9 Comments

  1. Makers Mark is in Lorretto KY And is a fair bit further south, however Beam is alittle south near Bardstown and if you get a bit east near Frankfort you will find Buffalo Trace and Labrott and Grahm. Both fine distillers. I hope you find a way to enjoy.
    Just another lurker on your sight.

  2. The Jim Beam distillery is roughly thirty minutes south, in Clermont. I used to run retriver field trials there every year during Kentucky Derby week.

    You can drive all across the Jim Beam land with your car window down and smell the bourbon in the air. It’s wonderful. 😉

    I’ve got a proposal to speak at a New Hampshire conference in October, but if it isn’t accepted, I may just celebrate my birthday at the blog bash instead.

  5. The Maker’s Mark distillery is not just off the interstate – it’s a bit of a drive. It is, of course, worth it.

  6. Yup, Maker’s is actually a pretty good drive from Louisville. It’s a twisty road from Bardstown down to Loretto. I don’t remember Maker’s giving free tastes, but if you don’t go on Sunday, you can buy and dip your own bottle. They also let you stick your finger in the fermenting mash and taste it. Bardstown itself is quite a reasonable drive though. The Beam plant on 245, just a couple of miles from I-65, is worth about an hour of your time to smell the rack houses, and see the gift shop, the Beam house, and the small cooperage museum. They don’t give plant tours. If you really like whiskey, go to the Oscar Getz Whiskey Museum in Bardstown. Heaven Hill and Barton are both in Bardstown also. Heaven Hill was worth the tour.

    Buffalo Trace over in Frankfort is also a good bet. That would be a reasonable drive from Louisville that wouldn’t take all day. It’s a good tour and you get a tasting. Labrott and Graham is a bit far south of Frankfort for a casual tour.

    I think the best tour I’ve taken was Four Roses. It was just me with me wife and kids on the tour I took. Since it was late afternoon we didn’t get to see the bottling but I didn’t care much about that. I wanted to see the stills. Not only did we get to taste the finished product, but also the low wines right off the still, and the white dog right off the doubler. Good stuff.

    Here’s a useful, though slightly out of date, page: http://www.straightbourbon.com/makers.html

    If you’re looking to buy bourbon, Louisville is the place. The bigger chain liquor stores have –everything–.

  9. Ahab,

    I’ve been a Maker’s Mark Ambassador since that program’s inception. Tomorrow, I’ll be on the phone with Marie, who is Maker’s liason with the ambassadors.

    Along with the previously planned points of discussion in the call, I shall point her to this post for you. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a lot of the Maker’s Mark staff…. great people!

    Enjoy the tour, and sign up to get your name on a barrel! (Mine’s due to be tapped in Spring of ’09).

    Cheers!

    Jim
    Sloop New Dawn
    Galveston, TX

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