distillers tour 2023

Join The Revenant

Get up close and personal with our new fan community The Revenant. Let’s go!

The Distillers - 20th Anniversary Edition

Man vs. magnet / blood in gutters, sing sing death house, the distillers, shop the revenant collection.

Make hearts beat faster with these limited edition throwback and reissued items exclusively for The Revenant Members.

• Remember Me
• Not a member? Register
• Forgot Password?

Change Password

• I agree to receive updates and marketing via email.
• By accepting this agreement, I acknowledge that I have read, understand and agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and understand that all membership sales are final.
• Already a member? Login
• Exclusive Merch
• Official Merch
• The Revenant

• Twitter / X
• Readers' Choice
• Food & Drink
• Arts & Culture
• Travel Guides

USA TODAY 10Best

Explore the top 10 craft distillery tours in the US

Best Craft Distillery Tour (2023) May 26, 2023

The only thing better than sipping your favorite craft whiskey or rum is getting a behind-the-scenes look at where it's made. We asked a panel of travel experts and American spirits experts to nominate their top craft distillery tours in the country, then readers voted for their favorites. Here are the 10 best craft distillery tours of 2023.

No. 10: DEKI Distillery - Old Town Lafayette, Colorado

Colorado-based DEKI is a family-operated distillery making small-batch premium spirits and handcrafted liqueurs. They offer good value tours of the distillery at their Old Town Lafayette location on Saturdays that take an hour and are limited to just eight people. You'll get to see the distillery, learn about the crafting process, and then get a taster of five spirits and three liqueurs after the tour.

No. 9: Treaty Oak Distilling - Dripping Springs, Texas

Treaty Oak Distilling is set on a 28-acre ranch in the Hill Country community of Dripping Springs, Texas. Weekend tours here start off with a complimentary cocktail and then take guests through the process of mashing, fermenting and distilling as they guide you through the ranch. You'll finish with a sampling of both the Treaty Oak Ghost Hill Straight Bourbon Whiskey and the barrel-aged Waterloo Antique Gin, plus receive a $5 gift certificate for a bottle of your choice. 

No. 8: Wigle Whiskey Distillery - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh's Wigle Whiskey has been the most awarded craft distillery by the American Craft Spirits Association for the past decade. Tours here will show you just how their award-winning ryes and bourbons are made from start to finish, and at the same time give you a thorough education into the fascinating history of Pittsburgh's Whiskey Rebellion – followed by a seated tasting of straight spirits.

No. 7: Nelson's Green Brier Distillery - Nashville, Tennessee

The Nelson Brothers triple-great grandfather was one of the most successful whiskey distillers in pre-Prohibition America, and they continue his traditions today at their Nashville distillery. You can learn about this family history on one of the distillery tours, then walk through the production floor to learn about the entire whiskey-making process. The tour finishes off with a premium tasting session of four seasonal offerings.

No. 6: High West Distillery - Wanship, Utah

High West operates the world's first and only ski-in gastro-distillery, just off Park Avenue in Park City. While the saloon is in Park City, the actual distilling takes place 20 miles away, at High West's distillery on the Old Lincoln Highway in Wanship. Here they run tours several times a week that focus on the whiskey production process. Although alcohol isn't included on the tours, you can still indulge in the onsite tasting room or pick up a bottle of their fantastic whiskeys in the General Store.

No. 5: Huber's Starlight Distillery - Starlight, Indiana

Huber's Orchard, Winery and Vineyards crafts fine artisanal brandies in addition to producing award-winning wines on their 65 acres of vineyards. They offer an array of different tours, the most exclusive of which is the Starlight Straight From The Barrel spirits tour. This 90-minute tour takes in the distillery workings, offers the opportunity to talk with the distiller and checks out two stillhouse barrels with a minimum of four tastings. Guests even receive a custom logo souvenir glass at the end.

No. 4: Burnt Church Distillery - Bluffton, South Carolina

Burnt Church crafts whiskeys that honor South Carolina's Lowcountry history, keeping the local culture alive. They feature a Discover Burnt Church tour that brings the Bluffton community alive. Tours here run for 90 minutes and cover everything from the distilling history of Bluffton through the daily workings of Burnt Church's current-day whiskey production. All tours end with a free flight of up to four of their spirits. While the tours themselves require a paid booking, Burnt Church donates a portion of proceeds to a local Bluffton charity. 

No. 3: Castle & Key Distillery - Frankfort, Kentucky

Castle & Keys' beautiful distillery is located in a grand old European-style building that has been restored to its 1887 grandeur and is on the National Register of Historic Places. You can come enjoy the 113 acres of gardens and forest, and Castle & Key offers a bevy of tours that walk the ruins, view the sunken gardens, take in the distillery experience and teach visitors about unique ways to enjoy their favorite spirits. Over the summer, Castle & Key hosts events featuring live music and food trucks out on their lawn. 

No. 2: Papa's Pilar Rum - Key West, Florida

Papa's Pilar, named after Hemingway's beloved boat, holds tours at its Hemingway Rum Co. Distillery, where you get to taste their award-winning Papa's Pilar rum and learn how they make it on a walk-through tour. You'll also get a treasure trove of information on "Papa" Hemingway himself, with stories of his adventures and details of some of his favorite local spots in Key West. At the end, guests receive a $5 gift certificate towards a bottle of any Papa's Pilar rum. 

No. 1: St. Augustine Distillery - St. Augustine, Florida

At the St. Augustine Distillery, you can take a free self-guided tour seven days a week, a real rarity in the distillery tour industry, and even learn how to make St. Augustine's four signature cocktails. For something more in depth, try the distillery's unique Fill Your Own Bottling Experience, where you'll fill, hand cork, seal and craft your own personalized bottle of cask strength bourbon. Another option is the Spirit of Florida Bourbon Experience, where a certified bourbon steward will fill you in on the history and production process of the distillery, assist you in a tasting of bourbons and leave you with a complimentary tasting glass to bring home.

About 10Best Readers' Choice Awards

Nominees are submitted by a panel of experts. 10Best editors narrow the field to select the final set of nominees for the Readers’ Choice Awards. Readers can vote once per category, per day. For any questions or comments, please read the FAQ or email USA TODAY 10Best .

The Experts

Amber gibson.

Amber Gibson spends  350 nights a year in hotels...   Read More

Amber Gibson spends  350 nights a year in hotels searching for the latest and greatest in the travel industry. Her writing and photographs have appeared in print, online, and on the radio for outlets including Forbes ,  National Geographic Traveler , Departures ,  Four Seasons Magazine , Conde Nast Traveller ,  NPR , Saveur , Departures , Rhapsody , Hemispheres, American Way, Private Air,  and Serious Eats . She graduated as valedictorian from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and received a fellowship to attend the 2017 Wine Writers Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley. Champagne, dark chocolate and gelato are her biggest weaknesses.

Amber Love Bond

Amber Love Bond is a Miami-based food + beverage...   Read More

Amber Love Bond is a Miami-based food + beverage and travel writer, who is always on the go and looking for her next adventure. After a decade-long career in corporate finance, she stumbled upon her passion for writing about the world around and hasn't looked back. Amber contributes to over a dozen print and digital publications including Travel & Leisure, Thrillist, Forbes, Eater, Southern Living, Miami New Times, HelloGiggles, Men’s Health, Fodor’s Travel Guide, and more. Typically you can find her at the opening of every restaurant, sipping cocktails at the coolest bars, or hanging out under a palm tree with her laptop (and a cocktail) in tow. Follow her adventures on Instagram at @amber__love.

Beth Reiber

Beth Reiber's career as a full-time freelance...   Read More

Beth Reiber's career as a full-time freelance travel writer has spanned more than three decades and taken her to more than 50 countries, including seven years living in Germany and Japan. She has written nine guidebooks, including Frommer's guides to Japan for more than 30 years. Although Japan is her specialty, the world and writing are her passions. When people invariably ask what her favorite destination is, she always says, "the place I haven't been to yet." She resides in laid-back Lawrence, Kansas, in an 1890 Victorian home with a cat and menopausal chickens.

Carrie Honaker

Carrie Honaker is a Florida-based food and travel...   Read More

Carrie Honaker is a Florida-based food and travel writer who is not sure where she will land next, but it will involve messy eating, a spicy Tempranillo, and finding the local farmers market. She has hauled oyster cages off the Forgotten Coast of Florida, harvested indigenous crops with the Abenaki Tribe in Vermont, learned to make beef patties from a Jamaican auntie, made Guavaberry Liqueur with a 7th generation distiller on St. Maarten, and stomped cacao pods in Grenada. She writes about food, drink, travel, and culture for  Bon Appetit, Conde Nast Traveler, Wine Enthusiast, Fodor’s Travel, Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine , and many more. You can find her on  Twitter  and  Instagram .

Catherine Smith

Catherine Smith, Readers' Choice Awards...   Read More

Catherine Smith, Readers' Choice Awards Production Manager and Social Media Director for USA TODAY 10Best, has a special interest in unique culinary experiences and  off-the-beaten-path adventures. Catherine is the founder of  Her Bags Were Packed  where she focuses on helping  women release emotional baggage through solo travel and self-discovery.

10Best Editors

USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original,...   Read More

USA TODAY 10Best provides users with original, unbiased and experiential travel coverage of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world.

Best Hot Springs

Best Yoga Retreat Center

Best Wellness Retreat Center

Best Meditation Center

Best Spa Resort

Browse the best.

Best Beer City (2024)

Best Beer Garden (2024)

Best Beer Festival (2024)

Best Small Town Beer Scene (2024)

Best Beer Club (2024)

Back to readers' choice.

• Ankündigungen
• 10 Records We Would Die For
• Best-Of 2023
• Blast From The Past
• Happy Release Day!
• Hardcore History
• Konzertberichte
• Mein Label!
• Neue Hardcore-Bands
• Support Your Locals
• The Sound of AWAY FROM LIFE!

WALLS OF JERICHO spielt im August 2024 Europa-Tour

IGNITE ab Ende Juli 2024 auf Tour

D.R.I. im Somer 2024 auf Euro-Tour

Save The Core 2024: Neues Open-Air mit finalem Line-Up

Interview mit Kloppi von Kloppstock Records

THE SKINFLICKS im Interview

SHORELINE im Interview zum neuen Album „To Figure Out“

DIE ERWINS im Interview: Wir sind weiterhin „Endlich Punkrock“

Interview mit FINN FAUST

Rawside – Menschenfresser ::: Review (2024)

Akne Kid Joe – 4 von 5 ::: Review (2024)

Supermodel Taxidermy – At What Cost ::: Review (2024)

SYL – afmagt ::: Review (2024)

The Turbo A.C.’s – Automatic ::: Review (2004/2024)

The distillers sagen tour ersatzlos ab.

„Aufgrund unvorhergesehener Umstände kann die Tour nicht durchgeführt werden. Rückerstattungen sind am Verkaufsort erhältlich.“

Update 05. Mai 2023: Tour ersatzlos gestrichen

Die mehrfach geplante Europa-Tour wurde nun leider abgesagt. Es wird also auch keine Ersatztermine geben. Hier das Statement der Band zur Tourabsage:

Update 08- Mai: Hier das Statement von Brody Dalle zur Absage:

Hi Loves, I am deeply sorry that the planned tour dates in June have to be cancelled. I understand this message will be upsetting and disappointing to many, and you are right to be upset, especially those who have been waiting a long time to see us and those who have made plans to travel. My personal circumstances have made it impossible for me to go on tour at this time and after the previous Covid related postponements it’s not feasible to move these shows again. I know we will tour Europe in the future , sooner than later, but right now I couldn’t give you what you deserve and you deserve the best from me. I hope you can forgive me. In the meantime, I made this little movie for you. More to come…. Much love, Brody x p.s – there’s a lot of utter fallacy and nonsense being spread about me and none of it is true. The truth always comes out in the end. The trolls live under the bridge for a reason and that’s where they’ll stay.

Nachdem die geplante Tour von The Distillers auch in diesem Jahr noch einmal verschoben worden ist, hat die Band nun die neuen Termine für 2023 bekanntgegeben.

The Distillers – Europa-Tour 2023

12 Jahre nach ihrer Auflösung, kündigte die Band überraschend ihr Comeback an, dem The Distillers einige Live-Auftritte in den USA folgen ließen. 2019 Jahr die Band eine Single, die den ersten Distillers-Song seit 15 Jahren enthielt.The Distillers gründeten sich 1998 und lösten sich 2006 auf, nachdem Andy Granelli (Schlagzeug) und Ryan Sinn (Bass) die Band verlassen hatten.

In den achten Jahren veröffentlichten The Distillers drei Alben und erlangte mit diesen weltweit Kultstatus. Brody und Gitarrist Tony Bevilacqua gründeten nach Auflösung die Band Spinnerette. Die Sängerin ist seitdem auch als Solo-Künstlerin aktiv und veröffentlichte mit  Diploid Love  im Jahr 2014 ihr letztes Solo-Album.

Mit dem Laden des Videos akzeptierst du die Datenschutzerklärung von YouTube. Mehr erfahren

Video laden

YouTube-Inhalte immer entsperren

– Playlist: Happy Release Day

Ähnliche beiträge mehr vom autor, beitrag kommentieren antwort abbrechen.

Speichern Sie meinen Namen, meine E-Mail-Adresse und meine Website für den nächsten Kommentar in diesem Browser.

Gerade angesagt

Festivalbericht: SBÄM Fest 2024 – Germany-Edition in Stuttgart

Bilder und Konzertbericht: Booze Cruise Festival 2024

• Our Attitude
• Datenschutz

• Most popular artists worldwide
• Trending artists worldwide

• Tourbox for artists

Search for events or artists

• Sign up Log in

• Get the app
• Moscow concerts
• Change location
• Popular Artists
• Live streams
• Popular artists

The Distillers tour dates 2024

The Distillers is currently touring across 1 country and has 1 upcoming concert.

The final concert of the tour will be at Las Vegas Festival Grounds in North Las Vegas.

Currently touring across

Upcoming concerts (1) See nearest concert

When We Were Young

Past concerts

Greenfield Festival

Download Festival

View all past concerts

Recent tour reviews

Amazing show as always. This band, for its entire tenure, has always put on amazing concerts. I highly recommend catching them at every available opportunity!!

I've seen them live several times over the last 15 years or so, and have never been disappointed - all the way from Colorado to Nevada and back again. Talented musicians and excellent performers all around.

Report as inappropriate

I've never seen The Distillers live...was a great high energy show. Vocals by Brody were solid the whole show through. They played all the songs that I was hoping to hear. Played almost 2 hours. Highly recommend going if you have the chance!

Show was great, place was packed for a Monday night. Only downside, pretty much every show I go to at Union Transfer, the vocals are too quiet and are barely intelligible over the music.

• Most popular charts
• Campaigns for promoters
• API information
• Brand guidelines
• Community guidelines
• Terms of use
• Privacy policy
• Cookies settings
• Cookies policy

Get your tour dates seen everywhere.

• But we really hope you love us.

Tours & Tastings

Experience the truest expression of Woodford Reserve at our historic distillery in Versailles, KY.

An Old Fashioned Experience with Dad

Celebrate Fathers' Day with a one-of-a-kind, hands-on mixology experience. This exclusive Mixology class demonstrates the crafting of two Ultra Premium Old Fashioned cocktails featuring our Master Distiller's Personal Selection she chose alongside her father and our newest Distillery Series Release - Toasted Bourbon. Guests will be guided through how to build their own Old Fashioned using recipes created around both of these bourbons by our team of certified mixologists. Experience includes your very own bottle of the Father's Day Personal Selection. What to expect: - 45 minute cocktail demonstration and tasting - Guests must be 21+ to participate - We do not offer a waitlist or cancellation list

Woodford Reserve's Path to Flavor Tour

Join us for a guided tour of our Distillery and historic location. Our most popular experience, you’ll explore all five sources of flavor from grain to glass. Finishing with a tasting of our award winning craft bourbons and whiskies you'll truly experience the Woodford Reserve difference. What to expect: - 70 minute tour and tasting, please dress for the weather as a portion is outdoors - Guests must be +21 to enter tasting portion of experience - Minors must have a ticket and be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times - We do not offer a waitlist or cancellation list

Spectacle for the Senses Tasting

Our most interactive tasting! Your experience begins with a walk through history before you enter the Dryer House where you will taste 5 award winning whiskies expertly paired with lite bites. Designed by our Master Distiller it is sure to be a true spectacle for your senses! What to expect: - 45 min guided tasting with food pairing - Must be +21 years of age - We do not offer a waitlist or cancellation list

VIP Master Distiller Tour Experience

For the ultimate Woodford Reserve fan! Join Master Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris and/or Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall on a two-hour behind-the-scenes tour of the Distillery, Lab, Warehouse, and ending a Family of Brands tasting. Each ticket includes a limited edition bottle. This experience is limited to 8 guests and is only offered as our distiller's schedules permit. No waitlist option available

Innovation Inspired Tour and Tasting

Woodford Reserve Distillery is the home of innovation, where we push the creative bounds of our award-winning bourbons and whiskies. This experience includes a full distillery tour highlighting our five sources of flavor and finishes with an elevated tasting of a few of our most highly sought after whiskies. Each guest will receive a souvenir glass and have the opportunity to purchase an allocated whiskey at the conclusion of the experience. What to Expect: - 70 minute tour and tasting, please dress for the weather as a portion is outdoors - Guests must be +21 to enter tasting portion of experience - Minors must have a ticket and be accompanied by a parent or guardian at all times - We do not offer a waitlist or cancellation list

Mixology Experience

Enjoy a journey through the rich history of some of our favorite classic cocktails. Hosted in our Tasting Bar at the Gristmill House, this exclusive, limited experience will allow guests to learn and make various classics like the Old Fashioned with our Woodford Reserve family of whiskies while learning the origins of the cocktails and how it is intrinsically tied to the Woodford Reserve Distillery. Guests will also receive a souvenir rocks glass, recipes for all of our signature Woodford Reserve cocktails and bourbon balls. What to Expect: - 45 minute seated experience - Must be +21 to participate - We do not offer a waitlist or cancellation list.

From the Reserve: A Curated Cocktail Experience

In our most exclusive cocktail experience, you will explore crafting luxury cocktails with rare whiskies from our curated archival collection. A detailed demonstration of our favorite classic cocktails with an innovative twist draws on inspiration from some of Woodford Reserve's most rare whiskies from years past. Guests will also receive a souvenir Double Old Fashioned tumbler. What to expect: - 45 minute cocktail demonstration and tasting - Guests must be 21+ to participate - We do not offer a waitlist or cancellation list

Section Container

* For ticket refunds, we ask for a 24 hour notice before experience start time. For groups of 10 or more we need 14 day notice before experience start time for a refund.

WHERE ARE YOU SHIPPING?

At this time we are only shipping spirits to Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Washington D.C.

The Distillers

All upcoming events.

Las Vegas Festival Grounds | Las Vegas, NV

When we were young, latest setlist, the distillers on october 15, 2019.

Fall Tour 2019

White Oak Downstairs, Houston, Texas

Similar Artists On Tour

Concerts and tour dates, about distillers.

There’s something here for everyone. Explore the Kentucky Bourbon Trail ® experiences and find what you’re looking for in our map below. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour ® is organized into four regions—please toggle through the drop down menu for official groupings.

European Tour 2023

The Kilchoman Land Rover is heading back on the road! After European tours in 2014, 15′, and 18′ we’re loading up the Land Rover with Kilchoman goodies and heading across Europe once again. This time we’ll be hitting 13 countries during a six week tour, starting in Luxembourg on April 16th, finishing back on Islay for our Fèis Ìle.

As well as our range of award winning whiskies and an exclusive tour bottling, we’ll also be bringing some of our famous new make spirit. Robin Bignal and his production team will be dialling in via live feed from the distillery to explain how we make our unique spirit and where those aromas and flavours come from.

The European Tour limited edition release of 3,325 bottles is exclusively available at the tour stops. Matured in bourbon and port casks and bottled at natural cask strength (58.5%), this release is a punchy mix of red berries, mixed spices, fresh vanilla sweetness and integrated maritime peat smoke. You don’t want to miss out on this one!

See the full list of tour stops below, a blend of informal afternoon events and larger evening tastings. Come along and say hi to the team, hear some stories of life at Kilchoman, taste some great whisky and have some fun!

Belgium / Luxembourg

16TH APRIL : Shopping Centre Massen, Wemperhardt, LU 17TH APRIL : De Schelf Spirits, Hamme, BE 18THAPRIL : Huis Aerts, Bree, BE 19THAPRIL: Drink Factory, Mons, BE 20THAPRIL: TasTToe, Boortmeerbeek, BE

Netherlands

21ST APRIL : Van der Boog, The Hague Vonk Zaandam, Amsterdam 22ND APRIL : Woudenberg Whisky Show, Utrecht/Arnhem 23RD APRIL : Berendsen Dranken, Enschede

26TH APRIL : Whisky For Life, Frankfurt Whisky Spirits, Frankfurt 27TH APRIL : Hilgering, Dortmund 28TH APRIL : Men’s Needs, Hamburg Weinquelle Lühmann, Hamburg 29TH APRIL : KaDeWe, Berlin Whisky & Cigars, Berlin 1ST MAY : Tara Spirits, Munich

2ND MAY : Potstill, Vienna 3RD MAY : Dr. Bottle, Graz

4TH MAY : Svet Nápojov, Bratislava The Izzi Pub, Bratislava

5TH MAY : GoodSpirits Bar, Budapest

6TH MAY : Fine Stvari, Zagreb Esplanade Hotel, Zagreb

9TH MAY : Lord Byron Pub, Koper

10TH MAY : Ferrowine, Castelfranco Boss Hogg Whisky County, Treviso 11TH MAY : Whisky Antique, Formigine Atlas Whisky Bar, Bologna 12TH MAY : Baobab Café, Milano Julep Cocktail Bar, Milano 13TH MAY : Whisky Club Italia, La Limonaia di Merone XXL Café Chivasso, Torino

Switzerland

16TH MAY : Globus, Zürich The Whisky Store, Rapperswil-Jona

17TH MAY : Häberli, Dagmersellen Friends of Isles & Islay, Lucerne

18TH MAY : La Bouchonnerie, Annecy La Java des Flacons, Annecy 19TH MAY : Bon Plan du Vin, Beaune Whiskies & Spirit, Beaune 20TH MAY : Au Secret du Vins, Lille

24TH MAY : Milroys of Soho, London The Whisky Exchange, London (Covent Garden) 25TH MAY : Aston’s of Manchester, Manchester House of Malt, Carlisle 26TH MAY : RMW, Edinburgh Uesquebae , Edinburgh 27TH MAY : Good Spirits, Glasgow Robbie’s Drams, Ayr 28TH MAY : Green Welly Stop, Tyndrum The George Hotel , Inverary

For more information about events and how to purchase tickets please contact the venues directly

For general enquiries please email [email protected]

Sauternes Cask Matured 2024 has arrived!

The Sauternes Cask Matured has now arrived! The Sauternes Cask Matured limited edition has spent its full maturation in ex-sauternes wine casks. Anthony Wills, Kilchoman Founder, selected a combination of fresh and refill Sauternes barriques from two separate years, the youngest being from 2018, creating an extraordinary balance of buttery…

• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy

Privacy Overview

• OUR FARM DISTILLERY
• DISTILLERY NEWS
• Visiting Kilchoman
• THE KILCHOMAN TEAM
• Kilchoman Comraich
• Whisky Shop
• VIDEO LIBRARY
• KILCHOMAN CLUB

Access exclusive discounts on Kilchoman whisky, club specific whisky releases and competitions

Please note due to our new Club system your password may have been automatically updated/generated. Please click here to reset your password for the new system in order to log in.

Password Reset

Please provide your registered email address in the box below and we will send an email with a link to reset your password.

• Online Benifits
• Visiting Islay

Unfortunately, if your shipping country is not listed below then regulations restrict the shipping of whisky from the UK.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused and will continue to review the regulations.

*Please note for orders to Estonia, VAT will not be charged and all orders will be shipped on a duties and taxes unpaid service.

Local sales taxes and duties will be payable upon arrival, which are levied at the time the package clears customs. All additional charges are the responsibility of the recipient. As customs policies vary widely from country to country.  Please contact your local customs office for further information. We also cannot refund any customs charges in the case of a return or refund.

Kentucky Bourbon Trail 2023 – Best Tastings, Tours, Tastings and Pours

Published by brad on june 11, 2023 june 11, 2023.

For my birthday this year, my dad and I decided to take a trip to Kentucky to visit a bunch of distilleries.

My dad is relatively new to whiskey so I was excited for him to see everything that goes into making whiskey and to visit some distillery tours and tastings.

He’s a fan of wines and knows a lot about wine, so this was a great chance to introduce him to some of the better bourbon whiskeys in the capital of American whiskey – Kentucky.

Since we did so much and this became such a long blog post, I have linked some of our top moments of the trip so you can click and be directed directly to them.

Best Moments of our Kentucky Bourbon Trail 2023

• Meeting and having Drinks with Fred and Freddie Noe at Jim Beam Distillery
• Making our own bottle of Knob Creek Whiskey
• Tasting Old Forester Birthday Bourbon and President’s Choice
• Driving through the countryside on the way to Woodford Reserve
• Eating the best BBQ I’ve ever had in my life at Doc Crow’s
• Having “Two Jacks on the Rocks” at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery Tour
• Staying overnight in a historical house built in 1780 in Bardstown Kentucky
• Dipping our own Maker’s Mark Bottles into Wax at the Maker’s Mark Distillery
• Tasting Four Roses Special Limited Release at the Four Roses Distillery

Also, I was able to taste so many amazing whiskeys during this trip so I have linked to each of the best pours of the trip. Most are pretty rare pours and very difficult to get, but others can be found relatively easily.

These top tastes were just mine and my dad’s favorites overall.

Top 10 Best Whiskey Tastings, Tours and Pours of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail 2023

• Russell’s Reserve 13-Year
• Old Forester Birthday Bourbon
• Old Forester President’s Choice Bourbon
• Four Roses – 2021 Special Limited Release
• Maker’s Mark 2023 Special Release – BEP Wood Finishing Series
• Maker’s Mark 2021 Special Release – FAE-02 Wood Finishing Series
• Jim Beam – Distiller’s Choice #1
• Jim Beam Clermont Steep
• Peerless Single Barrel Rye – 2023 Honey Roasted Cherries
• Weller Antique 107

We live in Pennsylvania, so the drive to Kentucky is about 6 hours. We drove straight through and arrived in Louisville on my birthday, Tuesday, May 23rd.

I had planned some distillery tours based on some of my favorite whiskeys and for the most part, I didn’t go to many distilleries that I had already visited.

So not only were the distilleries new to my dad, but they were also new to me.

The first distillery we visited was Old Forester.

Old Forester Distillery Tour and Tasting

Old Forester is located right in downtown Louisville, Kentucky so it’s an easy place to visit and has a nice tour facility.

When we started the tour, they gave us a nice history of the distillery and we learned that Old Forester was the very first “American Bottled Bourbon”.

Before Old Forester, there was no standard for what bourbon would be sold in and many people would just come to the distillery with their own growler-style jugs and get their bottles filled.

Many of these bottles were not clear, so bootleggers and racketeers were adding unsafe components to their whiskey like gunpowder, tobacco, and gasoline to give it a color similar to bourbon.

So in 1871, Old Forester Whiskey was the first distillery to put its product into a clear glass sealed bottle that was quality guaranteed safe every time.

This was the beginning of whiskey bottles being one-time use and really sparked the need to have creative bottle labels to this day.

Jack Daniel’s is a label that has been nearly the same from the very beginning and is another tour we visited on this trip.

In addition to the long history of the Old Forester Distillery, it was really cool to see how their whiskey is made, how they make their own barrels, and they even charred a barrel right in front of us so we could see how the process works.

They took us through their distilling process and where they store some of their barrels on-site.

We then arrived at the tasting room where we got to taste some of their standard offerings.

The lineup included Old Forester 1870, Old Forester 1897, Old Forester 1910, and Old Forester 1920.

If you’ve ever had Old Forester, you know that they are pretty reliable all around. All of their whiskeys offer excellent value at their price points.

Old Forester is one of my go-to whiskeys for making old-fashioneds if I want a bourbon old fashioned and is affordable and tasty.

The Old Forester 1910 and Old Forester 1920 are excellent whiskeys to drink neat or on the rocks.

The Old Forester 1910 offers a nice smooth flavor profile that is incredibly easy to sip on.

The Old Forester 1920 offers a bolder flavor profile that has a little more heat and flavor to it.

They’re both excellent options and it was a very nice tasting experience.

All around, Old Forester was an excellent experience for my dad to have as his first distillery tour.

But the true Old Forester was still to come!

George’s Bar at Old Forester

After we finished the Old Forester distillery tour, we saw that I couldn’t purchase many of the rarer Old Forester bourbons.

This was kind of expected and they said that sometimes they have the rare bottles and other times they don’t.

But they DO have all of their rare bourbons at George’s Bar which is just inside the distilleries main doors.

Since it was my birthday, my dad certainly wanted me to have the chance to try the Old Forester Birthday Bourbon when I told him about it.

I checked the menu and it was $50 for a one-ounce pour which isn’t bad seeing as how the bottle goes for $1200 on the secondary market.

But when I looked down the bar, I saw another group that had a tasting flight of three different whiskeys.

I asked them what they had and they said they got the bartender’s choice flight which consisted of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, Old Forester President’s Choice, and Old Forester 117 Series.

I asked them how much it was and it was also just $50! I quickly knew what I was ordering.

This tasting gave me a lesson I’ll always remember.

When taking distillery tours, always be sure to either:

• Scheduling the tour with the high-end expensive whiskey tastings
• Visit the distillery bar and pay for a tasting of their high-end whiskeys

This tasting made the stop at Old Forester really stand out as a highlight of my entire trip.

As I tasted their top-tier offerings, I got to share the difference in quality between the standard whiskeys you can always find on the shelves versus their high-end rare products.

As we tasted each of the whiskeys, it was clear that these were much better.

And don’t get me wrong, I love Old Forester 1910 and 1920. They’re two of my top-recommended whiskeys to a lot of people.

But when I tasted the Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, it was just spectacular.

I quickly understood why so many people spent so much on a bottle of this stuff.

The Old Forester Birthday Bourbon was my favorite of the tasting and easily worth the cost of entry for the flight.

My dad’s favorite was the President’s Choice. He felt it had a bit more flavor and power behind it which I could agree with. He like the bigger and bolder flavors whereas I enjoyed the smooth refinement of the Birthday Bourbon.

Neither of us was wrong and the fact that both of these bottles generally cost over $1000 on the secondary market is a testament to that.

Now I’m not a big fan of paying much more than retail for all of my bottles of whiskey, but if I saw a bottle of Birthday Bourbon for less then $300-350 dollars, I would probably buy that up in an instant (MSRP is $150).

Is the bottle worth over $1,000? Not to me, no. I’ll get a pour of it every now and then if I ever see it out, but it’s hard for me to justify spending that much over MSRP.

I’ll just keep entering my Pennsylvania state lottery and hoping for the best!

The Old Forester 117 series was also quite delicious, but neither of us thought it help up against the Birthday Bourbon and President’s Choice.

All-in-all, whether you spring for the high-end tasting flight, Old Forester is an excellent distillery to visit anytime you are in Kentucky.

Peerless Distillery Tour and Tasting

The next distillery tour we visited was Peerless Distillery.

I’ve been a big fan of Peerless Rye whiskey ever since my friend Chuck and I bought a bottle in Ohio (since we can never find it in PA).

My friend Chuck said, “This is supposed to be an excellent Rye, we should pick it up”.

And we did!

Generally, I prefer bourbons more than Rye whiskey, but when I tasted the Peerless Rye I was seriously impressed.

The thing I like most about their rye whiskey is that they do an excellent job of extracting all the rye spices and flavors without making a whiskey with too much heat on the palate.

Peerless Rye whiskey is one of those whiskeys you can sip on anytime and offer to anyone and know that they will enjoy it.

I missed out on the distillery tour the last time I was in Kentucky, so this time I made it a priority to visit and do a tasting.

Right when we walked in the door, we were greeted with a smiling face and quickly instructed to have a look around and the tour would be ready soon.

Once the tour started, we were able to learn of the history of the Peerless distillery which has roots back to 1889 but was shut down in 1917 and finally re-opened in 2015.

The Lever Act was in force in 1917 and with the talk of national prohibition, Henry Kraver decided to shut down the distillery and continued to sell off his whiskey inventory as well as all of the machinery used in production.

Interestingly enough, the person that he sold all of his stills to in 1925 was Elmore Sherman, Sr – the founder of Vendome Copper & Brass Works who still produced the majority of the stills used in Distilleries across the United States today.

Nearly 100 years later, Henry Kraver’s great-grandson Corky Taylor sold his financial services company and decided to re-open the distillery.

He petitioned for the same distillery number as his great-grandfather had and was successful. You will see this number on all bottles of Peerless Distillery whiskey: DSP-KY-50.

As we toured around the distillery, it was cool to see a smaller distillery really making its mark on the industry.

Being relatively new, have a lot of hurdles and competition to cut through and so far, they are doing an excellent job.

We got to see their entire process from start to finish including the fermentation vats, the still, and doubler, they were filling the barrels with a hose similar to a gas-tank hose which was cool to see, and they went over the amount of char they put on their barrels.

I thought it was really cool that they let us smell their white dog or raw distillate.

You would think it would smell extremely strong and alcoholic, but it actually smelled quite sweet and of corn.

As we were experiencing the tour, we were lucky enough to have the owner of the Distillery, Corky Taylor drop in and hang out with us.

He was extremely nice and told us stories about himself being roommates with the Allman Brothers in college and how he used to dip toothpicks in cinnamon and sell them to make some extra cash.

I didn’t have any bottles purchased yet or I would have had him sign them.

He did pop back in during our tasting where we got to try 4 core Peerless products including a bonus pour of the Peerless Rye Whiskey finished in Absinthe Barrels.

My personal favorite of the tasting was the Peerless Rye Single Barrel – 2023 Honey Roasted Cherries which I purchased after the tasting and reviewed here on the site.

As my bonus tasting, we got to vote and we went with the Peerless Rye Whiskey finished in Absinthe Barrels which I also reviewed.

It was such an interesting combination of flavors that I just had to pick up a bottle (my dad purchased these for me as a gift).

I’m a fan of absinthe rinse cocktails and have always enjoyed Sambuca, so imagine having those herbal and anise notes of those blended with the sweet caramel, oak, vanilla, and rye spices of a whiskey.

It’s certainly an interesting combination and it is an excellent talking point that I will share with people when they visit for whiskey tastings at my place.

Overall, I really enjoyed the Peerless Distillery tour and it was an especially nice touch that Corky stopped in to say hi and hung around and talked with us for a while.

My dad and him actually discussed some football and Corky spent some time with others on the tour and really seemed to enjoy interacting with all of us.

If you have a chance to visit Peerless Distillery, I would definitely recommend stopping there on your next trip.

And if you haven’t had Peerless Rye Whiskey, definitely pick yourself up a bottle if you see it on the shelf.

Michter’s Bar at Fort Nelson

Michter’s makes some incredibly good whiskeys. I especially like their Sour Mash and have been trying to get a bottle of their toasted Bourbon and Sour Mash but it’s so hard to get here in Pennsylvania.

It sells out on the website in a matter of minutes and even during the minutes it is live, the website crashes, and orders don’t go through.

But last time I was in Kentucky with my friends, we visited the Michter’s Bar at Fort Nelson and we had the best cocktail.

So this time, I went to take my dad so we could do a tasting of their higher-end whiskeys.

The first flight we got was the Michter’s Bourbon Flight which cost us $35.

This tasting included the following bourbons:

• Michter’s US *1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon
• Michter’s 10 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon
• Michter’s US *1 Barrel Strength Bourbon
• Bomber’s Declaration Kentucky Straight Bourbon

The second flight we got was the Michter’s Rye Flight which also cost $35.

This tasting included the following Rye Whiskeys:

• Michter’s US *1 Kentucky Straight Rye
• Michter’s 10 Year Kentucky Straight Rye
• Michter’s US *1 Barrel Strength Rye
• Michter’s US *1 Toasted Barrel Finish Rye

I think both of these flights were absolutely worth the price tag.

I got the chance to try both Michter’s 10-Year Bourbon, the Michter’s 10-Year Rye, as well as Bomberger’s Declaration and Michter’s Toasted Finished Rye.

My dad and I really enjoyed tasting all of these whiskeys and my favorite was definitely the Michter’s 10-Year Bourbon, but the Michter’s 10-Year Rye, Bomberger’s, and Toasted Finish Rye were all also excellent.

After our tasting, we decided to get some dinner.

Doc Crows BBQ and Raw Bar

For dinner, we visited one of my favorite spots in Louisville, Doc Crow’s.

Doc Crow’s is an excellent BBQ restaurant right in downtown Louisville and they also have a selection of over 2,000 whiskeys to get pours of.

While the prices are a little high, you can get a pour of nearly anything you can image.

It’s amazing to have so many whiskeys in one place and just flipping through the menu is like taking a trip through the history of whiskey.

But this trip, the highlight of our Doc Crow’s visit wasn’t the whiskey, it was their food.

I was deciding between ordering a few items and when I asked our server which was best, she immediately said, “The Bone-In Short Rib” without hesitation.

I trusted her judgment and ordered the bone-in short rib and my dad ordered a shrimp Po-Boy.

When the food arrived, I took one bite and said, “I think this is the best BBQ I’ve ever had in my entire life!”

After a few more bites, I am convinced that it IS the best BBQ I’ve ever had in my life.

If you’re ever in Louisville, Doc Crows is an absolutely must-visit for both food and whiskey.

All-in-all, we really got a lot done and had some excellent food and whiskey.

I’m still not 100% sure what my favorite whiskey of the trip was, but the Old Forester Birthday Bourbon is certainly in the top 3.

Jim Beam Distillery Tour and Tasting

Next up was the Jim Beam Distillery tour.

I didn’t originally have this tour scheduled, but my dad mentioned Jim Beam since they’re one of the biggest bourbon distilleries in the world and I decided to check and see what tours they had available.

When I looked it up, I saw that they had a special one-day event for a new product launch.

They didn’t list what the product launch was, but they said it would be hosted by Fred and Freddie Noe – the master distillers behind the Booker’s Bourbon and Little Book bourbons.

I’m a huge fan of Booker’s and also managed to get my hands on the Little Book – Chapter 6 which was the final edition in Freddie Noe’s series of whiskeys.

I immediately booked the tasting and thought if we were going to the tasting, we might as well take a tour of the distillery beforehand so I also booked the Jim Beam distillery tour.

Little did I know that it would be the #1 tour I’ve ever been on and would be able to bottle my own bottle.

So far, my dad had been to smaller distilleries (Old Forester is fairly big, but not like Jim Beam).

We started the tour and they gave us the history of Jim Beam starting with a fancy initial introduction with a 1939 Cadillac right there to start their tour.

I remember growing up, my dad always had Cadillacs so I had to get a photo of him in front of this one.

What a way to start out a distillery tour!

They told us the stories about how Jim Beam has always had a proprietary yeast strain and that same yeast strain has been carried on over the years and is still the same exact strain they use today.

They had a jug in the passenger seat of the Cadillac that represented the kind of jug they would transfer the yeast in hundred of years ago.

They then took us through the distillery where we could learn how they make their whiskey and they showed us the fermentation process, barrel creation, and bottling process.

As we experienced the tour, everything was very hands-on and they taught us the full process that they follow as they produce their whiskeys which include Jim Beam products like Knob Creek, Booker’s, Old Tub, Basil Hayden, Legent, Hardin’s Creek, and more.

What was especially fun and something I didn’t expect on the tour is that they would let us be a part of the entire whiskey-making process.

When showing us the barrel pouring process, my tour guide Rocky (who was amazing by the way) asked everyone if we were celebrating anything.

Since it was my birthday (and a few others) he asked me and another tour guest to come up and set my hands on a Knob Creek barrel.

He then had us do a chant (ohmmmmmm) and then we got to pour the barrel over to pour the whiskey straight from the barrel.

It was a really fun experience and as you can see in the photo, everyone in the tour was leaning over to see the whiskey pour out of the barrel.

It was a great experience that I was glad I raised my hand for.

During the tour, we got to experience the rick houses where they store all of the barrels.

The rick houses at Jim Beam are absolutely massive and they hold thousands of barrels.

I think they said that they have 96 different rick houses holding multiple thousands of barrels each. And they have hundreds of others at different locations around Kentucky.

As we continued the tour, they took us up to the bottling portion of the tour and we saw some empty bottles on the conveyor belt.

There were a bunch of markers and stickers on the counter and the tour guide said that anyone who wanted to bottle their own bottle could just mark their initials on the sticker and pick up an empty bottle.

Even though I had scheduled the tour, it was kind of last minute so I didn’t even realize that the description said we would have the opportunity to see our own bottle of Knob Creek created from start to finish.

So my dad and I marked our initials on the sticker, picked up an empty bottle, and joined the process.

The first step was for us to clean out our bottles with alcohol.

Since they didn’t want to tarnish the flavor with anything other than whiskey, the alcohol that was used was Knob Creek itself.

After we had cleaned our bottles, we got to place them on the assembly line and watch our own bottles go through the process of getting filled, labeled, and wax dipped.

Once the bottles were dipped in wax, we got to place our thumbprints in the wax and personalize the bottle.

Once we finished up the tour, we were able to grab our bottles and take them home with us.

This was a really cool experience especially since I didn’t expect us to be able to customize our own bottles.

I’ve always been a fan of Knob Creek so my dad and I will probably open these bottles and have a drink from them every year on my birthday to remember and celebrate the trip we had together.

At the end of the tour, we got to taste some whiskey which included the following bottles:

• Jim Beam White Label
• Knob Creek 9 Year
• Basil Hayden
• Basil Hayden – Red Wine Cask Finish

I’m a fan of all of those whiskeys so it was a good tasting. I’ve already had all of these whiskeys so it wasn’t anything new to me, but I think my favorite of the tasting was either Knob Creek or the Basil Hayden Red Wine Cask Finish.

I’ve already reviewed all of the Basil Hayden whiskey lineup and the Basil Hayden Red Wine Cask Finish was my favorite other than the most expensive Basil Hayden 10-year .

Jim Beam – Pizza and Whiskey at The Kitchen

After we finished our basic Jim Beam Distillery Tour (which was amazing) we had a 2-hour break before our New Product Release Tasting with Fred and Freddie Noe.

While we waited, my dad took some work calls and then we got some lunch at the new Jim Beam Kitchen restaurant where they served pizza using the same proprietary yeast strain as they use in their whiskey.

When I went into the restaurant, I noticed they had a whole lineup of Booker’s whiskeys, Little Book, Knob Creek 18-year, and plenty more.

Since I was going to be doing a tasting with Fred and Freddie Noe next, I wanted to get tastings of the whiskeys they had created so I decided to go with Booker’s Kentucky Tea Batch and Little Book – Chapter 6.

Both were delicious and I was excited to have my own bottle of Little Book Chapter 6 signed by the guy who created it.

After a short wait, our pizza arrived and I was able to sip on my whiskey while eating a delicious Jim Beam Pizza made with the same yeast as the whiskey I was drinking.

Jim Beam – New Product Release Tasting

After we finished eating, we got ready for our new product release tasting.

The description of this tasting didn’t really give a ton of information, it just said that we’d be tasting whiskey with Fred and Freddie Noe for their new product release.

It was a one-day event and we just lucked into being there at the right time on the right day.

When we arrived at the tasting, we were shown the whiskeys we would be trying and they consisted of the following:

• Clemont Steep
• Distiller’s Share #1
• Hardin’s Creek
• Little Book – Chapter 6 – The Finish

As we went through the tasting, it was fascinating to hear about the whiskeys from the master distillers’ mindset.

Freddie Noe explained how he had the freedom to explore all kinds of new whiskey ideas and the one we were able to taste was called Jim Beam Distiller’s Share #1.

Instead of rye, it was made with brown rice, which I had never heard of being done before in a whiskey.

When we took a sip, it tasted really good and had a slightly different flavor profile than you would expect from brown rice.

It was a bit sweeter and had a smooth flavor that really complemented the whiskey.

They explained how when they do their tests on whiskey, they couldn’t just “pour the whiskey down the drain” because the government didn’t want it all to go to waste, so they decided to release them as a “Distiller’s share” series release at the distillery only.

We were pretty lucky to be there during their new product release so we got to purchase a bottle of the product.

The new product that they were releasing was called Clermont Steep.

It is a 100% American Single Malt which is a new product they have been experimenting with and just went public the day we visited.

There aren’t many American Single Malt whiskeys currently and I know that Jack Daniel’s 2023 Special Release was a twice-barreled American single malt.

I was interested in seeing how their single malt stacked up to the Jack Daniel’s product and I must say, I was quite impressed.

The flavor was smooth, easy to drink, and was certainly on par with Jack Daniel’s single malt but not nearly the price.

A bottle of Clermont Steep costs about $60 whereas Jack Daniel’s single malt runs $300+ on the secondary market.

I was pretty happy to see Jim Beam getting into the single malt market and it is a product I think will do quite well.

The next whiskey we tasted was Hardin’s Creek.

This is a whiskey we don’t have available in Pennsylvania and is pretty hard to find in general.

Hardin’s Creek is a limited edition bourbon series produced by Fred and Freddie that features some of the rarest and most unique liquids from James B. Beam distilling.

There have only been two bottles released so far one low-aged and one high-aged bourbon.

After tasting the bourbon, it was very smooth and an excellently balanced whiskey that I wish I could have tasted more of.

Unfortunately, the bottles are limited and weren’t available for purchase at the time of our tasting.

Maybe one day I will find a bottle of Hardin’s Creek so I can really sit down and spend some time with this whiskey.

The next bottle that we got to try was the Little Book – Chapter 6 which is Freddie Noe’s own series. It was named after the nickname Freddie’s grandad Booker gave him and features unique blends.

Little Book Chapter 6 is a pleasant surprise. I look forward to finding more editions of the Little Book series to try and compare.

I brought my own bottles of Little Book – Chapter 6 and Booker’s “The Lumberyard Batch” to have Fred and Freddie Noe sign.

The coolest part of the entire tasting and experience was hearing the precision and expertise both Fred and Freddie conveyed as they spoke about their whiskeys.

They weren’t just making whiskeys to make money, you could really feel that they enjoyed the process of experimenting and learning new ways to improve their products.

I will certainly start looking into more personalized experiences like this the next time I come back to Jim Beam. I may never get to be there for a new product release again, but as I was looking at other event options I saw that they do have unique events that you can schedule.

I felt like it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience that my dad and I were able to share with Freddie and his father.

As a souvenir (on top of the other bottles I bought), I decided to purchase a bottle of Jim Beam Lineage which is a tribute to the Jim Beam lineage and this was the first time Fred and Freddie Noe partnered up to make a commemorative bottle.

Later I realized that this bottle is a travel-retail-only bottle aside from purchasing it from the Jim Beam Distillery itself.

Having this bottle signed by Fred and Freddie Noe is a special addition to my whiskey collection and will always remind me of spending time with my dad at the Jim Beam Distillery.

All-in-all, Jim Beam was the best distillery tour I have ever been on.

We got to watch our Knob Creek bottle be made from start to finish with my thumbprint placed in the wax, I got to pour the whiskey directly out of a barrel, we got to eat pizza made with the same yeast as the whiskey, and we got to taste Little Book and Clermont Steep with its creators on its day one release.

What more could you ask for?

If you’re planning a trip to Kentucky, be sure to not miss Jim Beam Distillery.

Waterfront Wines & Whiskey Tasting

After our full day of Jim Beam, we went to a whiskey-tasting shop where multiple people recommended getting a few pours. The place was called Waterfront Wine & Spirits.

This place had all the rare whiskeys you could imagine.

However, many of them were full secondary prices which meant that I wasn’t going to buy much.

But even though I wasn’t willing to pay secondary prices for bottles, they had some amazing prices on pours at the bar.

I will just drop images of all the pours I was able to taste for under $90 (half ounce pours).

Merle’s Whiskey Kitchen

After tasting these whiskeys, we grabbed dinner at Merle’s Whiskey Kitchen.

My dad really enjoyed the Chicken and Waffles.

Jack Daniel’s Distillery Tour and Tasting

The next day, we decided to make the trip to drive down to visit the Jack Daniel’s distillery.

Jack Daniel’s is one of the whiskeys that I have reviewed nearly their entire lineup and never realized how good a lot of their products are.

Of course, we all know about Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 and I’ve had my share of Jack and Coke’s over the years.

It’s a tried and true cocktail but Jack Daniel’s wasn’t really a whiskey you’d catch me drinking neat.

But what really turned me on to Jack Daniel’s was when I tasted the Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Select and the Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel – Barrel Proof Bourbon .

The amount of flavors in this whiskey is such a surprise and I feel like Jack Daniel’s sneaks under many people’s radar because they just assume Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 is the only product Jack Daniel’s produces (and maybe Gentleman Jack ).

But let me tell you, Jack Daniel’s can really pump out some excellent whiskeys.

So after reviewing all of these whiskeys and having my dad taste a few, we both decided that it was a distillery we wanted to make sure and visit.

When we arrived, the main building was like a mini museum that shared the history of the distillery.

Once it was time for our distillery tour, we were escorted outside and were guided through a tour of the Jack Daniel’s whiskey campus where the whiskey is made.

The tour started with where the charcoal is made for their charcoal mellowing process.

They walked us through the process of how they burn all the wood to create the charcoal that we would later be able to watch and smell how the whiskey was filtered through 10 feet of charcoal to produce the classic Tennessee Whiskey we all know and love.

One of the coolest parts of the entire tour was when our tour guide lifted the charcoal-mellowing tank lids and out wafted a massive amount of charcoal and whiskey smells.

It truly is a spectacular smell that only Jack Daniel’s has.

The smell was so strong and powerful and really gave you a true sense of exactly where a ton of Jack Daniel’s flavor comes from.

Unfortunately, they didn’t let us take photos inside the charcoal-mellowing building (no clue why) but I wish I had a shot of that as a memory of how great that smell was. The following photo was outside the charcoal-mellowing building and you can see all the whiskey fungus on the sides of the building.

I really enjoyed walking around outside the buildings and just smelling all of the whiskey in the air.

We were guided from building to building learning about the entire process of what goes into making whiskey and given some of the reasons why Jack Daniel’s whiskey tastes different – from yeast strains to charcoal mellowing to the history behind the whiskey dating back to 1866.

The tour continued to guide us through the beautiful scenery of the Jack Daniel’s Distillery and we found that most of these big distilleries had one thing in common – they were located near water sources.

Jack Daniel’s was no different.

The distillery was built in this particular spot because there was a stream of clean water that ran through lots of limestone rock.

As we left the area with all the water, there was a statue of Jack Daniels standing on the rocks.

As we passed it, the tour guide cracked the joke that that was “Jack on the Rocks” and pointed to the plaque that actually said “Jack on the Rocks”.

I found this quite funny and since my dad’s name is also Jack, I had him get up there so I could get a photo of “Two Jacks on the Rocks”.

At the end of the tour, we were guided into a beautiful tasting room full of whiskey barrels and fancy tasting tables.

Unfortunately, the tasting glasses were cheap plastic and there was barely even a quarter-ounce taste in each glass.

Having just been to Jim Beam distillery the day before and how excellent their tasting experience was, my dad and I both couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed in the tasting experience.

Granted, I have tasted all of the whiskeys on the tasting except for the Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select , but my dad could barely even compare them because there just wasn’t enough to even sip twice in the glass.

If I were to return to the Jack Daniel’s distillery, I would have to look to see if they have any sort of special tasting where you could have a little better experience with the actual whiskey.

Who knows, maybe it’s a rule that they can only serve that much since Lynchburg’s home county of Moore is technically a “dry county”.

Jack Daniel’s is allowed to sell whiskey however as “commemorative bottles” lol

I purchased a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Barrel Proof Rye because it was the only bottle in the shop that I didn’t already have.

I was hoping to get a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select since we had just tasted it, but they didn’t have any available to purchase.

Oddly enough, at the very next gas station my dad and I stopped at, we found a small liquor store called John O’s Liquor that had a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select for sale ($20 over retail).

That was an easy decision to make because I really wanted to get a bottle at the distillery and wasn’t able to.

So now I have a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select on my shelf that I was able to spend some time with and get a true taste of and give a solid review (which is an extremely smooth whiskey).

Uncle Nearest Distillery

As we were driving home, we wanted to get some dinner and we see a restaurant named Barrelhouse BBQ was nearby so we decided to pull off and eat there.

Interestingly enough, it happened to be located in the Uncle Nearest Distillery.

Having just been at the Jack Daniel’s distillery, we learned a bit more about Nearest Green who is now documented by Jack Daniel’s Distillery as the first master distiller who taught Jack Daniel’s much of what he knew.

Jack Daniel’s had run away from home when he was 6 years old and was taken in by a minister into his home.

Nearest Green was a slave who worked on the same farm as Jack Daniel’s.

Unfortunately, we arrived too late to participate in a tour or tasting, but I enjoyed learning a bit about the history of these two distilleries.

They had a bunch of artifacts found at the original Jack Daniel’s distillery location – my favorite of which was this giant 2,000-pound millstone.

I’ve tasted Uncle Nearest whiskey before and would have liked to taste some of their higher-tier whiskeys. Maybe another time I will see them on the shelves in Pennsylvania.

Their tasting room and gift shop were quite stylish and fancy.

Barrelhouse BBQ

Right in the same building was Barrelhouse BBQ.

It was a bit of a fast-food BBQ restaurant where you order the portions of smoked meats you want and then add on all the sides.

We decided to split a bunch and everything was absolutely delicious.

The highlight of the entire meal was called “Grilled Cheese on Crack”.

It was a grilled cheese sandwich on Texas toast with smoked brisket.

I would go back to this place just to get another one of those grilled cheeses. It was delicious.

It’s hard for us to get BBQ like this in Pennsylvania so we enjoyed the meal and it was a nice treat after our distillery tours.

Bardstown Kentucky

We drove our way back up to Bardstown Kentucky to prepare ourselves for the next day of distilleries.

The Air BnB that we booked for Bardstown was a historical monument built in 1780 and is located directly in the center of the town of Bardstown which was the bourbon capital of the world.

It was an old coppersmith’s house with an old fireplace right in the living room and tiny stairs leading to an upstairs bedroom.

They have added on to the house to make it a bit larger and it can now accommodate 6 people.

Mammy’s Kitchen

We started out our day 4 early and headed to Mammy’s Kitchen.

Of all the places recommended to me for our trip, Mammy’s Kitchen was one of the highest.

It was just a few minutes walk from our Air BnB so we headed there for our breakfast and were not disappointed.

I ordered the Kentucky Breakfast Hot Brown and my dad ordered the Breakfast Bowl in a Skillet.

It was a really homey small-town place and the food was extreme comfort food that was delicious.

The menus were really cool and told the history of the restaurant and they had tons of options for what to order.

And if you wanted to, you could order whiskey along with your meal because they have over 100 bottles of whiskey in the other half of the place which was a bar.

Surprisingly enough, the food wasn’t nearly as “heavy” as we thought it would be. We left feeling great and not like we had overeaten even though we seemed to have eaten a ton.

Definitely recommend Mammy’s Kitchen if you’ll be touring distilleries in the Bardstown Area.

Historical Bardstown

Before we headed out of Bardstown, I wanted to make sure my dad visited the Old Talbott Tavern.

This tavern and hotel was originally built in 1779 and is claimed to be the oldest western stagecoach stop in America.

The building housed some of the earliest guests in America and was at one point the bourbon capital of the world with over 18 whiskey distilleries in the area.

Many of the original whiskey distilleries still exist or own the major distilleries of today.

The main dining area has Daniel Boone’s gun above the bar and I can only imagine what times were like drinking in this same establishment over 200 years earlier.

In 1998, an electrical fire sparked at Old Talbott Tavern and the location suffered damages that burned portions of a room that held historical murals and had bullet holes in the walls from a time when Jesse James shot up the room after a poker game where he wanted to demonstrate his accuracy with his pistol.

The murals are still there today and you can see bullet holes in the walls as well as many other historical paintings, photographs, and documentation of the history.

Maybe next time I stay in Bardstown I will get myself a room at the Old Talbott Tavern hotel.

Four Roses Bottling Facility

On day 4, we decided to stop at a number of places.

Rather than doing full distillery tours of everywhere, we decided to only do a tour of the Four Roses distillery.

But as we were driving, we passed the Four Roses Bottling Facility so we decided to stop in quickly.

I have been there before in my last Kentucky Bourbon Trail trip in 2022 so I wanted to show my dad the two locations.

Luckily for me, they had a single barrel bottle release that day so I was able to pick up a bottle of the Four Roses Single Barrel OBSV.

The woman there said that they just randomly get bottle drops and there isn’t really any pattern that you can follow.

The trucks just show up with single barrel bottles a few times per month and they sell out within a few hours. So luck was on our side!

I’ve always wanted to get some of the single barrel recipes from Four Roses so I was excited to be able to pick this one up.

And luckily for me, I was able to get a second recipe when we visited the Four Roses Distillery later as well.

Maker’s Mark Distillery Tasting

Next, we made our way over to the Maker’s Mark Distillery Tour and Tasting.

When we arrived, instead of doing a full tour, we decided to do a higher-end tasting from their bar rather than the tour tasting which only tries their standard products.

As we explored the distillery campus, everything was very beautiful and well-kept.

One of my favorite things about Maker’s Mark Distillery was the aesthetic and feel you get as you walk through and experience the location.

If you’ve heard of Maker’s Mark before and purchased their bottles before, then you know all about their iconic red-wax seal on their bottles.

As you explore Maker’s Mark, you will see accents of red throughout all the buildings and scenery.

It was an extremely nice time to walk around and just explore the buildings and again, the distillery had a fresh-water creek running right through it.

After we finished exploring, we made our way over to the bar for our tasting and we decided to go with some of their Wood Finishing Series whiskeys.

It was a great idea to do a tasting at the bar rather than during the tour because they had a nice selection of the rarer Maker’s Mark whiskeys to try.

I had already written my Maker’s Mark 2023 Limited Release BEP Wood Finishing Series Review . I found it to be the best Maker’s Mark whiskey I have had and was extremely impressed when I reviewed it.

My dad had never tried it so I wanted him to taste it against the others and see what he thought.

As we sampled the whiskeys, my dad’s favorite was the 2023 BEP and overall the Maker’s Mark BEP was one of his favorite whiskeys from the entire tour.

I thought the 2023 BEP and the 2021 FAE-02 were about even and really enjoyed them both.

I thought the BEP had a more caramel and oak flavor profile that was extremely smooth whereas the FAE-02 had a bit of sweeter notes to it from the 10 French Staves.

Both were excellent.

The Chocolate Truffle Private Selection was also quite delicious, but not quite as good as the Wood Finishing Series whiskeys.

I also got an additional tasting of the Maker’s Mark Community Batch because I thought it was such a cool bottle.

This bottle is quite literally a Community Batch.

What they do is they take a sample of each single barrel private selection and create a community batch that is a blend of all the top barrels selected by individuals or bars that came in for private barrel selections.

The label lists out every barrel included in the batch along with the entity name of who selected the barrel.

It’s such a cool idea that I just had to try it.

It tasted quite good but still did not compare to the Wood Finishing Series. But that’s mostly because the Wood Finishing Series is just spectacular whiskey.

Dipping Our Own Maker’s Mark Bottles

The coolest part of the Maker’s Mark tour is that they allow you to dip your own Maker’s Mark bottle into the red wax.

I wasn’t sure if this would only be available to people who paid for a tour, but they allowed anyone to do it so my dad and I both dipped our own bottles.

I chose to dip the Maker’s Mark Milk Chocolate Truffle bottle I had sampled in our tasting at the bar and my dad dipped a limited edition Founder’s Release label bottle.

So they give you a Maker’s Mark Apron, have you put on some arm sleeves and gloves and you’re ready to dip your own bottle.

Here is my dad ready to dip his along with both the bottles we dipped.

They had a guide teach you exactly how they dip the bottles to get their signature seal on the top.

We recorded a video of ourselves dipping the bottles and it was quite a cool experience.

Overall, Maker’s Mark was an extremely nice experience all around.

The employees were very friendly, the scenery was beautiful, the whiskey was delicious and we couldn’t have asked for anything more from the experience.

Four Roses Distillery Tour and Tasting

Next up, we visited the Four Roses Distillery for a Tour and Tasting.

Four Roses is one of my favorite distilleries because when I first visited in 2020, it was the most in-depth tour I had and they really taught me a lot about whiskey and especially non-chill filtering.

As you experience the Four Roses distillery, they really do a nice job of showing and explaining how the entire whiskey creation process works and they make it a priority to let you smell and experience the fermentation vats where the whiskey is being produced.

As you move through the facility, you can notice the difference between the stages of fermentation each vat is currently in.

It also really helps you to understand how the yeast breaks down the sugars and creates the alcohol.

I generally recommend that everyone visit the Four Roses Distillery because it’s one of the best tours to get a full understanding of how whiskey is made.

Also, Four Roses has an interesting history and have picked up a unique array of 10 different recipes for their whiskey.

Four Roses uses 5 different yeast strains and 2 mash bills to create a combination of 10 different flavor profiles.

Depending on what yeast strain they use in the whiskey, it can have a wide variety of flavors ranging from delicate fruits to light spice, floral essence, and herbal notes.

In addition, they have a bolder mash bill which contains 35% rye spice which gives the whiskey more spice and heat than their elegant mash bill which is sweeter and has more corn.

As you can see in the top of the image above, this means that each of their whiskey recipes has a specific code combination and you can actually collect a single barrel version of each of these.

They are rare, but I was able to pick up two unique recipes on this trip.

The first was the OBSK that I got at the Four Roses Bottling Facility and the other was at this distillery tours gift shop where I was able to get a bottle of the OESK.

It’s kind of perfect because I will be able to sit down with them both sometime soon and compare the two.

Since they both have the same yeast strain, I will be able to directly compare the two mash bills and see which I like more.

Keep an eye out for my review of those bottles in the near future.

After the tour, we were able to do a tasting of the following whiskeys:

• Four Roses Bourbon
• Four Roses Small Batch
• Four Roses Single Barrel
• Four Roses Small Batch Select

I’m a huge fan of the Four Roses Small Batch Select and honestly think it may be one of the better whiskey deals you can find.

While it is a $60 bottle, it is absolutely delicious and is one of my main go-to whiskeys.

After the tasting, we visited the gift shop where I was able to buy my Single Barrel OESK and take a look at their brand new building.

I was happy to make my way over to the bar in the gift shop.

I noticed they had a bottle of the Four Roses Special Limited Release and asked whether I could get a pour of it.

To my surprise, he said yes!

It’s a whiskey I’ve always wanted to try and was happy to pay the $25 price tag for the pour.

I really wish I was able to purchase a bottle of this whiskey because it was absolutely delicious.

It had the normal caramel, vanilla, and oak you’d get with any bourbon, but it had a very distinct fruit flavor that I really enjoyed.

It was almost a raspberry note that I don’t get in many whiskeys and it really stood out to me.

If I can ever find myself a bottle of this at a decent price, I will certainly be buying myself one.

Overall, Four Roses delivered again.

It’s a distillery I would recommend everyone make sure to visit if they’re doing their own Kentucky Bourbon Trail trip.

Wild Turkey Distillery Tour (Temporary Location)

After Four Roses, we didn’t have much of a plan for the rest of the day.

My dad loves turkey hunting and Wild Turkey is one of my favorite distilleries, so we decided to visit.

Unfortunately, the main Wild Turkey distillery building that I had visited in the past was under renovation, so they just had a small temporary location open which was pretty much just a gift shop and a bar.

At first, I was going to be a little disappointed that my dad wouldn’t be able to get a full Wild Turkey experience but it turned out to be an excellent time.

We got to try some really great whiskeys at the bar:

• Russell’s Reserve 13 Year
• Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse
• W.B. Saffell

If you have ever had a pour of any Russell’s Reserve whiskey, you’ll know just how good they are.

They are some of the best bourbon on the market no matter which price range you are looking for.

Russell’s Reserve 13-Year Bourbon is almost always regarded as one of the most coveted whiskey bottles and for good reason.

My dad and I tasted this whiskey and immediately recognized its quality and why the bottle sells for $600-800 on the secondary market.

In my area of Pennsylvania, people line up outside the store just to get a single bottle of this.

Luckily, I do own a bottle myself because I made sure to get one for my friend and me since Russell’s Reserve is one of his favorite whiskeys.

And let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

I think it is probably my favorite pour of my entire trip and my dad may agree. His would probably be between Russell’s Reserve 13 Year and the Maker’s Mark BEP.

We then decided to try the Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse which is more expensive for a pour than the Russell’s Reserve 13 Year.

The man behind the bar’s name was Bo Garrett ( Instagram is firebirdbo ).

Bo gave us some insight into the differences between Russell’s Reserve Single Rickhouse and Russell’s Reserve 13.

He was extremely insightful and gave us some real insight into the company and some of the stories he’d experienced with Eddie Russell over the years.

We were pleasantly surprised by the experience since this was just a temporary placeholder until the main distillery was finished with renovations, but talking with Bo and having the chance to taste some of the best whiskeys of the trip really made us even bigger fans of Wild Turkey.

After tasting both, we agreed that we enjoyed Russell’s Reserve 13 Year a bit more of these tastings.

There is just something special about Russell’s Reserve 13 Year that really stands out.

Some of the flavors I really enjoyed and picked up on were nice chocolate tobacco notes and even chocolate-covered cherries and dark fruit flavors that were extremely rich and bold.

The final bottle I tasted was the W.B. Saffell.

This is a bottle that I do own. I picked up a bottle of this on my first trip to Wild Turkey back in 2020.

It was very tasty and another example of the quality of Wild Turkey products.

My dad and I still joke about how we should have gotten a Wild Turkey old-fashioned because then we would have a full set of 4 gift glasses since you get to keep the glass with each pour you get (which makes the pricing even more of a deal!)

I’m guessing that next time I visit Wild Turkey, the main building will be all complete and we will be able to have an even more expansive experience so I am looking forward to that.

Woodford Reserve

Our final stop of the day was at Woodford Reserve.

As we drove on our way to Woodford Reserve, we had the chance to see some of the most beautiful countryside scenery.

Woodford Reserve is a sponsor of the Kentucky Derby and it truly felt like we were driving right through Kentucky Derby horse country with picket fencing and lush farmland.

Since this was just an impromptu stop, we didn’t have a tour reserved or anything so we just took a quick walk around and saw what Woodford Reserve had to offer.

I’d definitely like to visit Woodford Reserve in the future sometime and have the complete experience because their distillery campus felt very nice and is probably an excellent tour.

Unfortunately, we were a little late to do tastings and have any drinks at the bar but they certainly seemed to have some rare pours but they were $65 per pour!

I’m honestly not too familiar with Woodford Reserve other than that their double-oaked whiskey is delicious.

I would have liked to taste a few of their offerings, but I will likely just purchase a bottle of their rye and wheat whiskeys and do a 4-bottle comparison with the regular bourbon and double-oaked bottles that I already own.

After Woodford Reserve, we made our way up toward Cincinnati to head to our last distillery tour of the trip the next day.

Taglio Pizza

Once we were in Cincinnati, we settled into our Air BnB and visited one of my favorite pizza places in the city called Taglio Pizza.

They have a Hot-Honey Pizza where they warm up honey and drizzle it over the hot pepperoni pizza and it is absolutely delicious.

My dad even explored this pizza further and saw that they offered a Detroit-style hot-honey pizza so we decided to try both styles.

In the end, the Detroit-style pizza was even better than the regular.

I will certainly be going here every time I’m in Cincinnati for sure.

Day 5 was the final day of our Kentucky Bourbon Trail trip and we were visiting one of my all-time favorite bourbon distilleries.

We stopped for coffee at the Coffee Emporium which had a delicious peanut-butter coffee and has a nice hometown coffee shop vibe to it before we headed off to New Riff distillery.

New Riff Distillery Tour and Tasting

Every time I take a trip to Kentucky for a bourbon trip, I always make sure to spend a night in Cincinnati and visit the New Riff Distillery (which is technically in Kentucky, but just across the bridge from downtown Cincinnati).

New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon and New Riff Single Barrel Rye are two of the go-to whiskeys that I always have on my shelf.

They have a nice proof point, a decent price tag, and offer big and bold flavors that I really enjoy.

So I was excited for my dad to visit and have a taste for himself.

New Riff is pretty new on the scene and has been really making its mark on the industry.

It is stocked regularly in Pennsylvania and has been making its way across the country.

They have two new products that I was excited to purchase and their current lineup consists of the following whiskeys:

• New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon
• New Riff Single Barrel Bourbon
• New Riff Kentucky Straight Rye
• New Riff Single Barrel Rye
• New Riff Malted Rye – Aged 6 Years
• New Riff Balboa Rye
• Silver Grove

I’m a huge fan of all of these whiskeys are was looking forward to trying New Riff Malted Rye and the Silver Grove.

Before the tour started, we decided to taste a few whiskeys are their bar.

As usual, I really enjoyed them all.

Their whiskey just stands out to me for a few reasons. First, the single barrel editions are non-chill filtered and have an excellent mouthfeel to them. It’s one of the main features that really drew me toward New Riff in the first place.

Second, their rye whiskeys really strike a near-perfect balance between having all the rye spice flavors and not being too hot on the palate. They just seem to hit the spot perfectly with a nice balance.

We lucked out and the day that we visited happened to be their Spring Release launch day so they were sharing 2 new editions of their rye whiskeys.

Unfortunately, I missed the email since I was on this trip 3 days prior and wasn’t checking my emails as regularly so they were all sold out via pre-order. If I had just seen the email, it would have been perfect and I could have been there right on the day they released.

Regardless, since it was a special release day, I was able to meet New Riff’s owner Ken Lewis and have a discussion with him about why he decided to start a distillery and learn some of the values that he wanted to instill into his business.

I was impressed with his answers and he shared that he wants to build a brand that is based on values like community and bringing a unique experience to his customers.

He named the distillery New Riff because he wanted it to be a new riff on old traditions and from what I’m seeing so far, I can feel that from the company.

And judging by their sales and reputation, it appears to be working!

Something else that is interesting is that on the same lot, there is a store called Party Source which you can see from the New Riff Distillery balcony.

Ken Lewis used to own this liquor store for over 30 years and since you can’t produce and sell liquor at the same time, he had to sell the store in order to create his distillery.

So he sold the store, but he made the decision to sell the store to the employees so now one of the largest liquor stores in the country is 100% employee-owned.

This just goes to show that his mindset and ideas are truly about the community and building a business based on solid values.

Kentucky Bourbon Trail 2023 – Bottle Pickups

Every time I go on one of these trips, I end up coming home with a whole ton of “souvenir” bottles from each of the places I visit.

This year is no exception.

I do open most all whiskey bottles that I buy so I will be posting reviews of many of the bottles shown in this photo so keep an eye out for those.

I hope you enjoyed reading about this trip with me and my dad.

Hopefully, you will be able to visit many of the places we did and have an amazing time yourself.

If you decide to visit any of these places or have suggestions of where I should visit on my next trip, please let us know on social media via  Reddit ,  Facebook ,  Instagram , or  Twitter .

Thanks for reading and cheers!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Whiskey Blogs

Kentucky bourbon trail trip – our favorite distilleries and tours – april 2022.

We decided to take a trip to visit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail because my friend Andy was going to be having his first child and we wanted to have a trip to celebrate the occasion. Read more…

• Instruction
• Inside the Album
• Concert Captures
• Vintage / Retro Wear
• Harley-Davidson Wear
• Sports Wear
• Pop Culture Wear
• Designer Wear
• New CD Arrivals
• New LP Arrivals
• New Cassette Arrivals
• Official Merch
• Contact/Advertise
• New YouTube Uploads

The Distillers Europe/UK Tour Dates Announced – 2023

Hey guys, thank you for hanging in there. We have all lived through unprecedented times, collectively and individually we’ve all been through the wringer. Rock n roll can be the salve for all our hearts, and we cannot wait to play for you again and see your beautiful faces.

Share this:

• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

Social Distortion: Sounds From Behind The Orange Curtain w/ Joan Jett, The Distillers, The Kills, Frank Turner

Leave a reply, popular this month.

• Post Malone Covers Pearl Jam's "Better Man" on The Howard Stern Show - VIDEO - INTERVIEW - 2022
• Robert Plant with Groupie Audrey Hamilton During Led Zeppelin's 1977 US Tour
• Lizzie Grey Talks Battle w/ Parkinson's, Nikki Sixx, Spiders & Snakes, London, Motley Crue Movie - full in bloom Interview
• Poison in Buffalo, NY at Highmark Stadium - 2022 Tour - PHOTOS/VIDEO - Fan Review
• Jake E. Lee Gets Married In Las Vegas 2019
• Great White Guitarist Mark Kendall: "My Original Shark Guitar" - J Frog - Hard Rock Cafe
• Dee Snider's Inspiration for Strangeland + Captain Howdy
• Guns N' Roses: Izzy Stradlin Makes Rare Appearance @ Rumble Documentary Screening
• Steve Vai Pays Birthday Tribute to Frank Zappa: "He was extraordinary" - 2022
• Tommy Lee, "Sometimes I feel like I failed as a father, because my kids don’t know the value of things"

Interviews & News (VIDEO)

• Joan Jett's "secret life is so strange," says 'Up Your Alley' Producer: Inside the Album, Britny Fox
• Randy Rhoads "signed some things that might come back to haunt him" Ozzy Osbourne INSIDE THE ALBUM
• The Metallica Story is a Lie, Claims A&R Legend Tom Zutaut, Money Made w/ Elektra/David Geffen
• On Eddie Van Halen, What Pissed Sammy Hagar Off, Jake E. Lee, Schenker - Adrian Vandenberg Interview
• Jeff Pilson on the Joke that Pissed George Lynch Off During Tooth and Nail, "It went horribly awry"
• Randy Rhoads "wasn't happy about that," Kelle & Kathy Rhoads on Ozzy/Sharon/Dana Strum/Blizzard
• Tommy Lee "was on the brink of dying" -Slash - Motley Crue/Guns N' Roses Tour - Axl, Duff, Adler
• Jeff Pilson on Don Dokken's "MASSIVE" Drug Use, George Lynch, The End Machine, Foreigner - 2024
• Jake E. Lee on Ozzy's Ultimate Sin, "I don't want to get F'd again," Inside the Album, Bob Daisley
• Tom Werman on Nikki Sixx Not Playing Bass on Motley Crue's Theatre of Pain - 2024 Interview
• Behind the Album
• Biographies
• Classic Movies
• Concert Tickets
• Craft Beers
• Documentaries
• Entertainment
• Environment
• Inside Nashville
• Legendary Venues
• Live Stream
• Movie Stories
• Music Festivals
• Music for Sale
• New Releases
• Opportunities
• Paleontology
• Podcast Excerpts
• Real Estate
• Record Store Day
• Top Stories
• Uncategorized
• Video Games

full in bloom  © 2024

Designed by full in bloom

The Distillers

Follow The Distillers on Ents24 to receive updates on any new tour dates the moment they are announced...

• Be the first to know about new tour dates
• Alerts are free and always will be
• We hate spam and will never share your email address with anyone else
• More than a million fans already rely on Ents24 to follow their favourite artists and venues

Past Events

Here are the most recent UK tour dates we had listed for The Distillers. Were you there?

• Wed 7 Jun ➙ Sun 11 Jun Derby, Donington Park Download Festival 2023 Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon, Metallica, Slipknot, Alexisonfire…
• Thu 9 Jun ➙ Sun 12 Jun Nova Rock 2022 Muse, Rise Against, Steel Panther, Bush, Black Veil Brides…
• Wed 8 Jun ➙ Sun 12 Jun Derby, Donington Park Download Festival 2022 KISS, A Day To Remember, A.A. Williams, Airbourne, Ayron Jones…
• Wed 2 Jun ➙ Sun 6 Jun Derby, Donington Park Download Festival 2021 KISS, Biffy Clyro, System Of A Down, A.A. Williams, A Day To Remember…

December 2020

• Fri 18 Dec Online / Streaming Events The Distillers: Baby It's Covid Outside
• Sat 13 Jun ➙ Sun 14 Jun Sunstroke Festival 2020 Faith No More, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Killing Joke, Neck Deep…
• Wed 10 Jun ➙ Sun 14 Jun Derby, Donington Park Download Festival 2020 KISS, Iron Maiden, System Of A Down, Deftones, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes…

August 2019

• Thu 22 Aug ➙ Sun 25 Aug Reading Festival Reading Festival 2019 The 1975, Royal Blood, The Wombats, You Me At Six, Juice WRLD…
• Thu 22 Aug ➙ Sun 25 Aug Leeds, Bramham Park Leeds Festival 2019 Foo Fighters, A Day To Remember, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, The Distillers, Lil Uzi Vert…

Buffalo Trace Distillery becomes an Official Marketing Partner of the DP World Tour 

The DP World Tour is pleased to announce an expanded partnership agreement with Buffalo Trace Distillery, producer of some of the most coveted American whiskeys and the World’s Most Award-winning Distillery. As part of the multi-year deal Buffalo Trace Distillery becomes an Official Marketing Partner and Official Whiskey Partner of the Tour.

The 360-degree partnership will come to life across various touchpoints including broadcast and news media, custom social and digital content, in-store and on-course branding and pouring experiences. Various whiskeys from the Distillery’s award-winning lineup will be available in hospitality and food and beverage concessions at DP World Tour events for fans to enjoy, including the flagship Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Eagle Rare 10-Year-Old Bourbon, Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey, and Bourbon Cream. 

This new agreement builds on the existing relationship between both organisations that started in 2023. Last season, Buffalo Trace Distillery was an Official Partner of the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, and Official Sponsor of two Rolex Series events - the Genesis Scottish Open and the BMW PGA Championship. Beginning in 2024, Buffalo Trace Distillery’s activations will focus on four markets spanning four continents – the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and South Korea – with more to come as the years unfold. 

“Buffalo Trace Distillery is proud to expand the partnership with the DP World Tour to introduce our award-winning whiskies to fans around the globe,” said Andrew Duncan, Global Director of American Whiskey at Buffalo Trace Distillery. “There are no shortcuts in whiskey or golf: patience, perseverance, exacting attention to detail, and passion for the craft are all required to become great. The whiskeys we make at Buffalo Trace Distillery have been patiently resting in new charred oak barrels for many years awaiting full maturity. Through tasting and activations alongside DP World Tour premier events worldwide, we think golf fans will agree that the time was well-spent.”

Max Hamilton, Group Commercial Director of the DP World Tour, added: “DP World Tour events have evolved to become full entertainment experiences and our partners play a big role in delivering this vision. In Buffalo Trace Distillery we have one of the world’s pre-eminent spirits brands joining us for fan focused activations throughout the season. We’re delighted that the scalability of the DP World Tour, and premium audience it engages, has enabled us to expand our partnership. We’re delighted to help Buffalo Trace Distillery’s take world-leading whiskies to new markets with golf’s global Tour.”

Three to Watch: Challenge de Cádiz

The Challenge de Cádiz takes place at Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri this week and here’s our three men to keep an eye on…

DP World Tour Partners

Great Jones Distilling

Updated by business owner 3 months ago

Review Highlights

“ I came with a group of 4 for the Distillery Tour and Tasting and had a great time with our guide, Jonathan. ” in 14 reviews

“ After the tour we went to the bar upstairs where they served unique cocktails using their very own bourbon . ” in 26 reviews

“ The tour guide gave great information about whiskeys and an educational background of how they come about. ” in 22 reviews

Location & Hours

Suggest an edit

686 Broadway

New York, NY 10012

Great Jones St & 3rd St

NoHo, Greenwich Village

You Might Also Consider

0.07 miles away from Great Jones Distilling

Katie G. said "I am so excited to be writing this review. Over the past year, my family and I have accumulated 10 of these suitcases, in different sizes, and have traveled extensively with them (domestically and abroad). Due to poor handling by…" read more

in Travel Services, Luggage, Airlines

New York Princess Cruises

1.3 miles away from Great Jones Distilling

Set sail on a magical 60-minute NYC cruise!, Get closeup to Lady Liberty & Ellis Island for epic photos. Witness the iconic Brooklyn, Manhattan & Williamsburg Bridges. Admire the stunning Manhattan skyline with the Freedom Tower,… read more

in Boat Tours

Amenities and More

Powered by Health Department Intelligence

6 More Attributes

About the Business

Distillery tours, cocktail classes, and pairing courses at our art deco-style whiskey distillery and cocktail lounge. …

Ask the Community

Ask a question

Can you do a tasting without the tour?

Yes! They have a bar upstairs and I saw people taking some tastings there

Recommended Reviews

• 1 star rating Not good
• 2 star rating Could’ve been better
• 3 star rating OK
• 4 star rating Good
• 5 star rating Great

Select your rating

Overall rating

139 reviews

One of the best food deals in town is their $25 hamburger & Old-Fashioned combo (mid-week only). The burger is big, and comes with bacon, your choice of cheddar or bleu cheese, and lettuce, tomato, pickle, and fries or salad. The Old-Fashioned is made from in-house distilled whiskey, and I found it delicious, although there was no cherry. Sat by the window in the second-floor Bar, for a bird's-eye view of Broadway. A delightful way to spend some time.

I hosted my company offsite here and WOW. The service was amazing, the food was delicious and my entire team had fun learning about bourbon (even the ones who don't drink)! We had a happy hour in the bar afterwards and the prices were really reasonable-- where else in Manhattan can you get a well-crafted prohibition era cocktail for $11??!? I bought a bottle of the rye in the ground floor shop on my way out and not only does it look chic as hell on my bar cart, it's a lovely sipper that I will likely return to buy again. (Also important to note that (while not on happy hour and consequently not cheap) Great Jones Distillery serves one of the best old fashioneds I've ever had.)

Went here for a quick happy hour! Probably one of the best rye Manhattans I've ever had! I recommend to come in on a week day for happy hour. Service was friendly, and I'd love to take the tour some day soon!

I enjoyed my tour at Great Jones. I forgot my tour guides name, but he was really funny (and informative of course). The space itself is super neat and the bar is a beaut. I did enjoy all the bourbons/rye. They also have a speakeasy that they plan to do events in. I'd I had more time, I would have grabbed a drink at the bar and/or gotten dinner at the restaurant.

See all photos from Nikki J. for Great Jones Distilling

I was happy and excited to learn about Great Jones Distillery when I first began working in the city. I enjoy whiskeys and bourbons as my first choice when enjoying an adult beverage. I saw on their website that the bar is open from 330pm and the restaurant opens at 5pm. This schedule works out great for me. So a coworker and I headed over and we were blown away by the decor , the staff, the food and most of the Whiskey. I highly recommend Great Jones in its entirety for obviously all your adult beverage and foodie needs. The service and staff were above and beyond stunning - round of applause to all. The drinks were excellently made and the bourbons a must try. Have dessert !! Have dinner !! Have apps. ! Loved it all.

See all photos from AnnMarie N. for Great Jones Distilling

Came here with some friends for happy hour. We sat at the bar and the bartenders were super attentive, friendly and very nice. My water glass was constantly refilled. They also made some amazing negronis. We ordered the duck croquettes on happy hour and they were a little small but very delicious. We also ended up getting the $1 oysters, which were massive, but wish there was cocktail sauce with them. It is everyday from 3:30 to 6pm. It has $11 drinks, and $1 oysters. Definitely would come back here! Awesome place!

I came here for a tour on the weekend and was thoroughly impressed with the experience! Upon entry into the building there a beautiful deconstructed mini still acting as a centerpiece in the gorgeous and well-appointed entryway/gift shop. Continuing straight to the service desk I was directed to ascend the spiral staircase featuring beautiful art and photos of NYC. At the top I found myself at an even more impressive cocktail bar that offered a full range of signature cocktails and food from the restaurant located downstairs. I had arrived rather early and knew there would be a tasting so I didn't want to start drinking prior, but the bartender was very kind and brought over water and made small talk with some other patrons seated at the bar. Once the tour was set to begin I entered the small waiting room just off the bar to gather with the others awaiting the tour guide's arrival. I got very lucky having Drew as my tour guide. He was charismatic and was very knowledgeable, but kept everything fun and interesting. I feel like I came away from the tour with a much better understanding of what would be in my glass during the tasting. Entering the tasting room was unreal, it felt like a secret speakeasy as you take the freight elevator down to the basement and enter through a decorated set of doors. Everything was laid out and ready for each person on the tour to take a seat as our tour guide turned on some soothing music and started telling us all the details of how to have the perfect tasting. Drew was a fabulous guide and was always open to questions and came around to clink glasses with each person at the end. After the tour we were ushered into another secret speakeasy room that will eventually open as it's own venue, but we were told in the meantime the cozy space and all other areas of the building are available for private parties and events. The group was quite large so we followed our guide up the service stairwell and emerged once again into the entryway/gift shop area where we were able to purchase a bottle and some other small goods. Overall my visit here was amazing thanks to the wonderful staff and spectacular your experience! I'll absolutely be back with some more friends to marvel at it all again.

Tasting flight

Copper Still

We came across Great Jones during one of our walks through the city, and figured it'd be a great place to stop in to get out of the rain! Once inside we meet with the hostess who registered us for their next distillery tour which ran us about $35/per person. I kind of balked at it at first but after going through the tour I felt like we got our money's worth. While waiting for our time slot we went upstairs to their lounge area and order some drinks. The Gold Soul was the favored of the two drinks for both us, but the Autumn's Edge was great too. Probably not for everyone if you're not a fan of a more earthy taste. The atmosphere itself was already classy yet laid back, and even more so due to it being pretty quiet during the day. Our bartender talked to us about the speakeasy that they were running a Christmas pop up out of 3 days a week and made sure we got to see it before leaving. The tour was pretty in depth. The guide went over the basics of bourbon, and then highlighted what separated them from other distilleries. I am always fascinated by the brewing and distilling process so I was eating up all the information given we even got to smell part of a charred barrel! Once the tour was done we went down to the basement and did a testing of bourbons and learned how to change the flavor of them from one sip to another. At the end we got to try a special bourbon and toured the Christmas speakeasy! It was such a cool experience and the team there is so passionate about their craft, which made the experience that much better!

See all photos from Christina C. for Great Jones Distilling

I have to give huge props to Drew for our fantastic distillery tour and to Austin for making the most out of a tough situation. Our visit was screwed up by someone who was not part of the restaurant and Austin made it right anyway. Kudos to all! The various Great Jones bourbons and whiskeys were very pleasant, from a straight bourbon to a more complex four grain bourbon. Our tour guide, Drew, was also a distiller and really knew distilling - we had a knowledgeable crowd and Drew was solid. The flight experience really shows off their different choices, each with its own complexity and backstory. We had dinner after the distillery tour and the food is off-the-hook great. We had, for appetizers, oysters, ribs, tuna over tempura rice, and croquettes. For the mains, we had rack of lamb, duck, and a burger. Everything was perfect. The cocktails were also excellent and I suggest asking for Great Jones spirits in them. I highly recommend the Gold Sour and the Applewood smoked old fashioned. Service was incredibly friendly, timely and accurate. Remember to tip well.

See all photos from Cory N. for Great Jones Distilling

This place is awesome. We had an amazing tour by Jonathan. We were the only ones in the tour, but that didn't stop us from having a grand time. I've been on plenty of bourbon tours all over Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, and this tour and facility was top notch. The place is amazing too. It's in NoHo. It's art deco and everything looks great. The bar upstairs is super sleek. They have a speakeasy downstairs. Everyone was very helpful and nice. Check it out!

12 other reviews that are not currently recommended

The Little Wine Bus

Michael J. said "I have always wanted to do something different like this event. So, I signed up not knowing what to expect always having an open mind. Originally I was going with a friend (That didn't work out) so I decided to go alone. After…" read more

in Party Bus Rentals, Beer Tours, Wine Tours

Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises

2.5 miles away from Great Jones Distilling

Anne W. said "We took this tour because 1 person in our party really wanted to do it ( the rest of us did not). With that said, it turned out to be a great trip! We took the first boat out, we purchased our tickets direct from there website. We…" read more

Collections Including Great Jones Distilling

Manhattan Happy Hour Eats

You say I cannot dance?

By Yinglu W.

NYC Live Music & Drinks

🌃 Manhattan: TO DO

By Caitlin C.

By Mandy C.

Wil Drinks NYC

Time for a Cocktail!

By Melissa Y.

Favorite NYC Restaurants

My Neighborhood

By Tania G.

Restaurants/Bars (NY)

By Angela K.

People Also Viewed

Torch & Crown Brewing Company

The Little Shop

Craft+Carry Gramercy

Alphabet City Beer Company

Stickett Inn

Everything’s Jake NYC Bar & Lounge

Houston Hall

Bar Calico at Freehand

Best of New York

Things to do in New York

People found Great Jones Distilling by searching for…

Bars And Lounges New York

Bars For Large Groups New York

Cocktail Bar New York

Cocktail Classes New York

Day Drinking Bars New York

Fun Bars For Birthday New York

Happy Hour Union Square New York

Night Clubs Times Square New York

Speakeasy Bars New York

Tequila Tasting New York

Whiskey Distillery New York

Whiskey Tastings New York

Browse Nearby

Cocktail Bars

Restaurants

Other Places Nearby

Find more Beer, Wine & Spirits near Great Jones Distilling

Find more Distilleries near Great Jones Distilling

Find more Tours near Great Jones Distilling

Related Cost Guides

Town Car Service

Kentucky bourbon tourism has record year, with $2.1 billon in investments. What that means

Kentucky bourbon survived 13 years of prohibition and the immediate following halt of distilling during World War II only to endure a so-called "golden age" in the years after the war.

Now, the bourbon industry across the state is once again flourishing at unprecedented rates; helping to draw in a record year of tourism and the best year for growth the spirits industry has ever seen.

"Bourbon is booming," Gov. Andy Beshear told the Courier Journal on Dec. 19. "I don't see it slowing down any time soon. I see more craft distilleries that are likely to open, and I see them continuing to move all over the state."

On Dec. 15, Beshear announced that in 2022 "Kentucky recorded its best year for growth of its signature bourbon and spirits industry, with over $2.1 billion in new investments and approximately 700 new jobs for Kentucky residents."

As the bourbon industry continues to grow across the commonwealth, here's a look at what that means.

Bourbon is a key tourism attraction in Kentucky

More: Bourbon is big business in Kentucky. Here are 14 bourbon projects opening in 2024

When traveling to Kentucky, it is nearly impossible to miss the 47 distillery attractions on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail , and for many visitors, bourbon is part of the draw to visit. In 2022, nearly 76 million tourists came through the state, spending more than $8 billion. This visitor level surpasses pre-pandemic 2019 tourism levels and generated $12.9 billion in economic impact for Kentucky, a new state record.

"I'm waiting on the numbers from 2023 but at the very least, I think it'll be the second biggest year," Beshear said. "2022 had the most visitors to the Bourbon Trail ever. I do believe 2023 will beat that, and 2024 will beat even that."

Roughly 95% of the world's bourbon comes from Kentucky and in recent years, the commonwealth's "distilling industry has really embraced tourism, much like what you see in Napa," said Mike Mangeot, the commissioner of tourism for the Kentucky Department of Tourism .

More than two million travelers visited the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in 2022, according to the Kentucky Distillers' Association . The most visited distillery in the state, Buffalo Trace , which is not a member of the trail, saw more than 470,000 guests in the same period, according to Mangeot.

Small, family-run distilleries across the state are also seeing success. The Neeley Family Distillery in Gallatin County offers tours, tastings, and a full bar every day of the week, said Royce Neeley, owner and Master Distiller. The 11-generation family distillery has "developed a great cult following over the world" and welcomes around 60,000 visitors annually.

"The industry reaches consumers all across the United States with a growing demand and has untapped potential as demand continues to grow very quickly in popularity internationally," Mangeot told the Courier Journal. "The more people learn about bourbon, the more opportunity we have to invite them to Kentucky to enjoy a fulfilling bourbon experience."

Going after the popularity associated with "America's native spirit" is something the Beshear administration has supported, namely through marketing efforts such as the Kentucky Department of Tourism partnership with Brand USA , the destination marketing organization for the U.S., Mangeot shared.

While 2023 data on the bourbon industry has yet to be released, Mangeot "suspect(s) we will see another year of great economic impact" and predicts 2024 will be fueled by further growth across both bourbon and tourism, noting the state has 25 multijurisdictional tourism projects launching or continuing in their early stages, most of which were funded via the American Rescue Plan Act .

"Bourbon sets us apart and is something that we, as Kentucky, can specifically own," Mangeot said. "The bourbon industry allows us to offer experiences you can't find anywhere else."

The growth of bourbon tourism in Louisville

Louisville's relationship with bourbon tourism efforts, known as bourbonism, a term coined by former Mayor Greg Fischer, can be traced back to 2006 when Louisville Tourism sought a new brand identity to help promote the city. Eventually, the tourism team decided to "lean-in" to bourbon, a Kentucky cultural asset, and adopted "Gateway to Bourbon Country" as its identity.

At the time, the Kentucky Bourbon Trail was much smaller, and Louisville was without any visitor-related bourbon experience in city limits, Rosanne Mastin, communications and public affairs manager with Louisville Tourism told the Courier Journal.

Over the next couple of years, Louisville's promotion of bourbonism had grown and the Urban Bourbon Trail was born in 2008. And by 2013, Mastin said the city was no longer the "Gateway to Bourbon Country" but rather had morphed into "Bourbon City."

The 2013 opening of the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience within Louisville city limits started the trend of tasting rooms and smaller distillery operations being able to succeed and grow in an urban area. The Evan Williams immersive visitor’s center allows guests to experience and taste the history of its bourbon in the historic Whiskey Row .

"As the first distillery to return to Whiskey Row since the original heyday, the [Evan Williams Bourbon Experience] has led the way for revitalizing 'Bourbonism' or the art of bringing Bourbon-based Tourism to Louisville and Kentucky overall," said Jeff Crowe, director of Kentucky visitor experiences at Heaven Hill.

Since then, more than a dozen bourbon-related attractions have popped up along urban areas including Louisville, Lexington, and parts of Northern Kentucky.

In a 2019-20 study shared by Louisville Tourism, Louisville's bourbonism was the top factor behind a visit to the city, with 30.9% of visitors alluding to bourbon being what drew them to the metro area. In the same study, 43.9% of all respondents took part in bourbon tastings and 39.1% went on a distillery tour.

But it's no accident that Louisville Tourism was able to turn Kentucky's famed brown water into a travel hotspot. The tourism team strategically worked with marketing firms and the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport to align direct flights toward targeted regional areas and specific flight markets to make Bourbon City accessible. As a result, Louisville Tourism won 11 awards from the Kentucky Travel Industry Association, seven of which represented the utilization of Bourbon as a primary driver for visitation, and Travel + Leisure recently named the city as one of the "50 Best Places to Travel in 2024."

"Travelers are looking for authentic experiences and offering a taste of America’s only native spirit is just that," Mastin said. "Luckily, Louisville is not a one-trick pony and has many more assets to offer visitors including icons such as the Kentucky Derby Museum/Churchill Downs, Muhammad Ali Center and the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, and many other attractions."

What bourbon projects are coming to Kentucky in 2024?

Since Beshear took office, the state has expanded its bourbon industry with 96 projects across the state. Here's a look at numerous additional projects and recently opened venues expected to make headway in 2024 :

Note: All items in this list and anticipated openings were provided by the Kentucky Department of Tourism, Louisville Tourism and/or previous Courier Journal reporting. This list does not include every bourbon-related venture coming to the state.

More information can be found here .

• Angel's Envy recently announced a second expansion , which will add 60,000 square feet across the street from its Louisville Main Street flagship headquarters, complete with a proposed pedway connecting the two buildings. The first expansion, which was completed in 2022, added five tasting rooms and doubled its annual guest capacity.
• Augusta Distillery in Bracken County has announced its first full-scale operation in Kentucky by renovating a 40,000-square-foot building, formerly home to the F.A. Neider Co. in Augusta. The company is investing $23 million to build a state-of-the-art distillery , guest experience and event center. The facility is expected to be operational by summer 2024.
• Bardstown Bourbon Co. has opened a tasting room on Whiskey Row in downtown Louisville. The new facility features a full-service bar with innovative craft cocktails and unique tasting experiences. 
• Barrel House Distilling Co. in Lexington plans to expand its production facility 30 miles north into Cynthiana. In addition to distilling bourbon and various other spirits, the $1.8 million project will yield an event space capable of hosting up to 100 guests. Additionally, the new location will be a stop on the Moonshine Trail and Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Construction is set to begin in early 2024. 
• Brothers Wright Distilling has unveiled plans to build a distillery and visitors center in Pike County, with plans to age bourbon in an underground Appalachian coal mine . The 12,000-square-foot project will feature a distillery, rick house, welcome center, museum, and restaurant. Construction is expected to finish by the end of 2024. 
• Buzzard's Roost Whiskey Row Experience recently opened in downtown Louisville. The venue emphasizes education about the art and science of whiskey.
• D.A.A.D Distilling in Lancaster plans to open a Black-owned bourbon distillery on property once owned by a Ku Klux Klan leader. The distillery is slated to open in 2025. 
• Heaven's Door , a whiskey brand owned by Bob Dylan, is set to open a new distillery in Pleasureville as well as a brand experience in the NuLu neighborhood of Louisville. The distillery, which is 45 miles east of Louisville, will be primarily for production. The brand experience, dubbed the Last Refuge, is set to open in a former church on East Market Street. The property will feature a whiskey bar, restaurant and live event space
• J. Mattingly's 1845 D istillery recently opened in Frankfort. The 23,000 square feet facility includes a gift shop, tasting bar, small pot still and a custom bourbon blending experience.
• Lawrenceburg Bourbon Company , owned by a Navy combat veteran, opened its new distillery in October. The facility emphasizes the hiring of military veterans, and its new gift shop and tasting room are now open. 
• Pursuit Spirits launched two new behind-the-scenes distillery experiences at its facility on Mellwood Avenue in Louisville. The "Whole Shebang" experience gives bourbon lovers a chance to learn about mash bills, blending, and maturation from our expert guides, partake in their own private barrel selection, and then fill a personalized bottle to take home. The second experience, "Pursuit United Breakdown," is a 45-minute deep-dive into Pursuit's limited small-batch bourbon. Guests will taste the individual distillates that makeup Pursuit United at cask strength, learning the unique profiles and stories behind each component. 
• Rabbit Hole Distillery announced a planned expansion , set to span an entire half-block in Nulu and include a single barrel tasting facility, gift shop, bar area and expanded office space. The enhanced visitor experience would include tasting rooms, a gift shop, a single-barrel tasting facility, and a courtyard area. It could welcome approximately 150,000 people annually.
• RD1 Spirits is developing a $4.8 million destination to honor the past and future of Lexington’s connection to the bourbon industry. The project will have tours, personalized blending experiences, tasting rooms, a cocktail bar, a gift shop, and an event space. The company’s unique offerings will make it a must-visit for bourbon enthusiasts and tourists alike.
• Western Kentucky Bourbon Company recently celebrated the grand opening of its 25,000-square-foot distillery. The facility, located in Beaver Dam, will be able to distill 50,000 barrels of whiskey a year and store 250,000. The startup distillery, led by 8th Generation Master Distiller Jacob Call, broke ground in November 2022 and filled its first barrel of bourbon whiskey on July 19, 2023. The distillery is not yet open to the public.  

Reporter Lucas Aulbach contributed to this report. Contact business reporter Olivia Evans at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @oliviamevans_ .

Kentucky tourism continues record-setting pace in 2023 with nearly $14B in economic impact

by BRUCE SCHREINER, Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's tourism industry stayed on its record-setting pace in 2023, generating an economic impact approaching $14 billion while sustaining nearly 100,000 jobs, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday.

Travelers visiting the Bluegrass State last year spent $9.7 billion as tourism continued its post-pandemic momentum as a key contributor to Kentucky's growing economy, the Democratic governor said.

“We’re welcoming people to our new Kentucky home, one filled with opportunity and prosperity," Beshear said during his weekly news conference. "Where we want you to come see what we have to offer, and then we want you to move your family here to be a part of it.”

The governor joined tourism leaders at Castle & Key Distillery to celebrate the second straight record-breaking year for tourism in Kentucky. In 2022, the tourism sector bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic to generate an economic impact of nearly $13 billion and was responsible for 91,668 jobs.

Last year was even better, with the statewide tourism industry producing $13.8 billion in economic impact and the sector sustained 95,222 jobs, Beshear said. The study by Tourism Economics determined that 79.3 million travelers visited Kentucky in 2023, up 4.5% from the prior year, he said.

Kentucky's attractions include horse farms and bourbon distilleries as well as outdoor adventure, history, arts and cultural draws. Kentucky is also home to Mammoth Cave National Park.

Bourbon tourism is flourishing, with attendance surpassing 2.5 million visitors last year along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour, which showcases smaller distilleries. Bourbon tourists tend to spend more and stay longer compared to other attractions, the bourbon industry says.

“With distilleries now in 42 counties, bourbon tourism is resurrecting Main Streets across the commonwealth and pouring much-needed revenue into local coffers. And there’s more to come,” said Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association.

Spirit makers have invested big sums into new or expanded visitor centers to play up the industry’s heritage and allow guests to soak in the sights and smells of bourbon-making.

Communities across Kentucky registered robust tourism numbers last year.

Beshear said tourism generated $4.2 billion of economic impact last year in Jefferson County, which includes Louisville, the state's largest city. In Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties — just south of Cincinnati — the combined economic impact of tourism was $2.1 billion, he said. It was $1.6 billion in Fayette County, home to Lexington, the state's second-largest city. In Warren County, tourism brought in $477 million of economic impact, and in McCracken County it generated $319 million.

State Tourism Commissioner Mike Mangeot thanked tourism officials statewide for their role in the sector's success, along with the thousands of leisure and hospitality industry workers. The tour guides, restaurant workers, hotel desk clerks and others are “the frontline ambassadors,” he said.