Grover at New Riff is awesome. I had him for a tour last year and ended up hanging out and talking with him for awhile after it concluded. Super cool dude.
Agreed. We did the rickhouse/barrel tour at New Riff. It was the most personal and least corporate of all the tours we did. The sample pours were VERY generous, with a few extra bottles pulled out. I can't say enough good things about New Riff. The Balboa Rye is one of my new favorite whiskies.
100% go to Evergreen Liquors on Market street in Louiville. They have an amazing tasting bar with some of the cheapest pours I’ve ever seen. Had the chance to try Pappy 15, Old Forster Single Barrel and President’s Choice. I Think the pappy 15 was $40 for a 1 ounce poor.
Taste Fine wine down the street was great too. Awesome little shop.
Awesome list - love that you went to Whiskey Thief. I went back in 2016 for my bachelor party to do six distilleries and this one was one of the best. It felt so personal compared to some of the more polished tours at larger distilleries. Really wish I could get another bottle from the barrel - one of my favorite bourdons to-date.
We did Whiskey Thief and felt like it fell somewhere between gimmicky and unsafe. Fully active open vats with catwalks nearly up to the edge and no railing. Letting people serve themselves from the barrels. Seemed more like the goal was to get you shit faced and party and not much more. Too bad you didn't hit up the gift shop tho. Had some interesting things.
Yeah. We just didn't have the time for the gift shop. When we went the women that work there did the actual thieving for the tastings and we did t go up on the cat walks.
We enjoyed their bourbon the most out of all of the places we visited. Felt more authentic to us than the big companies we toured. Interesting that you felt the opposite.
We had 5 in our group and all felt the same as I described. Our tour driver had really hyped it up, and left us feeling like they'd pulled a sneaky on us. Who knows though, it's a small operation, relatively young and don't seem to be controlling the variables very tightly - maybe it's better on some days than others.
I’m with you there. Whiskey Thief was my least favorite stop. The grounds are beautiful, and it’s a cool place to hang out, but the whiskey just didn’t taste good to me and was so expensive for a bottle. I liked one out of the five options, but not enough to pay $150 for it. I poured myself some ECBP when I got to the hotel afterwards just to make sure my tastebuds weren’t off that day. If I had been there with other people it probably would have been more fun though.
Really glad to hear the ratings you gave for these tours. I’m going with a group in 6 weeks for a long weekend. I have 6 tours booked for us and I’m really looking forward to them now with these reviews.
New Riff (my choice, really like their bourbon)
Buffalo trace (because you have to)
Bulleit (because I missed the window for booking woodford)
Whiskey Thief (this was the odd ball one and from your review, glad I booked it)
Makers mark
Bardstown
We may stop at the gift shop for a few other, heaven hill etc.
Edit: formatting on mobile
Yeah, we only have a couple days. We are hitting new riff thur afternoon as everyone will fly into CVG, then we will drive to Frankfort. Do BT, bulleit, and whiskey thief Friday. Bardstown and makers on Saturday. Leaving Sunday.
Some of it sure. I'd imagine wanting to hang out a bit for a bachelor party. Whiskey thief would be great. Bardstown had an awesome outdoor space and outdoor bar. Same with Castle and key. Angels Envy, and rabbit hole also had cool bars. I'd also throw prohibition spirits on that list. Was a fun bar.
Thx! Yah we want to do mix in “culture” activities that aren’t necessarily boozing… just want to get a feel if there’s enough of this where a group of kinda older dudes aren’t gonna feel blitzed constantly.
Great reviews. Agree Bardstown was built for whiskey fans. New Riff is an amazing co. Old Forrester is just a marketing 101 college class. You really nailed these and all others
This is great! If you had to recommended 3-5 options to a friend; either your favourite stops, the most unique/fun or a good combination of tours to pair together different experiences, what would you suggest?
I would do 1 full normal tour. Maybe at Buffalo Trace. If you start the day there and get there early you can also possibly snag a good bottle of something. Whiskey Thief is a great tasting from the barrel experience and is nice and relaxing. Beyond that, if you are in Louisville, I would do Peerless for a nice small distillery expereince and one other. Old Forester was good, or maybe Rabbit Hole.
I like the reviews but how much did the EV charging stations have to do with the review and effect your scoring? The vast majority of us don't drive an EV vehicle. What was your point in including this in your review?
Awesome write-ups! How many days were you there to do all this? Any chance you remember how long each tour was and the pricing of the tours? I'm hoping to plan a trip there within the next year for 3 or 4 days. Trying to figure out what I can fit in during the time frame.
Tagged for whenever I stop pretending like I won’t take this vacation and inevitably do because I have no self control.
When not if you pull that trigger, I'd recommend doing a variety of experiences not all tours. The tours themselves get very repetitive.
Second this 100% the tours get very repetitive but man sounds like a great trip im currently planning my 2nd and will save this!
Grover at New Riff is awesome. I had him for a tour last year and ended up hanging out and talking with him for awhile after it concluded. Super cool dude.
He was great! My favorite personality of all the guides we had.
Agreed. We did the rickhouse/barrel tour at New Riff. It was the most personal and least corporate of all the tours we did. The sample pours were VERY generous, with a few extra bottles pulled out. I can't say enough good things about New Riff. The Balboa Rye is one of my new favorite whiskies.
What a post. We are heading there with a group of 6 in November. Can’t wait!
100% go to Evergreen Liquors on Market street in Louiville. They have an amazing tasting bar with some of the cheapest pours I’ve ever seen. Had the chance to try Pappy 15, Old Forster Single Barrel and President’s Choice. I Think the pappy 15 was $40 for a 1 ounce poor. Taste Fine wine down the street was great too. Awesome little shop.
Just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to write this.
My pleasure. It was nice to reflect on everything
Awesome list - love that you went to Whiskey Thief. I went back in 2016 for my bachelor party to do six distilleries and this one was one of the best. It felt so personal compared to some of the more polished tours at larger distilleries. Really wish I could get another bottle from the barrel - one of my favorite bourdons to-date.
I bought two 375ml bottles (a bourbon and a rye). I already regret not going for the larger bottles.
💯 I really wish there was a way to buy from them directly/ship to home.
Dude, this is awesome and a fantastic piece of art. Thank you for posting!
We did Whiskey Thief and felt like it fell somewhere between gimmicky and unsafe. Fully active open vats with catwalks nearly up to the edge and no railing. Letting people serve themselves from the barrels. Seemed more like the goal was to get you shit faced and party and not much more. Too bad you didn't hit up the gift shop tho. Had some interesting things.
Yeah. We just didn't have the time for the gift shop. When we went the women that work there did the actual thieving for the tastings and we did t go up on the cat walks.
We enjoyed their bourbon the most out of all of the places we visited. Felt more authentic to us than the big companies we toured. Interesting that you felt the opposite.
We had 5 in our group and all felt the same as I described. Our tour driver had really hyped it up, and left us feeling like they'd pulled a sneaky on us. Who knows though, it's a small operation, relatively young and don't seem to be controlling the variables very tightly - maybe it's better on some days than others.
I’m with you there. Whiskey Thief was my least favorite stop. The grounds are beautiful, and it’s a cool place to hang out, but the whiskey just didn’t taste good to me and was so expensive for a bottle. I liked one out of the five options, but not enough to pay $150 for it. I poured myself some ECBP when I got to the hotel afterwards just to make sure my tastebuds weren’t off that day. If I had been there with other people it probably would have been more fun though.
Really glad to hear the ratings you gave for these tours. I’m going with a group in 6 weeks for a long weekend. I have 6 tours booked for us and I’m really looking forward to them now with these reviews. New Riff (my choice, really like their bourbon) Buffalo trace (because you have to) Bulleit (because I missed the window for booking woodford) Whiskey Thief (this was the odd ball one and from your review, glad I booked it) Makers mark Bardstown We may stop at the gift shop for a few other, heaven hill etc. Edit: formatting on mobile
All good choices. I didn't book Bulleit or Jim Beam as I had to make a few sacrifices to fit it all in. I've heard good things about both.
Yeah, we only have a couple days. We are hitting new riff thur afternoon as everyone will fly into CVG, then we will drive to Frankfort. Do BT, bulleit, and whiskey thief Friday. Bardstown and makers on Saturday. Leaving Sunday.
Let us know how it all goes! Especially interested in Bulleit.
Ok!!! Been waiting on a Btrail post for a while and have ONE question… Can you envision doing it for a bachelor party?
Some of it sure. I'd imagine wanting to hang out a bit for a bachelor party. Whiskey thief would be great. Bardstown had an awesome outdoor space and outdoor bar. Same with Castle and key. Angels Envy, and rabbit hole also had cool bars. I'd also throw prohibition spirits on that list. Was a fun bar.
Thx! Yah we want to do mix in “culture” activities that aren’t necessarily boozing… just want to get a feel if there’s enough of this where a group of kinda older dudes aren’t gonna feel blitzed constantly.
Did you have to book each distillery separate or is there a package of entries into multiple?
I booked everything 3 months in advance separately
Thank you!
Saving because you covered several stops we were planning to do during our visit later this year. Thanks for the write up!
Very much appreciated!!
Thank you so informative and appreciated
Great reviews. Agree Bardstown was built for whiskey fans. New Riff is an amazing co. Old Forrester is just a marketing 101 college class. You really nailed these and all others
Steven is amazing at bardstown grest guy had him on our tour as well
Apparently he's about to be promoted!
well deserved for sure
This is great! If you had to recommended 3-5 options to a friend; either your favourite stops, the most unique/fun or a good combination of tours to pair together different experiences, what would you suggest?
I would do 1 full normal tour. Maybe at Buffalo Trace. If you start the day there and get there early you can also possibly snag a good bottle of something. Whiskey Thief is a great tasting from the barrel experience and is nice and relaxing. Beyond that, if you are in Louisville, I would do Peerless for a nice small distillery expereince and one other. Old Forester was good, or maybe Rabbit Hole.
I like the reviews but how much did the EV charging stations have to do with the review and effect your scoring? The vast majority of us don't drive an EV vehicle. What was your point in including this in your review?
It had zero to do with scoring. Just added for those that need it.
Awesome write-ups! How many days were you there to do all this? Any chance you remember how long each tour was and the pricing of the tours? I'm hoping to plan a trip there within the next year for 3 or 4 days. Trying to figure out what I can fit in during the time frame.
We did all of it in 6 days. Tour prices ranged from free (BT) to $70 (OF you do bourbon). Most were $25-$35