 and 2 for sure then a day on the road. There are some other very cool things to do in this part of Kentucky and I didnt want to leave those out. Tour the distillery, see the hundreds of barrels inside of the rickhouses, and maybe meet legendary Jimmy Russell while you are here. UPSCALE: 21c Museum Hotel. Best Distilleries to Visit on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Kentucky Bourbon Trail Itinerary Suggestions for 1 Day to 1 Week, 12 Best Things to do in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville Restaurants: Best Eats in Town. During this one-hour class, we mixed two cocktails: the Kentucky Mule and the Sazerac. They must be designed to work with a standard printing press. Read on to learn how to use printable maps. The distilling of bourbon began in Kentucky in the 1700s in Bourbon County. Artsy, unique, contemporarythis is another top pick in Louisville. 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). MIDRANGE: Homewood Suites. Today, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail is a collection of 18 major bourbon whiskey distilleries (Heritage Distilleries) and 23 smaller and newer microdistilleries (Craft Distilleries) that will give you the ultimate experience of learning all about Kentucky bourbon: its history, technology, craftsmanship, and artistry. Morning: Makers Mark. Fortunately, the distilleries are getting more creative with their activities, and some are now offering cocktail classes, food pairings, and in-depth behind-the-scenes tours. Then head to The Woodford Reserve Distillery. Trust me!!! Also, remember that the quality of maps is unbeatable! Required fields are marked *. Getting to know more about liquor will probably help us know the right pairings to get when we eat at restaurants. This map was created by a user. Twenty minutes northwest of Woodford Reserve, youll find Buffalo Trace Distillery; 25 minutes southwest is Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, home to the Four Roses and Wild Turkey distilleries. In 2008, it was Historic Hotels of Americas top pick. 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. There is even an art museum located inside of the hotel. Are you? Note: This post contains affiliate links. To read about all eighteen distilleries, check out our post about the best distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. While you are in the area, consider a tour at Buffalo Trace, adding on a visit to Bulleit in Shelbyville, or lunch or dinner in Lexington. If you pay extra, we can also produce these maps in specialist file formats. Andrew Jackson and King Louis Phillippe both stayed here. And for full details on Bluebird Cafe, read our article How to Visit Bluebird Cafe. Cheers, Julie, Your email address will not be published. Its centrally located, so you can walk to many of the sights and distilleries on Whiskey Row. To view it on your phone or computer, open Google Maps, click the menu button, go to Your Places, click Maps, and you will see this map on your list. Please enjoy like a true Kentuckian Responsibly. Right down the road is the Four Roses Distillery.