Buffalo Trace Distillery

My 1st Bourbon trail distillery tour was an insightful, top-rated, FREE and fun event with tasting at BT on a property of over 400 acres. Importantly, we arrived early (at opening) to get a chance to purchase their "daily" (rotating) offering; today was a bonus as we were allowed 2 bottles/pp (1 Eagle Rare 10yr and 1 Wellers Special Reserve). I suggest pre-booking (in advance of your trip) your tour 1-2 hrs after opening time so you can purchase any daily specials or gift shop souvenirs; and remember your ID to get a wristband. Also, a shout-out and kudos to our awesome guide, Annie, who made the experience 5-Star rated - great job "Pappy"!Our tour of the oldest continuous distillery campus gave us knowledge of the bourbon making process, understanding the "Mash Bill" (recipe) variations, their Brands, and a visit to the coveted Blantons building where production is 1 barrel at a time. Our tasting today included their Wheatley Vodka (distilled 10x), original Buffalo Trace Bourbon Whiskey, Wellers Special Wheated Bourbon and Sazerac Rye Whiskey. What a treat, even if you're not a Bourbon aficionado!BT is now nearing their 9 millionth total barrel production since Prohibition, proud of their long history and expanding their biz with many Brands and new products to sample (and buy).If this is your 1st visit to Louisville area and Bourbon Trail, don't miss BT as I believe it's the ONLY Free tour in the area (although i'm sure they cash it in from all the gift shop purchases). Cheers, have fun and ENJOY!!!

This review is for the gift shop. First, they will not let you buy anything unless they harvest all your personal data - including date of birth - I refused.Second - they do not carry any of the special release products, except one each day.Third - the prices are actually higher than in Ohio.

I can't believe this place offers free, thorough tours! We enjoyed every minute. If you're in the area, highly recommend completing one of their tours. These events are quickly sold out so act fast. We completed the Trace Tour which lasted over an hour. We reviewed the history of Buffalo trace, key areas along the campus, and had a tasting session. Our guide was Jackson - he was absolutely amazing! We can't wait to complete another tour soon!

This was our 3rd and last visit of our Louisville trip, today, and the tour was a lot of fun. I went with two friends and my husband - one of the friends booked the tour and it's FREE but sells out quickly, FYI, so she jumped on tickets as soon as they opened.The tour gives you a pretty good overview of the company and its founders, and it concludes with a tasting, including some Bourbon Cream (yum!), root beer, and a chocolate bourbon truffle.The gift shop is not to be missed also - my husband and our friends were raving about the good prices (they were the actual retail price and not marked up). There's also everything from bourbon chocolates, to root beer, to Christmas ornaments - I purchased a few pins for my collection and a magnet. Overall, highly recommend this distillery for a tour and apparently there were a few different tours you can choose from, too.

Another day of being a tourist in my home state. By a stroke of luck, I managed to score last minute tickets for a Saturday Trace Tour. These trips are sold out months in advance, especially on weekends, so I was excited for the opportunity. First, these tours are completely free of charge. You can't get much for free these days, and to be able to tour the beautiful distillery at no cost is an absolute treat. There are several tours offered and I took part in the Trace Tour. This tour consists of a history lesson, a tour of several different areas and a tasting at the end. I'm not a huge bourbon fan overall, however, I found the tour to be fascinating. Learning about the process was just so interesting. The tour also engages all of your senses, you will touch, smell and taste. Our tour guide Michael did a wonderful job. He knew his stuff and was very engaging with our group.At the end of the tour we did a tasting and then went to the gift shop to browse the retail products available for sale. They have an array of merchandise from branded clothing, drink ware, candles, pet accessories, candles, bourbon balls and of course spirits and mixers. I'm sure that retails sales allow them to keep offering tours free of charge.Even if you aren't a bourbon drinker, I highly recommend the tour. I think you will enjoy it and learn something along the way.

If you're lucky enough to get tickets for the tour - you will absolutely love the tour! The place is steeped in such history. The grounds of the place is so old, the mold of the "Angels Share" is present on the buildings and trees. Tour guide was highly knowledgeable on the subject of bourbon and its production. And the bonus at the end of tour - you'll get a crack at buying a top shelf bourbon brand!

Buffalo Trace is the only Distillery on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail to offer a free tour and tasting. Spot fill up quick when dates are released 69 days out so I highly recommend being prepared. Additionally, the gift shop rotates the special release bottles being offered for purchase. One is allowed (1) of each varietal, per person, per 90 days to buy. We scheduled the standard Buffalo Trace tour after the Hard Hat tour booked up. This tour went over a brief background of the founders, barreling process, storing process, and tour of the grounds. It's a tour built for a beginner to the bourbon/whiskey world. Each tour ends with a tasting of the special spirit for purchase as well as some classic varietals. I loved that they mixed in some liquors and local chocolate collaborations with the other classics. Their gift shop had plenty of merch for the general brand as well as label specific selections. Buffalo Trace is a Kentucky staple and was worth visiting. Even if one cannot book a tour, I recommend coming to check out the gift shop and do a self-guided walk!

Hard to add to all the great reviews. First impression--very cool old buildings and atmosphere. Lovely buffalo statue with water fixture along with nice plantings in old barrels. Welcoming staff everywhere. I couldn't secure tour tickets before we went to the distillery. Went to the Welcome Center, got "carded" with appropriate wrist bands, and were able to get into a tour. Folks in our tour also did not have reservations and they too were able to get in on a tour. My advice, even if you can't get advance reservations, go to the distillery anyway. It would appear that they must leave some open spots for walk-ins. Even if you can't get a tour there are lots of very interesting buildings and a large gift shop where you might be able to purchase a hard to get bottle like Blanton's (not available for purchase when we went, but we saw it being bottled.)Our tour guide, Kelly, was a delight! Full of information and fun antidotes. She let you in on all the history and how everything is made. There are several different tours. I am sure all end with tastings, as did ours, and the tour is free. FYI--We have two more tours planned at two other distilleries and they are not free.Ample parking on a Holiday Monday, but no food available after October. It seemed like only a summer/Fall-like sandwich shop operation at the old Fire Shed near the now non-functioning water tower. I saw only one restaurant located nearby and it was closed. I'm not sure if it's open only for dinner. It's best to eat before or after you go.We had a real nice time. We were very glad we dropped in.

A large group of us (co-workers) came here since we were in Lexington for work and the experience was great! Lee Ann was our hostess/tour guide/Brainy Bourbon Babe.... She knew an incredible amount about everything to do with this place, which we found fun and educational! The entire facility is amazing and learning about it through the tour is awesome! I'm not much into bourbon, but I thoroughly enjoyed this visit and I'd return!

Disclosure: This rating is not indicative of the full distillery experience. I had a very brief amount of time to stop in, check out the gift shop, and hit the road. I will definitely be coming back to spend at least half a day here and do tours/tastings/etc. Love how this place was laid out. There's a nice entrance road with fencing on either side. A quick right and you come down to the main parking lot, which was huge. And mid weekday, it wasn't quite half full thankfully. Being able to pop out and hit the visitor's center gave me a chance to get a lay of the land and show them my ID so I could get a wrist band (keeps you from getting carded at checkout assuming you're buying booze). Stopped over at the gift shop and was able to acquire a single oak project 375 ml bottle as well as some Eagle Rare poker chips and an EH Taylor sticker. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but thoroughly enjoyable being able to smell the mash, get a few souvenirs, and take in the sights.