Spring Break on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
We are chugging through spring break this week, and I wanted to share how we started out our week! In true Kentucky fashion, we took to the road and got on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail!
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is made up of nine bourbon distilleries. When touring these distilleries, you can pick up a passport to collect stamps which will eventually earn you a t-shirt. We’ve already visited almost all of the distilleries in the Louisville-area, so this time around, we made our way towards Lexington to collect more stamps!
Day 1 – Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Our first stop was the Four Roses Distillery. Sadly, the tour through buildings was shut down due to renovations, but we were able to watch a video, then tour the outside. Not ideal in 40º weather, but hey, we’ll take it.
At the conclusion of the tour, there was a tasting- my favorite part! Each of us got a beautiful etched glass to take home.
Between lunch and the next tour, we had lunch at a local restaurant, called Bluegrass Sabor. John chose it looking for some latin-inspired cuisine, but I wasn’t particularly impressed by the menu. The service was great, but the food was just ok.
The next stop on our Bourbon Trail quest was Woodford Reserve Distillery. Woodford is one of my favorite bourbon’s to drink at home. I was impressed by the beautiful area and buildings on this tour. This tour is one of the ones that busses you around, which we appreciated on the dreary day!
The Woodford Reserve tasting may have been my favorite. There was a card to help us determine which flavors we were getting from the bourbons we tried. The tasting also included their famous bourbon ball chocolates and how the pairing could change the flavor of what you’re drinking. Our guide also suggested trying and at-home bourbon tasting, which I can’t wait to do!
Day 2 – Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Our third stop actually ended up not being on the trail, but it was one of my favorites! Buffalo Trace Distillery was stop number 3 on our little bourbon tour. It’s the oldest continually running distillery with beautiful historical buildings. At this point, we’ve done at least half a dozen tours, but I learned some new info on this one.
At the tasting done at the end of the tour, we got to taste some bourbon cream that they make with their bourbon. Holy cow, it was so good! The guide made a point to point out that unlike Bailey’s this cream is made with real cream. We sampled it with some root beer as well and I’m pretty sure I found my new favorite drink. Needless to say, we took a bottle home.
The last stop before heading back home was the Wild Turkey Distillery. This one included another bus tour, which was convenient, because the facility was huge. Our tour guide, Bubba, is a retired Marine Corps Drill Instructor, and maybe the most adorable man ever. The tour was fun, but extra entertaining thanks to Bubba.
The master distiller (another adorable old man) greeted us at the door, but was gone by the time we were done with our tour. We wanted to have him sign a bottle of rye named after him. The tasting at the end of this tour was my first time trying rye, and I was quite impressed!
Worry not fellow parents, there was actually a day in between our two tour days in which we took the girls to the Kentucky Horse Park, so that they wouldn’t be completely bored on their break from school.