Visiting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail

After our delay in PA for repairs, we were finally on the road for our adventure. We headed directly for Kentucky so we could have some time with our daughter, Kim, while she was on vacation. We got to Frankfurt, Kentucky on our second day around lunchtime, which gave us time to get set up and still meet Kim to start touring the area. Our goal was to spend a week touring the Bourbon Trail and Frankfort, Kentucky’s state capital.

Of course, our first time setting up took a little longer than it should have so we didn’t leave the campground until almost 2 PM. By then we were very hungry, so the first stop had to be lunch. The campground manager recommended a place in the center of downtown Frankfort. Being from Pittsburgh, we were expecting a busy city with traffic and issues finding parking. This is a quaint city that was very easy to drive around and absolutely no issues parking. We followed the gps directions, pulled up and found street parking directly in front of the restaurant. It was free! Can you believe it - no meters in this town!

Lunch was great. Kim and I tried the Kentucky Hot Brown and it is delicious but probably more calories than we needed. I was starving so I finished mine. While eating, we did a little online research for distilleries and discovered that they all closed by 5 PM and most of them had last tours starting at 4 PM. They also suggested booking tours in advance which we didn’t expect. We ate quickly and headed to Buffalo Trace, the oldest continuous operating distillery in the country. Their tour was free and we hoped to get into the 3:30 PM tour.

We made it in time and they were able to add us to the tour group. While we were waiting, we roamed around the visitor’s center and gift shop. There was one bourbon there on a special rack and I think it was $63 a bottle. The rule was that each customer could only purchase one bottle per day of this bourbon. By the time our tour started, the shelf was empty. I couldn’t believe how popular this expensive bottle was. We didn’t try that one and didn’t go back another day to buy one so we will never know how good it was!

This rack was filled when we arrived and empty within 20 minutes.

We all found the tour very interesting and informative, especially how they kept operating during Prohibition selling medicinal whiskey. The tour guide was great and explained the history of the area, the distillery and how bourbon is made. The water from the natural springs in the area is key to bourbon making and also for the horse farms in the area. While I enjoyed the tasting, touring the grounds and learning the history were the best parts.

The barrels have to age a minimum of 4 years to be bourbon.

After the distillery tour, we found a winery nearby that was still open. We got there just in time for a tasting. It was a very pretty winery with a beautiful view of a pond, horses, vineyard and the countryside. The bartender was entertaining and provided some tips on some good places to eat in the area. We tried one of them for dinner afterwards. Definitely good to get suggestions for good local places to go. Kim spent the night with us and had some time in the morning for a tour around Frankfort and through the Rebecca Ruth Candy company. The distilleries all serve a Bourbon Ball chocolate with the tastings. Ruth Hanly Booe, owner of the candy company developed the original bourbon ball and started the candy making business with her friend Rebecca in 1919. They were very progressive for the times.

Over the next week, Tim and I visited 4 more distilleries, downtown Frankfort, and found time to relax at the campground. Kim was able to come back down one more day and join us for a tour of Woodford Reserve. Of the bourbons that we tasted, I like that one the best. Castle and Key was the most expensive to tour but the history, beautiful grounds and work they are doing to restore it was well worth it. In Frankfort, we visited the capital building, saw the old capital building, and went to the cemetery to see Daniel Boone’s gravesite.

The Castle at the entrance to Castle and Key

Got to help make bourbon at Glenn’s Creek Distillery

The Keyhole shaped spring house at Castle and Key.

Keyhole shaped garden at Castle and Key.

This was a small distillery next door to Castle and Key in the Old Crow Distillery.

VIEW OF THE KENTUCKY RIVER FROM THE CAMPGROUND

We had a very enjoyable week in Frankfort and staying at the Kentucky River Campground. The sites at the campground were small but it was a wonderful place to stay. The staff and residents there made all the difference. A very friendly place for sure.

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Visiting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail

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