The bourbon trail is a great domestic destination for a weekend getaway.
In recent years, Kipp has decided to become a self declared “bourbon connoisseur”. So, naturally he wanted to take a trip to Kentucky. I am not of fan of taking much more than a stroll but the bourbon trail is a hike that I can get behind. See how we maximized our PTO by taking a weekend getaway to the the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky. In October of 2022 Kipp and I were lucky enough to spend a weekend in Kentucky. We were able to hop from one distillery to another visiting some of our favorite brands. Remember to check out our guide to maximizing your PTO for how to get the most out of your vacation days.
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Flights
Luckily, there are a handful of direct flights from DFW/DAL to get us to Louisville (SDF) to get our trip started. It was especially lucky since our original flight (scheduled for Friday night) was cancelled due to weather. Thank goodness there was an early flight on Saturday morning to get us there without hurting our schedule too much. After a quick flight, we were in our rental car and ready to start our adventure.
Scheduling
If you are planning a bourbon trail trip, be sure to book your distillery tours ahead of time. Some are damn near impossible to book. We actually booked our entire trip on when we could score a tour for Buffalo Trace Distillery – these tours are extremely hard to come by as the schedule for tours opens up about two months out it is fully booked for the most part within 30 minutes (or less). We scored a tour for Halloween Weekend and once our flights were confirmed we scheduled the rest of our tours.
Distillery Hop – Day 1
After leaving Louisville, you will start seeing distilleries almost immediately. We started at 4 Roses (about an hour from the airport). This was a very informative tour that went all the way through the distilling process (which doesn’t smell good) and ended with a tasting of their main bourbons (which are delicious). It was a perfect first stop as it went the most in depth.
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Next stop was Woodford Reserve and yes it was fancy (if you know bourbon you would assume the same). We didn’t do the tour but we explored the grounds and had a great drink stop. I would highly recommend going to Kentucky in the fall – you can do some major “leaf-peeping” while you are sipping on the best bourbons. The drive between distilleries was fantastic as the roads are lined with leaves changing colors and beautiful horse ranches.
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Saturday evening we headed to Buffalo Trace. Prior to leaving for the trip, we got a great email. It was an opportunity to go to a Buffalo Trace Halloween special event: Disturbia at the Distillery. This included a tour, 3 course dinner with murder mystery entertainment, and a tasting. The tour went through all the historical and unique spots at Buffalo Trace and the guide talked about all of the hauntings that the employees have seen at the “oldest continuously operating distillery in America”. Some ghost stories at dusk definitely kept both Kipp and I looking over our shoulders.
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It was a fun and unique experience and we didn’t know until dinner that this was a highly sought after experience. I had just gotten luckily as I was opening emails when the invite came through and immediately booked (yes, I knew Kipp would be onboard).
The Campbell House
After a long day we finally made it to The Campbell House in Lexington. This adorable Hilton property was perfect for a weekend getaway to the Bourbon Trail. It has great vibes that are a mixture of derby and bourbon.
Distillery Hop – Day 2
If you are bourbon trail-ing, Makers Mark is an obvious and fantastic stop. We did not do a tour at this distillery but the beautiful grounds allowed for exploring at your own pace. After exploring a bit, we made our way down to their gift shop. We were able to take part in dipping our own Makers bottle in the iconic red wax. Beware, if you are like us, this will become a competition as to whos wax looked the best. Makers also had some of the best specialty drinks that we had on the trip. I have searched high and low for their fall old fashioned recipe and have never found the exact replica.
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Last stop on our hop through the bourbon trail was Michters Fort Nelson Distillery in the City of Louisville. No tour at this stop either but we enjoyed a tasting and specialty cocktails at their bar upstairs. I definitely preferred the distilleries outside of the city. However, it was interesting to see how they set up this distillery in the middle of the city. It was also right across the street from the Louisville Slugger museum. This was a great last distillery stop as it was only a short drive to the airport.
Thoughts
Of course there are a couple of things that we would have liked to do differently:
- If we would have been able to get there Friday night, we would have made one more distillery stop.
- We had planned on checking out Churchill Downs (where they hold the Kentucky Derby). There were some races taking place on Sunday afternoon but it was pouring rain. This would have been a great final stop as it is right outside of the airport.
We loved our quick weekend getaway to the Bourbon Trail and honestly had a perfect amount of time in Kentucky. Now, if you want to hit every distillery out there, then you definitively need another day or two. But, for 5 distilleries, this was perfect as it gave us time to enjoy each one. If you are planning a trip, it is worth noting that an official tour at each distillery is not needed. Hopefully this gives you some inspiration for your trip through the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky.
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