Kentucky Bourbon Trail
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail (sometimes informally shortened to "the Bourbon Trail") is a program of the Kentucky Distillers' Association (KDA) to promote the bourbon industry in Kentucky.
The KDA has registered the phrase Kentucky Bourbon Trail as a trademark.
History
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail was launched in 1999 by the KDA. At the time, it included seven of the eight distilleries in the region.[1][2] In 2008, an eighth distillery, the Tom Moore Distillery, joined the Trail program.[3] However, the Tom Moore Distillery was then purchased by the Sazerac Company the following year, and at the end of that year both the Tom Moore Distillery and the Buffalo Trace Distillery, which was also owned by the Sazerac Company, withdrew from the KDA.[4] The two Sazerac distilleries continue to host public tours, and a Sazerac spokesperson stated that they still feel that they are "very much a part of the Bourbon Trail", but stated that Sazerac wishes to promote its distilleries independently of the KDA.[4]
In August 2012, the Town Branch Distillery was added to the trail, bringing the number of distilleries to 7.[5] The Heaven Hill Evan Williams distillery in Louisville was added in May 2013, expanding the primary tour program to include eight destinations.[6] In 2014, The Bulleit Experience at Historic Stitzel-Weller Distillery joined the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, raising the number to nine destinations.
In October 2012, the KDA announced that it would expand the Kentucky Bourbon Trail program to include a new "Craft Tour" of seven artisan distilleries.[7][8] The Craft Tour expanded to include eight distilleries in December 2013.[9]
2012 had the highest-ever rate of completion for participation in the trail.[10]
Trail member sites
The program sends free T-shirts to people who mail in a promotional "passport" that has been stamped by all the participating distilleries.
The nine current primary Bourbon Trail destinations are:[11]
- Kirin Company's Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg
- Heaven Hill's visitor's center in Bardstown
- Heaven Hill's Evan Williams Bourbon Experience in Louisville[6]
- Suntory's Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont
- Suntory's Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto
- Alltech's Lexington Brewing and Distilling Company in Lexington
- Campari Group's Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg
- Brown-Forman's Woodford Reserve Distillery near Versailles
- Diageo's Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience at the historic Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville
The members of the Bourbon Trail "Craft Tour" are:[7][11]
- Barrel House Distillery, Lexington
- Corsair Artisan Distillery, Bowling Green
- Limestone Branch Distillery, Lebanon
- MB Roland Distillery, Pembroke (Christian County)
- New Riff Distillery, Newport
- Old Pogue Distillery, Maysville
- Silver Trail Distillery, Hardin (Marshall County) – currently closed due to a fire on April 24, 2015[12]
- Wilderness Trace Distillery, Danville
- Willett Distillery, Bardstown
References
- ↑ Clark, Jayne (2004-04-29). "Sun shines bright on Kentucky bourbon". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ↑ Gilbert, Richard (2003-06-01). "In search of... Bourbon in Kentucky". The Independent. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ↑ Warren, Jim (2008-08-28). "8th distillery joins Ky. Bourbon Trail". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- 1 2 Patton, Janet (2010-02-05). "Buffalo Trace, Tom Moore leave distillers' group, Bourbon Trail". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
- ↑ Chris Snyder, Alltech's Town Branch Distillery in Lexington added to Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Lexington Ace weekly newspaper, August 16, 2012.
- 1 2 Schreiner, Bruce, "Kentucky Bourbon Trail Expands to Include Stop in Downtown Louisville", Associated Press, May 9, 2013.
- 1 2 Bourbon Trail launches new tour of artisan distilleries, Lexington Herald-Leader, October 12, 2012.
- ↑ Craft distilleries across the state added to Kentucky Bourbon Trail experience, The Lane Report, October 12, 2012.
- ↑ Kentucky Distillers Association Welcomes Danville's Wildterness Trace Distillery, KDA, December 5, 2013.
- ↑ Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour shatters completion record — with three months left to go, The Lane Report, October 9, 2012.
- 1 2 "Kentucky Bourbon Trail". Kentucky Distillers' Association. Retrieved 2008-11-14.
- ↑ Fischer, Tom (25 April 2015). "Silver Trail Distillery Burns to Ground in Hardin, Kentucky". BourbonBlog.com. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
External links
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Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Kentucky Bourbon Distilleries Tours. |
- Kentucky Bourbon Trail website from the Kentucky Distillers' Association
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