We love bourbon! So we decided a trip to Kentucky to explore the bourbon trail was a must-do! We chose to stay in-between Louisville and Lexington because we planned to go to several distilleries and the ones we were most interested in were not all condensed to one small area. There are several distilleries in the Louisville area and Lexington area so you do not have to drive around nearly as much as we did. There is also an Urban Bourbon Trail in downtown Louisville if you wanted to stay within the city. The driving between Louisville and Lexington is beautiful, you will drive through rural farmlands with rolling hills and will see lots of horses. From where we live in Michigan, it was only a six-hour drive down to this area so it made sense to do this as a long weekend road trip.
We drove down Friday night and stopped in Louisville at the restaurant called Game for dinner. This a burger restaurant that specializes in serving different game meats. You can get venison, elk, and even kangaroo. The place is pretty small and was busy but it was worth the wait. The burgers were great and we always enjoy getting to try something we’ve never had before. A burger is a nice way to introduce a game meet if you are not familiar with it or hesitant about it.
Saturday we started our Bourbon tour. We started with Maker’s Mark since they were the furthest away from the others. From there we headed to 4 Roses, then to Woodford where we had a reservation ahead of time. Finally, we went to Buffalo Trace, where we didn’t have a reservation and didn’t get a tour, just a tasting. From there we did dinner and then headed back to our Air B & B for the night.
Maker’s Mark: This was definitely the best tour that we went on. They are well organized and well set up for tours. We did not have a reservation ahead of time which was another reason why we chose to go there first thing and try to get on the first tour of the day since it does get busy. You can book your tour ahead of time on their website to ensure your spot. The general tour lasts about one hour and ends with a tasting. Tours start at 9:30 AM Monday-Saturday, the last tour of the day is at 3:30 PM Sunday they open at 11:30 AM. Here is their website for more information https://www.makersmark.com/tours The tour takes you through the distillery and all the buildings where the barrels are stored. They even let us taste the mash that was fermenting. You end with a tasting and from there are brought to the store. All the bottles in the store do not have the red wax on the top. Any bottle you chose to buy you can dip yourself with instruction from the workers which is a fun experience. The buildings themselves are beautiful as are the grounds that surround the distillery. We would highly recommend visiting if you are in the area!
Buffalo Trace: When we arrived all the tours for the day were full so we did just a tasting. Tours are available Monday-Saturday 9:30 AM- 4 PM and Sundays 12-3 PM. The standard tour you don’t need a reservation for but they do tend to fill up so we would recommend getting there early. They do offer other tours as well which you can reserve online at their website. https://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/visit-us/our-tours We did get to walk around the grounds of the distillery while waiting for our tasting. We just didn’t get to go inside all the buildings since we were not on an actual tour. The biggest complaint we had about the tasting here is that we have had all of the bourbons that were included in the tasting. We were hoping to try some of the bottles they make which are not readily found at any grocery or liquor store. We did get to try their white mash and their vodka which we hadn’t had before. The Bourbons we tasted were the standard Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare. We don’t really care for vodka so for us we were really hoping to try some new bourbons. The grounds of the distillery are really pretty, there are some old buildings nearby that are not part of the distillery. If you are there for a tasting or tour take some time to walk around the area as well before you leave.
After our Bourbon tours, we headed to the Old Bourbon Kitchen (OBC) near Lexington for dinner. This place was awesome! They had an extensive bourbon list to chose from. They offered flights so you can try multiple Bourbons. We really enjoyed their Barreled Old Fashioned. We had an ahi tuna appetizer then we enjoyed shrimp and grits and fried chicken for our main courses. All of the dishes were great.
Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum: Sunday we decided to see some horse racing at Churchill Downs. Tickets for a covered seat were extremely affordable, $10 a ticket as it wasn’t the Derby or another important race. Races started at 1 pm and went all afternoon with races starting every 30 minutes. We arrived early so we could walk around and see the museum. A separate entrance fee is required to see the museum. We paid for the museum entrance and a tour of the grounds. On the tour, we saw the paddock- the area where the horses line up in preparation for the race. We also got to hear some additional history and facts about the derby and got to watch the first race from right at the gate without any other visitors blocking our view. The museum is very well done and definitely worth a visit. You can get through the museum in about 45 minutes to an hour and the tour is about 30 minutes long. After the museum and tour, we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the races. It was not very busy the day we were there so we could move around to different seats to get a better view of the races. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon in Kentucky. We decided not to do any actual betting but instead spent our money on lunch and Mint Juleps.
