It smells so good in here!! Green River sits out in Owensboro, almost a two-hour drive from Louisville. Cheers, Julie, Your email address will not be published. Sleep in Louisville. Andrew Jackson and King Louis Phillippe both stayed here. Also in Lexington is the Barrel House Distillery, which makes small-batch bourbon, as well as moonshine, vodka and rum, which makes it worth a stop. It has received accolades from Conde Nast Traveler, Southern Living, and Travel & Leisure. This is a great place to start your visit to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Here's a sample itinerary to follow for your visit. If you are short on time, or have no desire to visit all eighteen distilleries, here is a short list of the top experiences to have on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Bulleit Distilling Company. $20 is the average price for a tour. Starting off in Louisville, visit the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. If you are looking for a highly rated hotel and dont want to spend a lot of money, this is a great option. There are 37 distilleries total, but whether you tackle them all is entirely up to you! You can elect to skip the tour and just do a tasting instead. The busiest time to visit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail is from August through mid-November. HISTORIC: Jailers Inn Bed & Breakfast. For more information about the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, we have two more articles that will help you plan your trip: The Ultimate Guide to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Best Distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Printing a map gives you an image that can be used to guide your instructions. Creating a snapshot image is easy since all dimensions are measured in pixels. During the aging process, a small percentage of the bourbon evaporates per year, what is referred to as the angels share. If you want to take home this aroma, many gift shops sell bourbon-scented candles. To read about our favorite bourbon distillery, read this post. If this is part of a bigger road trip through the USA, visit our United States Travel Guide for more inspiration and travel planning tips. Check the hours of operation for each distillery before your visit. Yes! Kentucky Bourbon Trail Has A New Passport, Field Guide Available For Then head to The Woodford Reserve Distillery. They have a few iconic bourbon brands that are produced here: Buffalo Trace, Blanton's (with the little horse on top of the round bottle), and Eagle Rare. Holiday Inn Express and Suites Downtown Louisville. PRO TRAVEL TIP: When planning your Kentucky Bourbon Trail itinerary, check the distilleries websites for updated hours and tour availability. Pdf Printable Kentucky Bourbon Trail Map | Ruby Printable Map When you're ready for a hearty meal, there's super delicious BBQ right off I-75 at Red State BBQ. George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill. If you have hotel reserved, the staff might be able to make some recommendations for you. The final distillery is back up near Louisville: The Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience. Due to vivid -19? The Field Guide is your passport to exploring the people and the places behind the Bourbon. Kentucky Bourbon is perfectly aged. Specialty tours cost more. One of these is the very famous Buffalo Trace Distillery (which we include on this itinerary). This was our all-around best tour experience. Click OK to confirm. Kentucky Bourbon Trail | Earth Trekkers - Google My Maps The whiskey cannot be distilled higher than 160 proof, enter the barrel higher than 125 proof, and it must not enter the bottle less than 80 proof. Lux Row. Makers Mark is a must-visit on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. About this Kentucky Bourbon Trail Itinerary, For more restaurant recommendations, check out our article, For more ideas of what to do in Louisville, read our article about. Rather than paying the fee to join the Kentucky Distillers Association, they prefer to offer free tours and tastings to their visitors. Bring your military ID, if you have one. It's one of the biggest in Bardstown, which is certainly worth seeing. Looking to plan trip in mid June 2020, I recommend checking the official websites of the distilleries to see if they are open. However, the spirits are further refined with their patented TerrePURE process. They give a really thorough background on the drink and Louisville's history with it (and yes, it ends with a tasting). The samples were pretty small, but it's straight bourbon, so you're probably gonna feel pretty good afterward. The tour takes you through the entire distilling process from start to finish, so you'll get to see the still, the warehouse, and the bottling process. To get here, drive or use Uber. I give links to each distillery in these daily itineraries. These regions are broken out by geographic location. We offer a real-time comprehensive list of all the distilleries from start up farm distillery to craft distillery to large pre-Prohibition distillery. Follow day #4 and #5, sleeping in either Bardstown or Louisville. This distillery is so new that their bourbon is still aging, although they do have other liquor you can sample when you visit, like rum aged in old bourbon bottles and unfiltered vodka. You will also notice that on some days I have included more than just distillery tours. And dont miss our post about all eighteen distilleries, the Best Distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Day 1 and 2 for sure then a day on the road. However, with various sizes for printing come a variety of new variables. You have the choice to head southeast out of Louisville to explore the Jim Beam facilities. It's the same for maps that are large: they can take up nearly 50% of the screen. If you are doing this over a long weekend, plan on spending one day in each area. Distilleries | Kentucky Bourbon Trail Similar to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, the Craft Tour takes bourbon touring and tasting to the next level. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Download the TN Whiskey Trail brochure in PDF format. We took the Shaken & Stirred class at Bardstown Bourbon and it was our favorite experience on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. In 1999, the Kentucky Distillers' Association formed the Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour to give visitors a firsthand look at the art and science of crafting Bourbon, and to educate them about the rich history and proud tradition of Kentucky's signature spirit. A memorial now stands at his birthplace. They have 10 different varieties of bourbon, and a really unusual, Spanish-style building that houses the distillery. What distinguishes one bourbon from another is the mash bill, the strain of yeast used by each distillery (some strains dating back decades), and how long the whiskey ages in the oak barrels. After touring the three distilleries, you can either return to Louisville or spend the night in Bardstown. Dine on Central American food prepared by the chef who grew up on the Yucatan Peninsula. The distilling process at Green River is very innovative and a visit here is worthwhile if you want to learn about a unique way to distill bourbon. Required fields are marked *. The Major Kentucky Distilleries and the Bourbon Brands They Produce, Mapped. Cheers, Julie. Lunch: Walk, drive or Uber to the Mussel & Burger Bar, another one of our favorite restaurants in Louisville. Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour Spend the night in a historic tavern, enjoy the nightlife in Louisville, or visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. Cheers, Julie. In this guide, learn how to plan a trip around the world. We are looking for a private driver for 2 days. The Old Talbott Tavern, located in Bardstown, is also a great pick. We both acquired a taste for bourbon on our long weekend in Kentucky. You can take a tour and get a stamp in your passport at either location. Traveling directly between Louisville and Lexington (when you arent stopping at distilleries) takes less than an hour, and both cities have convenient airports. Our website uses cookies. Wilderness Trail sits a bit farther away, in Danville. After touring Old Forester, its a short walk to Angels Envy. Renting a car was cheap, driving between the distilleries was easy (and gorgeous), and we could make our own schedule. The distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail are open year round. Read on to learn how to use printable maps. My father, who is a Bourbon man, will be celebrating his birthday next month and I thought of taking him on a Bourbon tour. Lexington or Louisville arent the only places to eat well in bourbon country. The original distillery opened on Derby Day in the 1930s, and it recently reopened for tours. A Few Facts about the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Kentucky Bourbon Trail in 1 Day: Follow day #1, where you get a great overview of the distilling process and get to visit three distilleries in Louisville. This hotels onsite restaurant, Proof on Main, is one of Louisvilles best restaurants and bars. In 2008, it was Historic Hotels of Americas top pick. This hotel also gets great reviews and has an excellent location. If you want to print a different dimension, choose an alternative size from the drop-down list , then alter the size of the page. Tim and I stayed here on our most recent visit to Louisville and we had a very nice experience here. Old Forester offers a tour with the president of the company (a few times per year). Have a classic, refined dinner at the hotel restaurant, or opt for a more funky choice in town (Latin farm-to-table, asian fusion, or BBQ and oysters). It's a National Historic Landmark, but it's also gorgeously maintained, and set in a dreamlike corner of the Bourbon Trail. If you want a hotel with an awesome location and one that gets great reviews, the Homewood Suites is one to consider. Since it's the largest maker of Kentucky bourbon, you'll get a different view: that of a larger-scale operation. If you want to tour all eighteen distilleries, you need a minimum of seven days. All rights reserved Earth Trekkers. We were thinking of going the week before Memorial Day weekend and staying through the weekend. Uber and Lyft are also all good choices, and if you've managed to stay sober, biking can also be a fun option. There's a reason that bourbon is historically produced in Kentucky (even though legally it can come from anywhere in the US): the limestone filtered water and locally-grown grains just plain taste better, and the fact that the region has, for most of history, made most of America's bourbon, means that the people there have a deep passion for it, and they also have old-school, time-tested recipes, too. This is the biggest driving day on this Kentucky Bourbon Trail itinerary. By continuing to browse this website you are agreeing to our use of cookies. They like to talk about their mash bill and their yeast strains that they use. This map was created by a user. Select the size of the map before it is time to print it. BUDGET: Holiday Inn Express and Suites Downtown Louisville. But many distilleries offer special tours. The Angels Envy tour features a tasting of their Rye whiskey straight from the barrel. We have been twice, the same weekend both times (the weekend before Thanksgiving). Races at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington take place in October and April, and at Churchill Downs in Louisville in November, May, and June . Our favorite experience on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail was the cocktail class at Bardstown Bourbon. Monday through Friday, tours are offered at the Kentucky Cooperage (1 pm is the latest tour time). Are the distilleries open now?