A Day on the Bourbon Trail

Last Updated on December 20, 2023 by Ranchers

The Bourbon Trail is a stroke of marketing genius created by the Kentucky Distillers Association in 1999. From its humble beginnings with less than ten distillers, it has grown today to more than 46 distilleries, with two different trails. The original Trail consists of 18 distilleries while the new trail launched in 2012 includes an additional 28 distilleries and is broken into four distinct regions. Considering they are both self-guided discovery tours, you are free to pick and choose from either group to suit your interest.
To make things easier for you, and to give you the opportunity to earn some free and unique stuff, the KDA has produced the Bourbon Trail Passport and Field Guide for fifteen bucks. You will need to be a truly dedicated bourbon fan to collect all of the passport stamps, but the field guide is 150 pages of maps, distillery information, recipes, and more.
Marketing aside, the trail takes you to two great cities in Louisville and Lexington, and to the birthplace of it all, Bardstown, along with some pretty countryside through horse country, or in some cases, horse art country..

We took two tours, and if we had more time, would definitely have taken more. While it may be true the distilling process is not very complicated, and every tour will therefore essentially become redundant, I found the subtle differences in the way each crafts their brand immensely interesting. Also, the flat out passion each of our tour guides had for not only their own brand, but for bourbon in general, made each tour unique. My suggestion would be to take several tours mixing in brands you know with brands you don’t. The tour will almost certainly help you to better understand why you enjoy some bourbons and not others. Or, in our case, to learn how to enjoy bourbon for the very first time.

Woodford Reserve

Our first tour was at the Woodford Reserve distillery located in Versailles, just outside of Lexington. Being wine drinkers, we naturally assumed the Reserve part of the name was the distillers best cut of a particular batch, but it turns out it is all Reserve. The distillery sits on a beautiful plot of land with buildings dating back to the early 1800’s.

Our tour lasted about an hour and a half, with stops at the mash tubs, the distilling pots, and the aging rooms. The mash room is absolute heaven, smelling of banana bread and deliciousness. We also learned that the flavors generated here are not infused, they are naturally occurring fruit esters, which are a byproduct of the fermenting process. Specific esters can be produced by making subtle changes to the fermentation process, materials used in distilling, and aging.

This subtlety in technique is what allows distillers to create unique flavor profiles for their bourbons, all without changing the the tried and true distilling process. This is critical because additives are not allowed or it can’t be called bourbon.
We also learned the majority of the flavor is derived from the charring process of the oak barrels. One of the principle requirements for a spirit to be called bourbon is that it must be aged in new charred oak barrels. However, the length of the char is not specified, so distillers have many opportunities to tune their flavor profile in this step. The length of char has a direct impact on the ability of the alcohol to extract flavor from the wood.

In fact, the barrel and char process is so important to the final flavor of any bourbon, Woodford Reserve maintains its own cooperage on site to manufacture their own barrels.
Of course, no tour would be complete without a tasting, and we were treated to samples across several styles of bourbon. A traditional, a rye, and a double oaked, keeping in mind that to be called bourbon, at least 51 percent of the mash must be corn. Being the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby, we also had a sample Mint Julep.

Angela will also tell you the gift shop is great.

Buffalo Trace

Buffalo Trace is not actually part of the official bourbon trail. The Sazerac Company bought Buffalo Trace in 1992 and has opted to operate the distillery independent of the KDA. Difficulty in obtaining anything but the baseline Buffalo Trace bourbon would suggest they are doing just fine without the help of their fellow distillers, but many locals had some strong negative opinions about their business model.

You might think you were touring a college campus or possibly a monastery rather than a distillery when you arrive. First off, the buildings are all brick and regardless when they were actually built (storms, fire, and remodeling have destroyed or removed many of the original buildings), the place still has the feel of the the first buildings constructed in the late 1700’s. There are also separate areas dedicated to their specialty bourbons, so there are more buildings in general, and finally, it is immaculately manicured.

I can’t vouch for how difficult tour tickets may be all year long, but we booked our tour five weeks out and had to come back to the web site multiple times before two tickets were available. The bourbon tours are free (this is the only free tour we saw on the trail, but I can’t speak to all 46 distilleries) and last about an hour and a half.

If bourbon is not necessarily your cup of tea, or have already visited enough other distilleries, there is also a botanical garden tour and a National Historic Landmark tour.

On to Angela’s favorite part of any tour, the gift shop. While Woodford Reserve focused on their product, Buffalo Trace is a Disneyland of swag. Clothing, alcohol related products, golf products, you name it, there is something in there with a Buffalo Trace logo. They also have a clever way of driving demand and repeated visits to the gift store. You are required to register at the visitor desk where your drivers license is scanned and you are issued a wrist band before you are allowed entry into the gift shop. While Buffalo Trace is always on the shelf, and can be purchased daily, their specialty bourbons are introduced once a day in random quantities and without prior notice. Once sold out, that’s it for the day and you are only allowed to purchase one of those bottles once a month. Your information is saved on the wristband so if you try to cheat, you will be politely asked to exit the checkout without any of your stuff. Clever, reasonably sophisticated, and a great way to insure everyone gets at least some opportunity to buy a bourbon that is nearly impossible to find at your local package store.

Bardstown – Bourbon Capital of the World

Bardstown is the birthplace of it all and worth a day trip all by itself, or better yet, make it your home base for your bourbon trail adventure.

Bardstown was first settled in 1780 and less than 10 years later a Baptist minister named Elijah Craig is credited with developing the first bourbon. Naturally, he has been excommunicated as a Baptist (kidding), but his legacy to an industry synonymous with the American spirit lives on.

Today, Bardstown is home to a half dozen distilleries, several right on the edge of town to include Jim Beam and Makers Mark, and an additional dozen within a very short drive. It also holds a wealth of buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, museums dedicated to both bourbon and the South, and regular entertainment to keep you from straying too far from a place designated as the “Most Beautiful Small Town in America” by USA Today and Rand McNally, and, of course, the Bourbon Capital of the World.

Bourbon informs most of the town’s focus, as it should, and Mammy’s Restaurant pretty much sums up Bardstown to me. It is an unassuming storefront opening up into a quite large dining room and bar area. Inside is decorated with a wealth of bourbon themed paraphernalia and offers up a simple menu of southern homestyle cooking. You would think, based on the décor, there would be limited bar options. And here, as I have been so many times, I was wrong again, and how foolish of me to think in the bourbon capital of the world, bourbon would not be prominently on the menu. While the food offerings were limited to about a dozen or so, the bourbon list came out like a copy of War and Peace. Overwhelming, and to be honest, completely wasted on us, we opted for two of their mixed drink specials. A fantastic burger and sublime mixed drink later and we couldn’t have been happier or more pleasantly surprised.

Now, getting back to why Mammy’s is a microcosm of Bardstown. First impression set the bar low, but if you take a minute to step inside you will find a wealth of hidden discoveries. And finally, because let’s face it, you’re here for the bourbon, you cannot help but be impressed with the depth and breadth of your options. Just like the town itself.