When you think of Kentucky, many things come to mind. Louisville Slugger Baseball Bats, Horse racing, Kentucky Fried Chicken. But the most popular association recently is bourbon. The Bourbon Trail is around Louisville and Lexington and it's host to numerous distilleries that you can't fully appreciate and conquer in one day so definitely plan on a couple days to complete it. In the accompanying album to this blog I have pictures from Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Heaven Hill, Woodford Reserve and Buffalo Trace distilleries. The trail can essentially be split in half. For the first half, which includes Jim Beam, Heaven Hill and Makers Mark, start at Jim Beam where you can watch a short video about the history of the distillery and then take a tour of the grounds, including one of the barrel warehouses.
From there, you'll want to head about 15-20 minutes towards the Heaven Hill Distillery and Heritage Center. The Heritage Center has a great visitor center however there is no tour. It's worth stopping to checkout, but you won't spend very much time there. Last but certainly not least is the Maker's Mark Distillery. It's about 40 minutes south of Heaven Hill and worth every minute it takes to get there. Out of all the distilleries I've been to, I think this one is the best. As you tour the grounds, they take you everywhere! You get to check out numerous buildings and get to see the entire process of fermenting, bottling and packaging. They still hand dip every bottle! Once you get to the end of the tour there is a Dale Chihuly installation in the ceiling, and you can dip your own bottle in their signature red wax in the gift shop. Maker's Mark is by far the most extensive distillery tour I have yet to experience.
The second half of the trail includes Woodford Reserve, Four Roses and Buffalo Trace distilleries. Start at Buffalo Trace which is about 1 hour from Louisville or 40 minutes from Lexington, which may have the most "attractions" to take in. In addition to a tour and short video there are also a couple more period piece buildings you can explore.
Next is the Woodford Reserve distillery. The buildings are very classic and the distillery process they show you is different that what you see at other distilleries which is a interesting to see.
Lastly is the Four Roses Distillery. I unfortunately haven't been there yet but I'll post an update once I do!
On all of these distillery tours, the grounds and gift shops are all accessible, and some of the additional buildings on each tour are also accessible, but I recommend checking with the distillery in advance to confirm how much you'll be able to see, as they all seem to be or have been doing renovations. Most of the tours have stairs at a certain point as well.
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