[WhiskyPat12]

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

My wife and I are going to Louisville / Lexington in a couple of weeks. I have tastings scheduled at Angel's Envy on Friday, Mitcher's early Saturday and Buffalo Trace in the afternoon. I'm hoping to score a couple of harder to find bottles when there. For the Bourbon aficionados, anyplace you'd recommend we check out while down there?

Allow me to sperg out a bit...

I've been a few times, I absolutely love that place. I'd move there if I could! I'm no expert, but we did the entire Main part of the KY Bourbon Trail in 2.5 trips (about 11 days in KY total not including travel days). I wouldn't recommend the pace we did it at, but If I can help answer any questions, please ask!

A lot depends on how much driving you plan on doing. My favorite off the beaten path or less known places were Pursuit Spirits (Whole Shebang is a bottle your own, about 10min from Whisky Row), Peerless (Craft Trail, walking distance from Whisky Row) and Whiskey Thief (all samples are from the barrel, close to Frankfort). Here's a map to help logistics (it's probably not 100%)

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/ed...18&usp=sharing

For Buffalo Trace, depending on what their daily release is you might not get it (If it's Blanton's or EH Taylor) but they almost always have Eagle Rare on the shelf these days. Weller Special Reserve isn't worth waiting in line for unless you never had it (it's the cheapest Weller). But it's worth a visit either way.

Michter's is also random for when they do drops. Same with their bottle your own experience. There is a line usually 30-45min before they open to try and schedule the BYO, but we were there in the afternoon and that's when they brought out the Allocated bottles to buy. NOTE: Bottles at the distilleries are typically more expensive (even the lower tier offerings) because they don't want to screw over the stores that sell the majority of their stuff.


Starlight is in Boden, IN. About 25-30min north. GREAT whisky! It's a part of Huber Winery and Orchard, so there is more than just whisky there.

The standard cheaper tours get a bit redundant (you'll hear 51% corn A LOT), so don't be afraid to do some of the pricy ones if you can.

If you make it to Bardstown Bourbon Company, the barrel thieving tour was excellent, and you have to eat lunch there. The food is amazing!

Heavan Hill has a bottle your own, and their allocated drops are hit or miss and usually spend bottles.

Old Forester drops usually require a tour to purchase.

Something that is whisky-adjacent is the Kentucky Cooperage tour in Lebanon. Best smelling tour ever. (It's an hour south of Downtown Louisville).

Stop at Liquor Barn if you want to try some hard to find bottles. But as far as finding ones to purchase out in the wild it's actually not great. I have better luck here in Houston than bottle hunting in KY.

Cheers!

[Josh-PA]

thanks guys (especially Whisky pat). appreciate the info

[JMcLellan]

I just got back last night from a trip to the bourbon trail. It's hard to not have an amazing time there. My favorite stop was a really small place called Whiskey Thief. Great stuff no one has ever heard of and a really cool experience. We also went to Lux Row, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Old Forester, Kentucky Artisan Distillery (currently doing production for Jeffersons bourbon). I liked all of them honestly. It's really cool to hear everyone's story.

[Josh-PA]

At risk of getting banned, is there anything non-whiskey related you would recommend down there? We only have a couple of days and already have 3 tours/tastings reserved. I'm not sure how many more we can handle. We are doing dinner at 610magbolia Saturday night. The cooperage sounds pretty cool. We will be driving up from Nashville so maybe we will hit that on the way into town. Anything else we shouldn't miss?

[WhiskyPat12]

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

At risk of getting banned, is there anything non-whiskey related you would recommend down there? We only have a couple of days and already have 3 tours/tastings reserved. I'm not sure how many more we can handle. We are doing dinner at 610magbolia Saturday night. The cooperage sounds pretty cool. We will be driving up from Nashville so maybe we will hit that on the way into town. Anything else we shouldn't miss?

The cooperage is very cool, make sure you look and see if they are open for tours that day. I think it was like $20/pp
https://www.kentuckycooperagetours.com/

I haven't done these, but if your a Baseball or Boxing fan there are the

Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory

and

Frazier History Museum

One thing I forgot to mention that IS whisky related... The drive to Woodford Reserve, and the ground there are beautiful.

If you like sweets, see if you can find Modjeskas, they sell them at Old Foresters shop on Whisky Row and some other spots. Chocolate covered marshmallow and caramel diabetes

[WhiskyPat12]

Tonights pour

[DriftinG Z32]

Who said whiskey? Three of my favorite things that go together.

[Josh-PA]

Thanks for the recommendations on Louisville. We had a great couple days there. Hit Angels Envy, Heavens Door, Mitchers (still my fav of all), Buffalo trace and castle and keys. We had dinner at lulu and 610magnolia - one of the top 5 meals I've had all time. We found "bottle and tasting room" where we were able to get some good pours at solid prices. I was able to get a couple bottles of Blanton's at Buffalo trace and a barrel strength rye at michters.

[WhiskyPat12]

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

Thanks for the recommendations on Louisville. We had a great couple days there. Hit Angels Envy, Heavens Door, Mitchers (still my fav of all), Buffalo trace and castle and keys. We had dinner at lulu and 610magnolia - one of the top 5 meals I've had all time. We found "bottle and tasting room" where we were able to get some good pours at solid prices. I was able to get a couple bottles of Blanton's at Buffalo trace and a barrel strength rye at michters.

Looks like a great trip!!
How was Heavans Door and where is that bar?

[Josh-PA]

Originally Posted by WhiskyPat12

Looks like a great trip!!
How was Heavans Door and where is that bar?

Heaven's Door has an affiliation with Bob Dylan. The Distillery is out in ?Pleasantville? - we didn't go out there. We went to their bar/restaurant on E Market Street
https://www.courier-journal.com/stor...e/70093743007/

The bar w/ the massive bottle selection behind it is in the Heaven's Door church. They had a great atmosphere with live music outside, food, etc. Their drinks were average, but the atmosphere was top notch.

The bottle and tasting room was here: https://bottleshopandtastingroom.com/
They had great prices on everything not Pappy (~$100/ounce). The Michters 10 yr was $10/pour and the Toasted Barrel Strength Rye was $15- both of which are excellent. Its a touch sketchy looking from the outside (like a vape shop looking place), but towards the back is their open bottles for single pours. Similar setup to Evergreen liquors but without the crowd/reputation.

610 Magnolia is Edward Lee's restaurant. I got a copy of his book Bourbon Land while there and he autographed it for me
Its been worth a read so far:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/16...acboogrosit-20

We did drive out to Woodford Reserve, but got there after 5 so it was closed. If you haven't been to the Castle and Key, it is also BEAUTIFUL. It was the limestone castle that EH Taylor built after George Stagg kicked him out of Buffalo Trace. It sat empty for some time, but the new owners renovated it and the property is amazing. Whiskey is 6/10 (slightly above average). https://www.castleandkey.com/visit-t...re-the-grounds

[peterfromsd]

My first contribution. Enjoy having a pour or two while on vacation:

[WhiskyPat12]

Toured Still Austin today

[Watching The World Burn]

Originally Posted by WhiskyPat12

Toured Still Austin today

What did you think? I just bought my first bottle of that (cask strength) and thought it was pretty good for only being aged three years

[WhiskyPat12]

Originally Posted by Watching The World Burn

What did you think? I just bought my first bottle of that (cask strength) and thought it was pretty good for only being aged three years

I'm a fan, and their Cask Strength Bourbon is my favorite of their offerings that I've had.


Out of all the Texas Distilleries, they are my favorite so far. A lot of Texas whisky is young when compared to KY or IN, and it's all due to climate. It's a cheat code if the Distillery knows how to manage it. Some do not

[WhiskyPat12]

Was sipping this one last night. It's candy in a bottle, amazing.

Distillery only release, 5th anniversary Monster Mash from Still Austin.

[Donatello.]

I still insist Dad's Hat whiskey is underrated. Try it, folks!

[Watching The World Burn]

Originally Posted by WhiskyPat12

Was sipping this one last night. It's candy in a bottle, amazing.

Distillery only release, 5th anniversary Monster Mash from Still Austin.

Thanks to you I now want that, and...I can't have that. Unless I go to Texas, which I'm not planning on in the near future.

Sigh.

[WhiskyPat12]

Originally Posted by Watching The World Burn

Thanks to you I now want that, and...I can't have that. Unless I go to Texas, which I'm not planning on in the near future.

Sigh.

Even if you came here, you wouldn't find this one... It was an online sale release, with pick up at the distillery. Sold out in 3 minutes. I was one of the prepared and lucky ones lol

[Watching The World Burn]

Originally Posted by WhiskyPat12

Even if you came here, you wouldn't find this one... It was an online sale release, with pick up at the distillery. Sold out in 3 minutes. I was one of the prepared and lucky ones lol

I still hate you.

Safe to say that they aren't going to do any more batches until their next anniversary I presume?

I get that from driving the hype perspective, but at the same point, if they hit lightning in a bottle with this one then you think they'd maybe produce more of it?

[WhiskyPat12]

Originally Posted by Watching The World Burn

I still hate you.

Safe to say that they aren't going to do any more batches until their next anniversary I presume?

I get that from driving the hype perspective, but at the same point, if they hit lightning in a bottle with this one then you think they'd maybe produce more of it?

Gotta drive that traffic to the distillery! Yeah this one (Monster Mash) is an annual release. Only 835 bottles total for 2024's release. If you sign up for their emails, they let people know when the bottle will go live online (then set a few alarms like I did ).

I like that somethings are limited release. Makes getting and drinking the bottle taste better

But who knows... 2025's release might even be larger and go into distribution. I think they've done that before, and have the seasonal Bottled in Bond stuff that makes it into Total Wine. It all depends on how much they made years ago. The first release of Monster Mash in 2020 was only two barrels and just over 2 years old.

[JMcLellan]

Having a little snort of this tasty bottle tonight. It's good stuff and I really enjoyed touring their facility last month. Happy Friday!

[WhiskyPat12]

Picked up today, tonights nightcap. Heavan Hill is my favorite of the big distilleries.