The Bourbon Trail

Let me first start that I currently live in Kentucky. I grew up in Northern Kentucky (that part that everyone says might as well be Ohio). I also went to University of Kentucky for college.

That being said I have lived in multiple different states before finding my way back here again. I have drank bourbon as my alcohol of choice since I was able to drink. I worked in a country bar in college and had my fair share of testing what I was capable of handling for liquor. It always came back to bourbon. I could drink, enjoy it, and not have the side effects the next day (or that night) like I did from other alcohols. Bourbon is for sure a “Kentucky thing”. I remember people passing around handles of bourbon at tailgates and you just take a swig from the handle. No need for cups. (College life was for sure different). 

As I have grown up and matured, I still enjoy a drink every now and again, but i mostly collect bourbon. My husband and I have been traveling around on our date days and touring the different distilleries in the area , tasting, sampling, taking home what we enjoyed. Below I am going to go over a few of our favorite tours to date and let you all know which ones were worth the time and trip and which ones we likely could have skipped and been alright with that.

First up I am going to start with Makers Mark. I have been a Makers Mark ambassador for over a decade now. I had my own barrel, with hand dipped bottles from that barrel - labeled with my name from the distillery. Which 1 of them were stolen in our last move. Really made me angry. Not sure why they could not have taken one without my name on it.  But that is neither here not there. Makers Mark while it is now (after being bought out) considered more main stream bourbon, readily available, and not “collector” has one of the best distillery tours you can ask for. They are considered a B corp and their site exudes that. They are not just distilling bourbon, they are planting trees, doing studies with the university on American white oak (what barrels are made out of), bee farming, cattle farming, growing their own crops. It is a large facility that is trying to work better for the environment. Personally, the setting of this facility (being in the middle of nowhere) is also one of my favorites. You are driving through what feels like a lot of nothing and then boom you’re there. The buildings are a mix of historic as well as upgraded (built into a hill to keep temperatures low instead of running air conditioners non stop. Everything is interesting to look at and relaxing.