7 years prior to this trip I signed my husband up for the Maker's Mark Ambassador Program. His name was put on a barrel of bourbon and in about 7ish years when it's ready, he received an invitation to come to the distillery for a tour and to purchase bottles of bourbon from his barrel. At the end of the tour you get to dip bottles in wax and they will print you a personalized label for the bottles with your name on it. It was such a fun experience, so much fun that I then signed myself up so we can do this all over again in another 7 years!
We did 10 distilleries in 3 days!
Here are a few videos from our trip:
We stayed at Bourbon Barrel Retreats and these were AMAZING! We really enjoyed our time here, watching nature through our bedroom window and having a personal hot tub. There were hammocks and fire pits in the center for all guests to share. This was such a fun and unique experience! 1st distillery stop was
Buffalo Trace. We really love this distillery! If you want to purchase a bottle of whatever special bourbon they put out for the day you have to get there super early - a line forms before opening for a chance to purchase. They keep it a secret what they're putting out but you can check past days online and supposedly they do not put out the same one two days in a row. We did a tour and tasting and walked around the gift shop.
2nd distillery was
Woodford Reserve this was a really pretty distillery and my husband's favorite. He really loved the layout and the tall copper stills. I noticed you could purchase one of their used barrels for $200 and have it shipped to your house. Most of the other distillery's do not allow this so I took note of that sign.
3rd distillery was
Castle & Key - Taylor left Buffalo Trace and built this castle to make his own bourbon. Once the Old Taylor Distillery is now known as Castle & Key. We arrived too late for a tour but a guide heard us asking about one and offered a private tour before she left work for the day. It was such an intimate tour and so sweet of her to offer!
4th distillery was
Glenns Creek we did a quick tasting here and then headed to dinner.
We ate dinner at
The Stave. It was so cute inside and the food was delicious!
5th distillery was
Jim Beam. This was my favorite distillery. I loved how clean and modern everything looked. The grounds were beautiful with lots of signs to learn about the history of the distillery. At the end we got to watch the entire process of bottling bourbon and they had an engraving machine to engrave the glass on a bottle instead of just a personalized label. We did a tasting here as well and I think this was my favorite bourbon as well.
While there we ate at
The Kitchen Table. Everything was so good and we had the best mint julep. We ended up making
mint juleps at home during the Kentucky Derby.
6th distillery was
Old Forester. It's small on a busy street. We didn't do a tour or tasting here but just looked around.
7th distillery was
Angel's Envy. We did a tour and tasting here. This was the only tour that allowed us to taste the mash, it tasted like bananas to me.
We ate dinner at
Talbott Tavern Restaurant & Inn. This place was so cool with so many stories! We toured a room where Jesse Jackson shot up a wall, the bullet holes and gun are still there! Lincoln stayed here and it's supposedly haunted. One of the dishes TJ got was Kentucky Burgoo - the waitress said it was a popular traditional stew for that area. I didn't care for it but TJ loved it, we ended up looking up a recipe and making it at home. See the recipe
here8th distillery was
Willet. We did a tasting here and looked around the shop. I love the shape of this bottle the most.
9th distillery was
Heaven Hill. We did not do a tour or tasting here but this place was huge with lots to see and a decent size gift shop.
10th distillery was
Maker's Mark. The whole reason for the trip! This distillery was HUGE and gorgeous! They had a bar on site where you could order drinks while you waited for the tour. We had a lot of fun and dipping the bottles at the end was the best part!
After our tour, tasting and dipping we had lunch at the
Star Hill Farm - the KY soup beans were sooooo good I had to find a recipe to make them at home. Recipe
here
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