Hello,

I’m going to be in this area for work the 27th through the 30th.

Which distilleries and or gift shops are a must? Thanks in advance.

-1792 is decent
-Lux Row is new and they have a smallish restaurant inside to have lunch
-Bardstown Bourbon Company is super new, I've never been but have heard good things
-Willett is very nice, their potstill bourbon is awesome
-Heaven Hill is cool if you like Evan Williams, but its just sort of meh to me
-Four Roses is about 20ish minutes away and very nice, their bourbon is excellent
-Makers Mark is around 30 minutes away and very pretty, their bourbon is pretty meh to me as well. I've done their tour and dipped a few bottles there

It depends on what you are after.  There aren’t tons of allocated bottles at distilleries, but there are some as well as exclusives.  

In November, I got 5 year Willett bourbon at the distillery. At HH, I got this year’s Parker’s Heritage, William Heavenhill 13 BIB, and a 200ml Elijah Craig barrel select. The last 2 are pretty much distillery only.  There should be Elijah Craig barrel proof and Henry McKenna 10 BIB available. They used to require the $20 connoisseur tasting to buy William Heavenhill and other more expensive (rare) bottles, but that may have changed.

Lux Row may have a distillery staff single barrel pick of Rebel Yell or Ezra Brooks. In November, they still had a relatively exclusive to distillery 12 year double barrel blend. I enjoyed the two different bottlings of those I have tried.

Maker’s will likely have a good private selection and maybe this year’s SE4xPR5. The on-site restaurant is excellent if open.

Four Roses may have a barrel proof single barrel pick or two.

1792 is a nice and free tour, but there probably won’t be any special bourbon. They have a chocolate bourbon ball liqueur.

Beam has a big spread near Bardstown.

The Liquor Barn chain tends to have excellent single barrel store picks.  There is one in E-town.

Thanks for the info everyone!

I will try to go to as many as I can and COVID precautions will allow. Will post pics of anything I pick up.

If you can make it to Makers Mark, it was a pretty good tour and the guide was very knowledgeable.

I think he was a chemistry teacher because he talked about esters and when a couple women were talking while he was trying to, he froze them with a steely glance.

Just remember the central/eastern time line runs through that area, I was late for a tour because I didn't take that into account.

Definitely eat diner at the Rickhouse in Bardstown.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to do much of anything. Work kept me busy pretty much the whole time.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations and I will definitely be going back when I’m not working to do the tours.