Buffalo Trace is one of the most famous distilleries on the Kentucky bourbon trail and a MUST SEE. This is where highly acclaimed Pappy van Winkle is produced along with many other delicious brands. The DISTILLERY GROUNDS ARE AMAZING! This is one of the oldest distilleries still running (along with Woodford Reserve). Loads of history. Loads of beauty. Even if you don't get a tour....which you should strive for...you can walk around the grounds for a nice stroll while whiffing in the glorious aromas that are everywhere. The TOUR IS A MUST and there are multiple tours (plan multiple visits if you can). The Trace tour takes you through the rickhouse where they age their bourbon in barrel. We saw a barrel of Pappy van Winkle again away. The Hard Hat tour takes you through the bourbon production process. That tour is on my agenda fory next visit. Best of all, tours are FREE at Buffalo Trace and include a tasting. DAILY RELEASES OF HARD TO FIND BOTTLES - Arrive early when they open and get in line. Each day they sell a hard to find bottle of bourbon in the gift shop. It was raining the day we were there and the line was long. Rumor was it might be Blantons that day but it was Wellers...still good but not as soecual as Blantons. We paid $30 for the Wellers. BOOK YOYR TOURS WELL IN ADVANCE.- they release dates and those dates fill up fast. Luckily we discovered you can go inside in the morning and ask the staff giving you a wrist band (needed to enter distillery grounds) for a chance to be added to a tour. They happily added us to a tour later in the day which we came back for. FOOD - there is a cafe onsite with BBQ sandwiches but it was nothing special. It's good to eat while on the bourbon trail as you are tasting a lot of bourbon. Not all distilleries offer food. They had a cafe which serves better food but it was osed during our visit...not sure why. FREE TASTING - There is a free tasting at the end of the tours, but don't fret, you can go to second floor of gift shop to enjoy a free tour, even if you weren't able to make it on a tour. read more

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This is our 4th visit and 2nd tour and we enjoyed every minute. We love that dogs are allowed on most parts of the tour and the tour changed since the last time we visited which was very cool. The tour guides are so kind and knowledgeable. Would absolutely recommend adding this as a bourbon trail stop. On this visit we also grabbed food at the sandwich shop. It was good and reasonably priced! read more

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Free whiskey tastings, they have tours, but didn't go on one. They have a huge gift shop. You can find something for anyone.

Had a great time on the "standard" tour. Our guide, Laurie, was knowledgeable and entertaining. If we're ever back we'll do the "special" tours. read more

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Frankfort, Kentucky

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Heck yes, I would come here again. So, why not 5 stars? Well because it's become too "in". I visited this distillery before it was cool. Where you could get any bourbon they made at any time of day with no limit. I was a little disappointed to not know which "highly sought after" bourbon they would have for the day. All are good, but of course, not the one I wanted. The line was ridiculous when we got there about an hour before opening. The line did move faster than I expected. I LOVE the grounds and the building. Everything is so historical. There's an awesome playground that my kiddo loved climbing on before our long trip home. I think no one should go here and let it be a secret again. If I didn't have such a conscience and hold an Elite status, I'd give it 1 star to try to deter bourbon trail goers. Seriously, I do love this place and will visit anytime I'm in KY! read more

Toured Buffalo Trace today. The oldest distillery in the US. It's a great "free" tour and tasting. So much history. Great tour guides. Tasting is also very good. Make sure you pick up a bottle of Blantons while visiting. One bottle per person (in 90 days). Excellent bourbon. My favorite is the bourbon cream which can be added to Coffee, tea, anything you're baking that calls for cream/milk even your oatmeal. read more

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Wonderful place super fun the bourbon experience is worth the price, my favorite was eagle rare.

I'll say this from the onset: I am NOT a big bourbon drinker. This is followed by a big BUT... My son took me to the Buffalo Trace Distillery. What a HUGE operation! The grounds are massive and worth a visit even if you don't go inside! The gift shop was also very large and full of great merchandise to compliment their selection of alcohol. We went upstairs for the tasting and got a big surprise. The tasting bar was full of people, so on of the hosts took us to a small bar and gave us a private tasting! We were there on the day that the tasting started with Wheatley Century Vodka. Incredible! Distilled 100 times, it tastes like nothing I've ever had with the vodka name on it. If I had been blindfolded, I never would have guessed it was a vodka. The tasting progressed to Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Eagle Rare Bourbon, E.H. Taylor Bourbon, and Sazerac Rye Whiskey. It concluded with a tasting of Bourbon Cream ( a liqueur made from Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon and cream) and a tasting of Freedie's Root Beer. Our host had us save half of each of these and then pour them together, resulting in a drink that tasted like a root beer float! What an enjoyable visit! The folks in the gift shop and in the tasting room were all exceptionally friendly and ready to answer any questions. If you're in the area, you need to stop by! read more

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Back at Buffalo Trace and once again had an amazing time. We were not able to get a tour since they book up so fast but when you get get them at least they are free. If you can't get a tour they do also offer free tastings upstairs above the gift shop. Line length can vary. They now open up at 9 so make sure to get there early if you are coming for allocated bottles. The options are EH Taylor, Blanton's, Eagle Rare, or Weller Special Reserve. Now you can only get each bottle once every 90 days. So if you get Eagle Rare you have to wait 90 days till the next time you can buy. Buffalo Trace is an amazing distillery with so much history and making some of the best bourbon in the game. If you are in the area make sure to stop by even if you don't have a tour so you can walk around, get a free tasting, and if your lucky get the allocated bottle you are looking for. read more

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Our favorite tour on our bourbon trip, and it was FREE! Husband managed to snag a tour right when they opened the next round of bookings. We got to the distillery quite early in the day, and the line for those that didn't have a pre-booked tour went all the way down the walkway, practically to the parking lot entrance. So, if you want to partake in the tour, I suggest you try to book a reservation in advance. This tour was extremely fun, and their tour ground was expansive. We were able to see where they bottle their Blantons. Had the line been running, we were told that there was a chance that we could have gotten a top to take home as a souvenir. :( We got to see the barrels up close, and at the very end of the tour, we were able to sample a neat set of bourbon, vodka, bourbon cream, and soda. Whew! Watch out if you're not very good with mixing liquors, because it'll hit you quick. Offerings on the day we went was Wellers, Vodka, and Bourbon Cream. Of course, we got them all! We also got the maximum amount of shooters (I think it was 2 or 3 per person), and enjoyed those later in the night. We would definitely do this tour again, and hopefully be able to snag some E.H. Taylor next time! read more

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After discussing the below issue with the staff they were extremely understanding of my concerns and they worked extremely well to better the situation! James provided us with a fantastic tour of the facility and made us feel at home during the tastings. Overall it was a positive and pleasant experience and the weather couldn't have been better!! Looking forward to returning in the future. Pretty disappointed in the staff in the parking lot and the staff that is monitoring the line to get in, they had us line up backwards and people who came a half an hour after us were allowed to go in front of us. Seems like you are paying for inept staff who stand around and do nothing. When asked why they lined us up this way they said don't worry there is enough to go around. When you spend an entire morning to get here early and this happens it is completely unacceptable! I spent a lot of time and money to make my parents 50th Anniversary vacation amazing and this put a damper on the morning! Please fix your lines and supervise your staff! After discussing this issue with the staff they were extremely understanding of my concerns and they worked extremely well to better the situation! James provided us with a fantastic tour of the facility and made us feel at home during the tastings. Overall it was a positive and pleasant experience and the weather couldn't have been better!! Looking forward to returning in the future. Marc from Wisconsin read more

Very big line for the gift shop but it moved quickly, and I was impressed that not everything was super expensive. Eagle Rare and Blantons were the drops. A must stop on the bourbon trail. read more

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Frankfort, Kentucky

We stopped in for the free tour at Buffalo Trace while driving through Lexington. How did we manage to nab a spot? By logging into their website exactly at 9AM when they release tours for the next month. It took a minute or two to register and by the time I had my tickets, the tour I booked was already full! You definitely have to plan ahead. The tour lasted over an hour. It's a great introduction to bourbon and you get to tour the grounds, warehouses, and bottling area. You learn the lore and history of the company as well as the production of bourbon. It seems like you could also explore the grounds at your own pace although we didn't due to time constraints. The tour ended with a sample of the different products they produce and a chocolate bourbon ball that they get from a local candy shop. It was very enjoyable and I highly recommend it. read more

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Had a wonderful time celebrating my birthday at the distillery! Tyler went out of his way to provide us a special experience off the beaten path and it made our experience that much more memorable ! The bourbons, history, and customer service are all stellar and we would visit again:) read more

Free tours, free tastings, free!! Come on a Tuesday to get the sought after liquors. The grounds are very beautiful. They also have root beer. The bourbon cream liquor was the best! read more

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Came here for my husbands 40th birthday- was a great experience- and the tastings were delicious especially the cream liquor with root beer- tasted like a root beer float- that could get you in trouble! The grounds are amazing. My one FYI is- don't take an uber there- you won't be able to get a ride back- we eventually had to just call a cab/car service which cost us $100 to get back to Lexington. read more

An exceedingly positive experience. The scent alone on the grounds, that I later learned was likely the ethanol vapors from the many warehouses was the first thing I noticed and it was an exceptional scent that I honestly can't describe. Hint of woodsmoke from the cooperage, dank steam and yeast with a depth of wood that was just awesome. I arrived solo and asked if I could be fit into any of the days tours that showed full for today (indeed everyday this month on their website). Easily accommodated and I joined Matt for the 3:15 bourbon 101 tour. Great cadence through the 45min tour which gave overarching history of the distillery, important lineage of Stagg, Colonel EH Taylor and even the OFC reference on Warehouse D. The access was impressive, anything was in-bounds except they asked to not mess with the bottles about to be used in the bottling process. Zero restrictions on camera usage. The ending of this complimentary tour was a complimentary tasting of their wheated vodka, Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Wellers, Bourbon Cream and their housemade ginger beer. All excellent and all left with smiles on their faces! read more

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Anyone who likes bourbon knows about Buffalo Trace and we've liked their products for a while, though it can be difficult to find them; there's also so much hype around them that it can distract from the actual whiskey. We were able to grab tour reservations on our recent trip to Louisville and we really loved our visit to the distillery. The tour is free, which is fantastic when compared with many of the other distillery tours, and we learned a lot about the history of the distillery and the local area; all of the workers were also very kind and personable. It was wonderful walking through the warehouses and the smell in there is just fantastic. They have a varied selection of allocated products available each day in their gift shop (1 per person, per every 3 months) and we were there on a Blanton's day. It was really nice too that it was on our tasting and we got to taste the Wheatley vodka, Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Blanton's, Bourbon Cream, and a Ginger Beer. All of the products were fantastic and it was very nice to do a side-by-side with many of them to see how they varied. We actually really liked the vodka too (usually hate vodka) as it was quite smooth with a nice vanilla flavor. The gift shop is quite expansive and had a ton of great glassware and other products. Buffalo Trace is a great distillery to visit and we would definitely come back again! read more

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we were not fortunate enough to get a tour but decided to stop in and see what we could see as walk ons. I'm so glad we did as this is such a beautiful space that even seeing part of it was well worth the stop. We were able to walk in do a tasting, see part of the grounds and visit the gift store which that alone was a bucket list check off. I will return for a full tour and to purchase more bourbon. I will be honest, ive had buffalo trace products before but wasn't aware of the scarcity behind it so I was a little surprised by the purchase limits, I was less surprised when I looked online and saw the resale prices lol. No fret mine is for my personal stash so it needs to last awhile. read more

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It's a great distillery, my buddy and I visit they have specials menu a free tour free tasting call Walmart on me. What else could you want? This is a great place for sure. They offer a daily different bourbon special. read more

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Very friendly people! All the tastings were free. The gentleman that did our tasting was very knowledgeable. read more

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Frankfort, Kentucky

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Buffalo Trace Distillery is the main distillery for Buffalo trace products located in Frankfort Kentucky. Buffalo trace is home to several popular bourbons such as weller, blantons, Eagle rare, eh Taylor, pappy van winkle and of course there namesake of Buffalo trace. One thing Buffalo trace does offer that is unique is their tours are free. Now that said because the popularity of the bourbons and being free you have to book well in advance to ensure a tour on your date. Buffalo trace also has a renown gift shop that gives you the ability to get rare and hard to find bourbons. For instance they have a daily allotment of Buffalo trace, Sazerac & rye, bourbon cream, a vodka and a Manhattan mix available daily for MRSP pricing. On those items you can only buy one per customer but can come back daily. This is nice as Buffalo trace and Sazerac and rye is very hard to find at other stores or "in the wild". Now they do offer another daily rotation of a special bourbon that consists of Balntons, weller special reserve, Eh Taylor, and Eagle Rare. All extremely hard liquor o find bourbons that if you come across will be marked high with secondary prices. The way this process works is whatever one of the mentioned bourbons is available that day it is also limit one per customer. But once you buy that bourbon you can not buy that same bourbon again for 90 days. So say on your visit they have balntons. If you buy a blantons then you must wait 90 days to buy another Blanton from them. Now if the next day they have eagle rare and you haven't gotten a bottle In the last 90 days then you are free to do that. With the 4 mentioned bourbons they only have one of those available on a single day and they tend to go fast (usually by 1030am). However the Buffalo trace, saz and rye and others mentioned higher above are available daily and restocked all day usually. The way the check in works is you park and go to the check in system. This is the same place you would go check in for a tour. You do not have to have a tour to visit the gift shop but you will still need to check in here. They scan your drivers license and assign it to a wrist band that they give you. This is the wrist band the cashiers will scan when buying bourbon and tour guides will scan when doing tours. The rest of the gist shop outside of bourbon is very nice and has nice clothing and apparel. The upstairs has a taste testing area that comes with and free tours. But they will open it up to the public for free pretty often. The taste samples usually includes Buffalo trace, the cream, the vodka, weller special Reserve and usually whatever the special Bourbon that day is. The free tours are great as well. Walking through the process and Rick houses is really cool to see and the tour guides are friendly and knowledgable. Overall Buffalo trace has a great hard to get product. But they have bar none the best distillery campus and setup. The campus is beautiful with a playground for kids, public art, a restaurant, and beautiful landscaping. You have the ability to get high end bourbons at cost with a fair process set in place and the tours being free is the icing on the cake! read more

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So cool to finally be able to get here. They were very accommodating for our motorcycle association. Got to try some Traveller whiskey and got a bottle of Blanton's. They even offer a military discount at the store. Overall great experience and I'll definitely be back. read more

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Frankfort, Kentucky

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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. read more

Wow, a must see! Book your reservation for a tour and learn the history of the best bourbon distillery in the world. It comes with a free tasting, one of the very few that offer it. We watched live production and bottling, and even got a whiskey barrel core sample during drilling. Every employee we met from the check in, gift shop, parking, and our tour guide Kyle, was super kind. Kyle did a phenomenal job, answered a lot of questions, gave an excellent presentation, and a fun guy. Thanks to everyone who made this a special day. George and Jen read more

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Whiskey from the barrell - Distilleries Near Me - Frankfort, Kentucky

Took the hardhat tour at Buffalo trace and were able to get in last minute off the waiting list. This is a gorgeous property. As with many of the other distilleries, the passion these folks have for the bourbon-making process truly shines through. Special shout out to Tyree for being an amazing guide. Absolutely loved this tour. Loved the tasting. Highly recommend. read more

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So many people hate on Buffalo Trace, probably because it's gotten SO popular in recent years. Could you find a spot with better lunch? Sure. But the campus is BEAUTIFUL, and it's worth it to get the daily allocation and a quick tour. I think they hold tours for same day so if you don't get one booked, try showing up at open and you might be surprised! The tours are really dependent on your tour guide, but you get to see some really cool stuff regardless. The photo ops are awesome. The tasting is awesome. I like Buffalo trace products so I loved it. And they have a super tasty ending! It's absolutely worth a stop! read more

My gosh. So my husbands dreams came true today we we had the opportunity to make a stop while in the area. Like a kid in the candy store. He was able to pick up his beloved Weller and also Blanton in the gift shop which is a very large area and packed with others looking to pick up their favorite hard to find bourbon. The distillery is just amazing. The buildings have such history to them. There are tours you can take but make sure you sign up way in advanced, they fill up quick. Staff is wonderful and helpful. We will be back! read more

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Frankfort, Kentucky

We did the Trace Tour and it was awesome. Rae was an awesome tour guide! All tours are free which is awesome but you need to be online at exactly 9am a month in advance to secure a spot. The gift shop was great but they were out of a lot of sizes for their t-shirts & very few women's options. The tasting was delicious as expected. Highly recommend! read more

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Absolutely love buffalo trace! Always providing updates to the public and on their site. Employees are always pleasant to work with and informative. read more

We were honored to be invited for a special event here and cannot say how glad I was to attend. The whiskey tasting session was interesting and enjoyed hearing about the history. So much was going on here due to the holidays, the lights were beautiful. I'm not a big whiskey drinker but would still recommend everyone check out this distillery. What really stood out for me was how very friendly all your employees were. I could tell they were happy to be there and took pride in their work read more

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I love Buffalo trays and this is a large sprawling distillery. Unfortunately it feels very commercialized and less personalized than other smaller distilleries. I understand the reason for it it just made it less inviting than the other distilleries on the whiskey trail. Another weird fact is that they are not actually part of the official whiskey Trail as rumor has it there refuse to be part of the official "Field Guide". I specifically came to get a bottle of Blantons but none were available on this visit. I did get a bottle of Eagle Rare and Buffalo Trace. Call home no I skipped the tour as it just felt so rushed and commercialized I feel like sticking around. It's a beautiful distillery campus though. If you're in the area, definitely stop and check it out. But if you're looking for a more laid-back distillery with southern hospitality skip this place. read more

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This place is known for their great bourbons. They offer each morning one of their allocation bourbons - Blanton's, Eagle Rare, EH Taylor, or Weller SR. You can't go wrong with any of those! It's quite fun waiting in line in the morning to ensure you get a bottle before they sell out! We've made many friends that way. The gift shop is awesome. Lots of cool selections of clothes, glasses, etc. The tour is amazing! The best bourbon tour I've been on. read more

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One of thee places to visit if you're a bourbon fan. The tours are free but they book quickly online and are released 3 months in advance so plan accordingly. The tours come with a free tasting and then you are free to roam the large grounds (certain industrial areas are restricted). If you are looking to find rare bottles look elsewhere, but they do have a daily release of allocated bottles (Eagle Rare, Blanton's, Weller Special) at the gift shop each morning. read more

What a great couple days spent at Buffalo Trace....we especially loved our Hard Hat Tour with Laurie, she was a wealth of knowledge and had a great sense of humor. We loved meeting Derrick in the reclaimed wood workshop, he was definitely in his Santa element, with no Grinch in site and created some amazing wood pieces read more

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Such a cool place!!! Such a wonderful place to stop in and check out all the grounds and all they have to offer! Tastings are awesome and the gift shop is out of this world! It's a must see if you're in the area! read more

We Booked a hard hat tour months ago with a tasting. Our tour guide David was amazing. He was so knowledgeable about the whole operation. I highly recommend this tour!! The tasting at the end was superb too!! Going inside the Rickhouse and seeing the distillation towers was very cool. The one thing that I wanted to let others know about is that the gift shop is huge but the lines were insanely long on weekends (we went on a Friday morning and it was a 45 min line to checkout). I would highly recommend going on a weekday!! read more

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Sign up for the tour! It's free but it "sells out" fast. We woke up at 4:00 am (California time) to get ours. If they do sell out, you can try the wait list. We came on a Wednesday in November and apparently they had walk up available. Masks are required if you are indoors. They offer masks at the door if you forget yours. We had the first tour of the morning and there was a line in the parking lot. Apparently, people line up for the "limited" release of the day. Each day there is a chalkboard with the name of the item being sold, and it's limited to 1 per person for 3 months. They swipe your ID to make sure. The release they had was Weller, which we of course picked up our allocated 1 bottle per person. Our tour guide Mark did a great job. He led us around the property and gave us history of the company, the distillery and when it came time for the tastings, explained everything as well. You can take as many photos as you want, and I did. For the price, you can't beat it. read more

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Had a wonderful time in Kentucky tasting the unknown bourbons that aren't widely distributed. The whole experience was a huge plus! read more

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Large complex with multiple choices of consumption of various foods & liquid refreshments. We took a tour, great time - Distilleries Near Me - Frankfort, Kentucky

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The Day of oaks is there busiest day of the year. By 1 pm today 3000 people had came through. Commemorative bottles were for sale & they had dozens did trucks. Lots of free tasting. The pappy syrup is awsome. Tours are great.... read more

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