Kentucky Bourbon Tour: Birth to Boom | Full Tour to All Four Distilleries
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About the Tour
About the Tour
Get ready for an extraordinary trip to Kentucky’s bourbon region. On this jam-packed driving tour, you’ll visit the James B. Beam Distilling Co., Maker’s Mark Distillery, Four Roses Distillery, and Woodford Reserve Distillery. Each leg of the tour gives you a deeper appreciation for the bourbon tradition and the folks who make it special.
The tour starts at the James B. Beam Distilling Co., where you’ll learn about the Beam family’s impact on the bourbon industry. As you continue on this 150-minute driving tour, you’ll hear Master Distiller Brent Elliot unveil the secrets behind Four Roses’ unique flavors. Bill Samuels, President Emeritus of Maker’s Mark, will tell family stories about starting the iconic brand. You’ll also hear Master Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris describe the innovations that made Woodford Reserve a world-class spirit.
As you travel through the rolling hills and picturesque landscapes of Kentucky, you’ll get the scoop from industry insiders and agriculture experts. You’ll also hear from local horse trainer, Herbie Reed, as you drink in the rich connections between horse racing and bourbon in Kentucky.
The tour ends en route to the town of Frankfort, where you can join Interstate 64. By this point, you’ll have learned about the birth of Kentucky bourbon, its mid-century demise, and the people who brought it back with a Boom!
While driving between distilleries, you’ll have a chance to:
- Travel through the heart of Bardstown, the Bourbon Capital of the World
- Discover how Maker’s Mark went from a father’s retirement hobby to an international brand
- Listen to the CEO of the world’s largest barrel-making company tell you about the cooper’s craft, and take an optional stop at the Kentucky Cooperage Visitors Center
- Unearth the regenerative practices today’s farmers use to supply bourbon’s grains
- Compare Woodford Reserve to cognac as a world-wide spirit
So, buckle up, drive responsibly, and let our tour turn the long, confusing drives between distilleries into an immersive Kentucky Bourbon tour.
Cheers to an adventure you’ll talk about for years to come!
Tour Producer
Tour Producer
High Proof Tours
As Official Partners of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, we craft immersive, phone-guided audio tours throughout the Kentucky Bourbon Trail that Make Your Drive Come Alive.
As you travel between iconic distilleries, you'll hear exclusive interviews, local stories, and deep dives into bourbon history. Our tours will map you a drive that blends adventure with insight to give you a travel experience that’s truly unforgettable.
High Proof Tours was dreamt up by two college buddies, Christopher & Adam. Christopher's an Emmy-Award winning documentary filmmaker with a love of storytelling. Adam's a whiskey geek with a bourbon collection so large that some say if you laid the bottles end-to-end, it'd be taller than the Eiffel Tower. After visiting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, hearing the incredible stories, experiencing the long drives between distilleries, they saw a need for some better storytelling (and better navigation through some of those back country roads).
Christopher had already been creating tours on VoiceMap for clients - one of which is the globally top-rated driving tour on the platform. So he and Adam put their heads together, connected with the incredible people at the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, interviewed some legendary master distillers, and published their tours.
Cheers to an adventure you‘ll talk about for years to come!
Preview Location
Preview Location
Location 23
Margie's Legacy
Good job. We will stay on 527 until we get to St. Francis in about 5 minutes.
When asked about Maker’s Mark’s role in the Bourbon Boom, Bill reflects fondly on a Town & Country article a few years back…
>> Bill Samuels:
They, they got 21 of the, of t... Read More
View locations and route
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Major Landmarks
Major Landmarks
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James B. Beam Distilling Co.
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Bardstown
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Maker's Mark Distillery
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Kentucky Cooperage Visitors Center
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Four Roses Distillery
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Woodford Reserve Distillery
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The Jim Beam Barn
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Heaven Hill Brands Warehouse
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Four Roses Distillery Visitor Center
Getting There
Getting There
Route Overview
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Start location37.93126861, -85.65181707
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Total distance196km
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Final location38.12327493, -84.80777401
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Distance back to start location77km
Directions to Starting Point
Our tour starts in the parking lot of the James B Beam Distilling Co. (Jim Beams' visitors center). Try to park in the spaces to the east of the visitors center. If those are all full, park as close to the visitors center as you can.
Our tour has about 10 minutes of introductions and house-keeping before you’ll actually start driving, so park facing the visitor’s center if you can. It’s nice to have the distillery to look at.
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Tips
Tips
Places to stop along the way
During our trips along this route, we’ve really enjoyed the meals at Toogie’s Table (in Bardstown) and Heaven’s to Betsy (in Lawrenceburg).
Doing tours or tastings at all four of the bourbon distilleries along this route makes for a very full day. That said, if you’re not planning to spend a ton of time at each distillery, and you really want to get your Bourbon Trail Passport stamps, you’ll be passing right by the following distilleries: Heaven Hill; Willet; Limestone Branch; and, Wild Turkey.
Best time of day
We’d recommend making an early-morning visit to the Jim Beam Distillery so that you can start our driving tour by mid-morning. While our tour only has you driving for ~2.5 hours, you’ll want time to experience each distillery, so the day can go by fast!
Precautions
Do not drink and drive. Do not drive intoxicated. Have a designated driver.
Be careful on these windy back-roads. Go at or below the speed limit.
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