Kentucky Bourbon Trail: pt 1.
I know that you already know this but just in case you don’t, Kentucky has a lot of bourbon! And to put it in perspective, there are more barrels of bourbon than people in Kentucky. How do you know which one you should visit? Or how will you get to all the ones you want in a short amount of time? Well, that’s where I come in. I am going to break this down into 3 parts because theres a lot of information and I will break it down by each day we were there. I planned each day by the distilleries that were in that area.
There are distilleries all over the state, most are in Bardstown or Frankfort, but if you want to stay within Louisville there are plenty there too. The last time we did the bourbon trail 3 years ago we stayed in downtown Louisville at the Omni Hotel, we rented a car and had to drive just a bit further to get to the distilleries we wanted to visit. Last time our itinerary included: Bulleit, Woodford, Makers Mark, Evan Williams, and Angels Envy. Angels Envy & Evan Williams in downtown Louisville along with a dozen others! This time I had a better understanding of where these distilleries are, so when planning this trip I did it by the area. To cut down on driving time and more time on tasting!
This trip started with me finding The Bourbon Barrel Retreats on social media. Who wouldn’t want to stay in giant bourbon barrels while exploring the bourbon trail? These barrels are so amazing and spacious, all have king king-size beds, a full bathroom, a small kitchen, and a sitting area. As a bonus, they come with a hot tub and grilling area outside. The barrels are spaced out so while there are 9 of them, you have a ton of privacy.
Day 1: Since we took an earlier flight we were able to hit a couple of distilleries right off the plane. But first, and one of the most important things to do on the trail, is EAT & hydrated (not just with bourbon). We found an unbelievable BBQ place called Back Deck BBQ in Lousiville. The food was to die for and the guys who owned it were so kind to us. We ended up ordering brisket sandwiches, sweet potato fries, and mac and cheese, and finally, the ribs were done on the cooker so we got some of those too. The owners told us there is usually a line around the block to get the wings and ribs, and I completely get it. Everything was delicious and now that we had some food in our stomachs, time for bourbon. The first bourbon distillery stop of the day was at Bulleit Distillery, one of my favorites. This distillery is completely modern considering it’s a relatively revamped bourbon. The first batch of bourbon came in 1830, but after a strange disappearance from the original owner, the grandson opened the distillery in 2017 with a slightly different mash bill from 1830. Bulleit is known as a bartender brand, the owner hand-sold bottles of his bourbon in a lot of bars in California, and caught on in San Fransisco. It was in such high demand that the bartenders begged Bulleit to make rye for when customers ordered rye cocktails, so they listened and developed a rye in 2011.
The Bulleit tour is one of our favorite tours and tastings. It's cool to see how different their facility is compared to others and the direction that a lot of new distilleries are heading. After the tour of the facility, it is tasting time. The 30-minute tasting is a fully immersive sensory tasting, using light sounds and scents and experience the change in the bourbon with those things. If you are not an expert and just getting into bourbon here’s an easy to to tell the difference between them. If your bourbon is higher rye, you're going to feel it all in your mouth and jaw, if your bourbon has more wheat in it you're going to feel it in your throat and if your bourbon has a high percentage of corn that where you’re going to get the “Kentucky Hug” and feel it all in your chest. At the end of the day, Bulleit is great any way you like to drink bourbon, in a cocktail or neat. There is something for everyone to like about Bulleit frontier Bourbon.
About 20 minutes away from Bulleit is Buffalo Trace. This is one of the few distilleries where you do not have to pay to do a tour and can walk freely outside on their grounds. If you do a tour it is open to all ages (which isn’t the case in a bunch of these distilleries) they are complimentary but you do need to make a reservation, and finally they include a tasting. We just walked around the grounds and peeked into some buildings. The coolest part of this facility is the “railroad tracks” where they move the barrels in and out of the rickhouse. Each rickhouse at max capacity can hold 58,000 barrels, totally over one million agining whiskey barrels just at this single location.
Recently Buffalo Trace & Chris Stapleton just collaborated and released Travelers Bourbon and not surprised but it’s so good! Visiting these distilleries gives you an amazing opportunity to buy bourbon that might be a little tricky to find in your home town, or grab new releases before they are open to the public. You can check their website calendar for their upcoming release dates.
Like I said I am going to break this down into 3 parts, and hope I will inspire you guys to head to Louisville and experience this amazing trail.