Kentucky Lexington & Bourbon Trail

Going week after Derby to hopefully avoid craziness but not much on here about any must do or must avoid things. Any input would be much appreciated, and we will be going mid-week avoiding weekends to hopefully mitigate crowds.

thanks,
Wayne

I went maybe 6-7 years ago. Really liked Lexington and Keeneland and would go back to the latter in a heartbeat to watch the horses race. Next to wine and the occasional IPA, bourbon and rye would be on my Mt. Rushmore of beverages. That said, and not to be a buzzkill, but I will never do the bourbon trail again. Thought it was completely forgettable and largely a waste of a day. For example we visited Buffalo Trace which makes Blanton’s in addition to a bunch of other good stuff. It was kind of cool seeing the Blanton’s on the assembly line I guess, but we also sat through a really long and boring historical video and did some other tour stuff before we ever got to sample anything. And the sampling is where these places really fell short in my view. Now it’s high octane stuff so it’s not like tasting at wineries where you can drink quite a bit if you want and still be standing. So quantities should be small but my recollection was you’d spend 30-60 minutes at these places and go home with like a 1 ounce taste of something at the end. Maybe we did it wrong but wasn’t worth it to me. So would definitely go back to Kentucky any time but not to the distilleries ever again.

Ian thanks for input I was wondering about tasting and how the distilleries would handle it. I have no intention of doing the whole trail, But glad to hear area is worth a visit.

I thought the Bourbon Trail was interesting enough. Was a few years ago so don’t remember all the places we went, I think just 3 or 4 of them and you get enough to be happy. Wild Turkey was neat since you could walk through (may have been a guided tour) some of the old buildings with barrels which is quite a sight and aroma. You get to taste some things that you might not see (I was living in Japan at the time, no idea how available some things are in the US). I don’t really drink much bourbon but was still kinda neat.

Not sure I’d do it again but seeing it once was fun.

Have done the entire tour. From Lexington the following distilleries are close:
Woodford Reserve, wild Turkey, and Four Roses. WR sits ight in the middle of thoroughbred farms and is beautiful! Each of those distilleries do things slightly differently so they’ll give you an excellent overview.

Going at bit farther away Makers Mark is very picturesque with a great tour. I do agree that the Buffalo Trace, in Frankfort, KY, experience was a bit disappointing, regardless of the great bourbons they make. Bardstown has Jim Beam and Heaven Hills distilleries with long lists of bourbons made. Be sure to visit” My Old Kentucky Home “, from Stephen Foster fame, while in Bardstown. Don’t know that I would fight the traffic to go to the ones in Louisville, unless you were going there anyway.

Some of the distilleries let you taste as many as three bourbons during your tour, some only one. Since so many of the bourbons are highly allocated today, don’t be surprised that many of the higher acclaimed bourbons are not available for sale at the distillery. Buffalo Trace is probably most notorious for having the poorest selection of on premise bourbon for sale.