KY bourbon trip...

So I’m heading to Lexington, KY in April and I’d like to hit a distillery…any recommendations regarding which one in that area is best, and a great place to stay?? Thanks!!

Hi Patrick,

We went in October, was really great. We enjoyed Town Branch…the tour wasn’t anything special, but they make decent beer, and they do a Bourbon, a "Scotch’ and a Rye. The Rye was quite good. It is also in downtown Lexington, so very convenient.

We loved the Woodford Reserve tour, beautiful tasting room, wonderful grounds, nice tour, and you can buy food for lunch.

Four Roses was a good tour, and they have some hard to find, cask strength selections for sale.

Buffalo Trace was good as well, the place is HUGE. You can go right on the bottling line where they were filling and labeling Blanton’s, that was cool. And you can see Pappy in the barrel, though don’t expect to taste it.

We stayed here, a very nice, updated rental. A little northeast of town, but smack dab in the middle of the horse farms. Beautiful.

We are going back in May to do the Louisville side.

I knew i forgot one, we also toured Wild Turkey. A good tour, a very generous tasting, as they make a LOT of different stuff. The Forgiven was my favorite.

Great recommendations, thanks so much!

I’d second Buffalo Trace and Woodford. If you get there right tour guide at Buffalo Trace, it can be awesome.

Although the tasting room is stunning, I was not a fan of Wild Turkey.

Lot’s of “craft” shine being made as well. Some are fun to visit.

Jason

How much time do you have? I spent two days there last year- one day just in Bardstown (an hour west), the second between Lexington & Frankfort. Four Roses was probably my favorite- they showed all aspects of production pre-barrel in detail and did a nice tasting. The country around Woodford is beautiful. Buffalo Trace was very informative for such a large operation. Book one of the reservation-required tours if you go, I enjoyed the Hard Hat. In Bardstown it was easy to hit Willett, Heavens Hill & Barton in one afternoon.
There are also some nice beer stops in Lexington if you enjoy that beverage as well. I spent the night between the two on the north side of Lexington - the Holiday Inn Express Lexington Northeast which was your typical chain hotel but quiet, reasonably priced and easy to get to/from. Happy to provide more detail, just lmk.

The Buffalo Trace tour is a bit commercial but it’s really fun and interesting.

If you were only doing one, I would probably choose Woodford, for the best overall experience. Though the Blanton’s bottling line was really cool to see.