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Chief
Any OTT recommendations for the weekend?
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Treat yourself kindly. ❤️
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Need 11 likes to open dm
What is tier 1 2 3 stuff?
Additional Posts in Whiskey Business
Visual Storyteller
Finally picked these up after a year in storage
Rising Star
About that time 🤝
Is Woodford reserve double oaked worth the hype?
Rising Star
Bowl Leader
Visual Storyteller
Best scotch under $70, not too peaty
Bowl Leader
Ok last one for real
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Op - Why would you only want itineraries from people who are from NY/NJ 😂
Fair ... point of identifying that was to get some insights on airports that made sense whether they were flying into the Louisville, Nashville, or some secondary airport
Def fly into and stay in Lou (or bardstown) if you want to go to the big bourbon distilleries vs smaller artisanal whiskey ones in Nashville. In Lou, I highly recommend Old Forester tour, it is by far the best tour in town, but make sure to go on a day when the cooperage is operational. It’s so cool! Other cool spots in Lou are angels envy and Michters, but I wouldn’t do a tour at Michters, just grab a drink at their bar. Evan Williams has a fabulous artisanal distillery you can tour, but the main EW tour is a little cheesy. For dinner in Lou, you can’t beat Jack Fry’s steakhouse. Then on day two, head down to Bardstown and hit up Heaven Hill, Beam, and/or Bardstown Bourbon. Grab lunch or dinner at Willett, their restaurant is fabulous (but their tour is unremarkable). Four Roses in bardstown is just a rickhouse and tasting room, not much to see there, so I’d pass on it if you’re in a time crunch. Barton is cool because it’s real historic, but not a very robust tour or facility. If you have another day and are ok with a drive, hit up Loretta or go out to Frankfort (not both in one day though!) Makers - it’s beautiful and they have a great restaurant too. Just know that Makers is way out in the middle of nowhere so will probs take most of a day. Same with Woodford and the Four Roses distillery out by Frankfort. They’re cool, but there’s just so much more to see and do around Lou/bardstown so if you are short on time, def stick with bardstown. Def bring a big suitcase to check bc you can get so many great unique bottles at the distillery’s gift shops that you can’t get anywhere else (especially in ny/nj!)
I’ve found that, compared to nyc/nj, every single liquor store in Kentucky is 100x better 😂. You can also check out the Louisville airport! They often have special editions there! I think makers and Woodford have some you can only buy there (but do some research on that bc I’m not *entirely* sure! Maybe scope it out when you arrive!)
Start looking now for tours when you want to be there. Most tours are booked out more than a month. Some will tell you when the next set of tours open.
You can easily do 3-4 in a day. Makers has a lot of cool history. Bardstown has a great tasting room, bar, and food. Willet is great for food.
Pro
Definitely Louisville. Nashville would not be primarily a whiskey trip for me personally. In fact I would go back to Louisville to hit so many I missed the first trip.
We stayed at 21C in Louisville. Has a great whiskey bar (with own barrel picks) and close to lots of distillery shops.
No more than 3 distilleries/day, they can be far apart. We tried to head in one direction each day (see map).
One small distillery that was not part of the official trail but glad we went out of our way to visit is Whiskey Thief (Three Boys Farm). You’re basically doing a barrel pick, except bringing home a bottle instead of the barrel.
https://whiskeythief.square.site/
Following - sounds good
Louisville for sure. Plenty of distilleries right in town. A wide range 30 minutes drive ish (bardstown area). Extend the radius to 1 hour drive you also get as far as Lexington, so like Woodford and others.
I did a morning flight arriving by lunch time and did one. 2 each on the weekend. Was going to do another before the afternoon flight on Monday but had to change the flight last minute. Thought this was a good relaxed pace without needing to rush out to the next place. Definitely recommend taking your time at bardstown, top experience, with the four roses tasting room a close second.
Getting reservations can be annoying because it limits your flexibility, but that's the way these days. At least in the summer when i went. You'll have a blast!!