Southern Bourbon Tour | Maker’s Mark & Bardstown

Overview

The Southern Tour

Or, travel to tradition through the beauty of Kentucky on the Southern Bourbon Tour including Makers, Jim Beam, Bardstown Bourbon Company and others.

The southern run takes you into Nelson and Marion counties — Bardstown calls itself the Bourbon Capital of the World and makes a reasonable case for it. The drive down is one of the prettiest stretches in the state, and the distilleries here range from the enormous to the almost domestic.

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Distilleries Included in the Southern Tour

Maker’s Mark

Loretto — black shutters, red wax, and a campus that is a National Historic Landmark.

Jim Beam American Stillhouse

Clermont — seven generations of the Beam family and the world’s best-selling bourbon.

Bardstown Bourbon Company

Bardstown — a modern campus known for collaborative and finished releases.

Heaven Hill

Bardstown — Evan Williams, Elijah Craig and one of the largest bourbon inventories in the world.

Willett Distillery

Bardstown — family-owned, hilltop, with a distinctive pot-still profile.

Log Still Distillery

New Haven — the Dant family legacy restored on the original Gethsemane grounds.

Details

Why the Southern Tour is a full day

Bardstown sits about an hour from Lexington and forty minutes from Louisville, and the distilleries are spread across the countryside rather than clustered in town. That drive time is exactly why this tour is better chauffeured — the miles between Loretto and Clermont are lovely, and considerably more enjoyable from the back of the van.

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