A Surprising End to Our Bourbon Trail Adventures
Day 3: Four Roses and Buffalo Trace
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This is Part 3 of our Bourbon Trail travels. To start from the beginning, start here:
Even though my sister and brother-in-law had to return after two days on the Trail, we decided to stick it out for one more night so we could do Four Roses, since it was closed during the first two planned days of our trip.1 Before we left for Kentucky, we looked at a few other options for our last day and settled on Castle and Key because the facility looked fascinating, but as we completed our tours in Louisville the previous day, my husband, Jeff, decided we probably didn’t need to do that tour anymore. I sent an email with high hopes that they would let us cancel the tour for a full refund, and we made plans to go ahead with our Four Roses tour the next day and play the rest of the day by ear.
Four Roses
Four Roses has been one of my husband’s favorites for years, and it was our first tour when we did the Bourbon Trail eleven years ago. During that trip we visited in July, which meant we were touring when they were on hiatus from production.2 This time, we would be able to see the distilling process and visit their new visitor center.
The Four Roses grounds were just as pretty as I had remembered. Our tour included the full distilling process, and after walking through the main areas during production, I understand why they close the unairconditioned facility during the hottest summer months. It was only June and unseasonably cool for Kentucky, and it was still hot once we were inside, even with windows open everywhere.
Our tour guide was fantastic, full of history and unique information about the company and the distilling process, highlighting once again how many of these distilleries are trying to minimize their environmental impact and give back to their communities. (At Four Roses, they are constantly researching ways to minimize their water use by reusing as much of the water that they pull from the local creek as possible.) As a final treat in the tasting room, we were told we could take our water glasses with us, which meant we came home with two free Four Roses glasses. The tour was worth sticking around for one more day.
Buffalo Trace
Ever since we had arrived in Kentucky, Jeff had been checking the Buffalo Trace website to see what bottles they were putting out in their gift shop every day. You see, Buffalo Trace puts out a certain number of different selections every day. Those items are sold without the typical liquor store markup and are limited to one bottle per customer every 90 days. What did my husband want? Blanton’s, which he could get at half the price that he had seen it in most stores.
For days, I had been trying to figure out how we could get from Four Roses to Buffalo Trace and still make it to our tour at Castle and Key on time. As we left Four Roses, I got the confirmation email that our tour had been cancelled, which meant we could head straight for Buffalo Trace, Jeff could purchase the Blanton’s he had just discovered would be available, and then we could go home.
Buffalo Trace hadn’t been on our original list because we weren’t sure how much would be open after it flooded in April. Also, I didn’t realize just how much my husband wanted to visit the gift shop until we were there. As he wandered the large gift shop, wide-eyed like a kid in a candy shop, I stopped at the visitor desk to find out if there were any tours open. Not only was there a tour available, but it was free. That’s right, a tour with a tasting at the end was free. We jumped on it, only to discover that when we bypassed the front visitor center and walked straight to the gift shop, we hadn’t gotten the required wrist bands necessary for both tours and purchases in the gift shop. (They tie the bands to IDs, which helps them track visitors and ensure that you don’t buy more than your allotted amount of liquor.) Oops! With that mistake corrected, we signed up for the tour, Jeff bought his Blanton’s, and I ran it back to the truck, returning just in time to hear our tour guide Todd start his introduction.
After two days of learning about the distilling process, this time we got a tour that was entirely about the history of Buffalo Trace and the historic grounds that had been producing different whiskeys since before Kentucky became a state. Our tour guide belonged to a family that had been distilling liquor for generations, including an ancestor who had supplied spirits to Al Capone. He was funny, full of stories, and showed us a different side of the bourbon process and the history behind it. We finished off our last tasting with one vodka (it wasn’t bad and I probably would have liked it in some morning orange juice), a handful of whiskeys and bourbons, and one very delicious bourbon ball from Rebecca Ruth Chocolates, which has been providing Buffalo Trace with their bourbon balls since the chocolate treat was invented.3
The tour would have been worth it, even if we had to pay for it, but it was a perfect way to end our time in Kentucky. After the tour, we both felt fulfilled. We returned to our camper and dogs, packed up, and headed north again to Indiana.
For those looking for a short trip that checks off a lot of boxes, the Bourbon Trail does just that. I truly cannot recommend it enough, even if you don’t like bourbon.
Ready to plan your own trip?
I’ve created a Bourbon Trail planning spreadsheet for Google Sheets. Feel free to make a copy and use it for your own planning purposes.
Here is the live video I made after our first day of travels.
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Four Roses is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Many distilleries are. Make sure you pay attention to when they will be open as you plan your trip.
Some distilleries do close during the hottest summer months. This is another thing to take into consideration while doing tour planning.
It’s a local company right in Frankfort, Kentucky. It’s local economy supporting local economy, my kind of capitalism.
Still trying to get my hands on some Blanton’s
When we visited Buffalo Trace, we saw Blanton’s being sealed. Sounds like a great time.