This was our second stop on our tour of bourbon distilleries, and it was excellent. We did the "Hard Hat" tour (which doesn't actually come with a hard hat), which is free but definitely make a reservation. If you do that tour, make sure you wear flat, close-toed shoes because you walk quite a bit and climb rickety old distillery stairs quite a bit. There were a couple of ladies on our tour who had not adhered to foot wear guidelines and they totally regretted it. If you go in July, like we did, also wear shorts. It was hot. Our tour guide was incredibly knowledgeable and gave so much interesting information about the distillery, the land, and of course the booze. Our bourbon tasting in their tasting room was great, again very informative and the bourbon is delicious. All together the experience took about an hour, and had we not had other places to be we would have done the warehouse tour, too. The grounds are so lovely, and they do have a little BBQ place on site if you are hungry or need a break after the tasting before you drive anywhere (which you might, depending on where this distillery lands on your tour of bourbon country). We didn't eat there, so I have no idea if it was good. Word of advice, though, if you are hoping to taste or learn about the non-Buffalo Trace bourbons that are distilled here (for example, Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve) you won't, unless you purchase the one book about that particular bourbon in their gift shop. read more

A lot of history here and what a great time we had. The tour took us about an hour and we had an extremely knowledgeable and witty guide. I will say if you're in a large group it will be a bit difficult for you to hear. Tour went from quick walkthrough of their main "campus", to a room to learn about Buffalo Trace history, look at the barrels and where they age, and then to a tasting sesh. Overall it was a nice free tour, a little less in depth than some of the others I have been to but nonetheless worth it. read more

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Absolutely a must stop if you're in the area, even if you're not a bourbon fan. The place is beautiful and full of history. Some great locations to take family pictures too. The tour was fun and warm, not clinical like at some other distilleries. Excellent gift shop and tasting area. read more

I went here for the first time yesterday. To say that I was excited is the understatement of the year. The tour was pretty good and the tasting that followed was enjoyable, but I left this tour thinking that they could've done more with it. David, our tour guide, was a wealth of knowledge and enjoyable to be around. As for the comparison with other distillery tours, this one is underwhelming. If you want to learn about the distilling process, Woodford Reserve is a much better tour. My goal is to go to one of their premium tours held only during the week. read more

Huge fan of the Bourbon. Not the best beverage tour I've been on. They cover the fundamentals of distilling fairly well, but for the real nerds it's a bit of a let down. The only part of production that you get to experience is the aging barrels. The gift shop is pretty good. They tell you that they make 15 different bourbons at the facility but they only sell three at the gift shop. White dog shouldn't count. The absolute worst part of the tour, is they have you sit down and watch a dreadful 10 min commercial. Where they tell you that Buffalo Trace is, 'the best" like 5 times and say that Buffalo Trace is a whiskey full of confidence and freedom. It was so lame I wanted to barf. read more

Don was a great tour guide. For free: we got a well over an hour tour of their process, i had no idea how large this distilled actually was. Next to Jameson in Dublin I would say this is a stunning distillery. At the end of the tour we got to taste two of their spirits, a vodka and 3 bourbon whiskeys to choose from. My husband and I already enjoy Eagle Rare so we branched out, I tasted the White whiskey and he tried the vodka, both of us tried the Buffalo Trace. We ended up buying the Vodka because my husband said its one of the best he's had (i was a little jealous I didn't try it) and we both enjoyed the Buffalo Trace...and their bonus Bourbon Creme. (We bought one of of each) I'm only giving it 4 stars because: 1) our tour group was so large I couldn't always hear what our guide was saying. 2) They have a VERY small amount of spirits to choose from...and nothing that we couldn't really find at a store. I always enjoy places that have the more rare bottles to buy and choice. Which is also why I normally stay with smaller distilleries when on trips. That for sure disappointed me, we have been looking for Eagle Rare 17 yr but the people at the desk couldn't even tell us where we could find it. They only had the 10 yr that we buy at Costco. (Still amazing and you should try it) read more

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The history tour was very informative, our tour guide Don knows his whiskey history. While we were there they brought in a load of Blantons and it was gone in like 30 minutes. read more

Don't waste your time! It was very disappointing. First we couldn't get a tour so we signed up on the wait list as the site suggested. We never heard anything, so we decided to just go to the distillery to see if we could get in. The hostess said they had several cancellations that morning which they had already filled. I told her I wasn't notified despite being on the wait list. She told me I should have called first thing in the morning, which was nowhere in the information on the website. The only thing we could do was go to the gift shop. This was exceptionally disappointing. They only had one bourbon to buy -- something called Eagle Rare. There was none of the Buffalo Trace brand of bourbon, Blanton or any other of their brands. We then had to wait 30 minutes in line to check out and when we asked why they didn't have more brands to purchase (despite not being able to taste them), the cashier told me they "ran out" and just "weren't prepared for the bourbon boom!" I was dumbstruck. The items they sold in the gift shop were pretty cheap and really had nothing to do with the bourbon products they supposedly sell. The distinct impression we had was this was a disorganized, non-customer friendly distillery. I would never go back. There are too many other ]wonderful distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. read more

This is a great tour with good samples! I'd recommend taking the hard hat tour for a more intimate experience!

For anyone remotely interested in Bourbon, taking a tour at Buffalo Trace is going to provide you with a wow factor. The guide was absolutely delightful, knowledgable, and had a great sense of humor. In the non-hard hat tour, you only see a barrel building, bottling facility, and gift shop. I absolutely need to return for the hard hat tour. The history of the distillery is incredible and you will exit with a fabulous education regarding the makings of Bourbon. Buffalo Trace takes pride in its products and it shows. Quality is of utmost importance. It is a must see for anyone remotely interested in Bourbon. read more

This is one place I recommend to all friends who visit Frankfort. It's a distillery with a lot of history and plenty of good bourbon. You can go on one of the many scheduled tours or if it is not possible, you can just show up and they have hourly tours. I have been on both the hard hat tour and the hourly tour. Their bourbon cream is one of the best and the bourbon is great. read more

As a bourbon fan, and Bourbon Trail completer - I love this place! The tour guides are knowledgeable, there are two different tours you can take, one is free! I love the history here. I loved the sampling of Eagle Rare - I never knew it existed, and now it's my very favorite sipping bourbon (on the rocks, of course). We spent a bit too much money in the shoppe, but it was so worth bringing it back to Vegas :D read more

The actual distillery is quite good. We came in to just check out the gift shop first, and got an informal tasting of all their offerings at the bar. If you just want a tasting, I recommend doing this. The reason I'm giving such a low rating is the ghost tour. Oh my lord was this a mistake. First, I should say: I don't believe in ghosts one bit, but I do like spooky, dark things. My impression was that the tour would consist significantly of what a normal tour would, with some interesting history regarding deaths that occurred in the distillery. Nope. First thing we did was step out of the gift shop, turn around and look at the second story window in the building the gift shop is in and listened as our tour guide told us about how someone took a photo and it looked like a person was standing there. I'm sorry, that's not informative. The rest of the tour was pretty much the same, stories about people feeling tugs on their shirt, cold breezes, etc. No real history about the distillery, no actual information about how the distillery runs (except for a small bit on their rickhouses), we didn't even get a history of who these frigging ghosts might have been in the past. The exception to that rule is Colonel Blanton and his mansion, but that has almost nothing to do with history either, and absolutely nothing to do with the distillery or bourbon. At the end of the tour is a tasting, and this is where it became extremely apparent that NO ONE on this tour was here because of any interest in bourbon. You are allowed to choose two of six products to try. Half of our group didn't even TRY ANY BOURBON. AT ONE OF THE MOST HISTORIC BOURBON DISTILLERIES. They went with vodka. This is obviously a tour for people who aren't really that interested in bourbon itself. If you are such a person, and kinda believe in ghosts, you'll probably have a wonderful time. For anyone who is interested in bourbon, definitely take one of the other tours. read more

Buffalo Trace is an exceptional location, and the property is beautiful. The grounds are decorated for Christmas so beautifully. A real winter wonderland, I encourage you to see them if you can. I have had the chance to attend a catered banquet, a wedding, and a tour during Christmas. It is very nice and classy. Maybe you need a location for a reception then I would recommend this as a possibility. read more

This was a great tour. The tour guide was fun and we learned a lot of history. A free tour that ends with tastings (root beer for the kids) is hard to beat!! read more

I brought my visiting in-laws to Buffalo Trace because seriously the grounds here are really impressive. Like massive and historic looking and they practically scream, "'Merica!" Every time I've visited in the past, regardless of season, the landscaping looks incredible. All employees we encountered (on the tour, in the tasting room, in the gift shop, on the grounds) were very kind to my in-laws. Great! Clean bathrooms (with courtesy feminine products) after they've been hosting booze drinking crowds all day. Amazing! Free tour and free tasting. Outstanding! Pretty much everything wowed my in-laws and I highly recommend Buffalo Trace for out of town visitors. Now some reality- this tour is pretty in depth so if you are tired or have a short attention span it can be trying. The tour includes a very very long video. I hate this video. It has some really good historical parts but kills it by turning into an undisguised, never-ending commercial. I had forgotten about the video and because my in-laws don't speak English this was very boring for them. It would be helpful if there was a disclaimer about the length of the video because this wasn't something my husband and I could translate without being rude to the other guests. The room where the video is shown is old (historical!) and as such had water seeping in and some bugs running around. I get that it's hard to control pests when the facilities are old but it was distracting and we watched one crawl on a guest in the pew in front of us. Yikes! The other thing that "bugged me" (get it?) was that the other guests continuously glared at us as we stepped off to the side to translate during the rest of the tour. This is NOT Buffalo Trace's fault, we just had a group of prejudiced individuals on our tour who would rather focus on what we were doing than pay attention to the tour but it was unnerving. I know they get a lot of international visitors so maybe the guides could ask where people are from at the beginning or something to sort of gauge if something should be mentioned to bridge that gap or make it known to the other visitors that we were welcome on the tour since the other visitors acted like we shouldn't have been there. Otherwise, a good visit and we bought tons of booze and root beer. read more

Tour was great... Rick was knowledgeable... came back 2nd day just to buy Blantons that wasn't available day tour was. After hour drive, super RUDE, mean workers at registers. Not what we expected! Almost made me not want to purchase. Sarcastic! Not only rude to us - but to almost everyone! Hopefully the Blantons will make me feel better! read more

Katherine the tour guide was very informative. My fiancé really enjoyed the tour and tasting. We left with a lot souvenirs. We will be back!

Great tour. Not the best I've been on, but this distillery definitely has a large and very high end selection of bourbons under the Sazerac umbrella. Great grounds and the most memorable part for me was the racking room where the Angel's share brought a tear to my eye, literally, I mean there is so much spilled alcohol in there you get something historical through all of your senses. Definitely recommend. read more

If you're wanting to learn all about bourbon,this is the place to go,they have tours every day just about every hour,the tour is a walking tour so you can checkout out the warehouses,watch them bottle and label,the tour also has a tasting at the end of the tour,even if you don't like bourbon,their root beer taste great ,be sure to check out the gift shop and look for the pecan candles,they smell so good you want to taste it. This is a great place read more

My favorite distillery in the area--great free tours, plus a free tasting! Non-alcoholic option for the teetotaler as well. Highly recommended. read more

The tour was very good, informative and educational. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. We bought some of their new Bourbon Creme and it is very delicious. I can't find it in the store so I'll go back for a new supply very soon. read more

Fun gift shop and tasting. This is a historic place and so it is fun to wander around.

Very very cool tour and we got the pleasure of being led by Freddie. He is a 3rd generation Buffalo Trace employee, and knew tons about the history and heritage of the brand. We toured the grounds, and watched a video, then had a tasting. They have some good stuff, but we actually liked their regular brand offering as opposed to their "premium". If you go, ask to have a tour with Freddie. It's worth it. read more

We did the national historical tour it was very interesting and we really enjoyed our tour was surprised to see how hands on the bottling process was for Blanton's bourbon definitely highly recommend a tour here and my first choice would be any of the tours that require a reservation as ours had only 6 people and was more intimate and fun than the trace tour that does not require a reservation read more

Went here to get some bourbon for friends of mine since I was passing through Lexington. Tried calling to see if they had what I was looking for but no one answered the phone. Since it was only a few miles from the interstate we decided to go ahead. It was ridiculous how they mad you go to one area to place a mask on and hand sanitize, then take a temp and your picture, then finally the gift shop where they were only allowing g so many in the store by giving them arm bands. This is terrible especially when the President said" if you are fully vaccinated you don't have to wear a mask". When I informed them this they said we are a private company, we can do what we want. Yes, well I am a private citizen and I can leave negative reviews and urge people not to go. So if you don't want to put up with all of this fear of Covid tactics that a private company wants to employ then stay away. There are plenty of bourbons out there that are far better than Buffalo Trace. They also don't have it or carry it in the half gallon bottles, they had zero Blantons available. So, my choice is to not buy their product, any longer will I allow myself to follow the scare tactics they employed of masking etc. I will simply exercise my rights to leave along with my money and encourage you to do the same. Private companies, listen up! Americans are tired of all this Buffalo Crap! Signed, A Happy Makers Mark fan and no longer a BT anything! read more

A must visit when on Frankfort. Not only is the bourbon great, this is a beautiful place. Excellent!

Like taking a step back in time. The moment you open the car door, you can smell the bourbon ageing. Glad I came.... better tour than I ever expected! read more

Great place! Informative tour with a great guide. My only complaint is that the group was either too large or the tour guide, Rick, was a little too quiet, but either way, he was hard to hear at times. He really knew his stuff though and kept it interesting! Loved all the samples at the end - especially the bourbon cream! 2 samples plus a dessert, can't beat it! Quick note to parents - IF YOU HAVE KIDS, DO NOT BRING THEM ALONG! Our entire group was EXTREMELY annoyed by the crying child throughout the tour. I understand that parents want to try bourbon as well, but come on. A distillery isn't a place for kids in the first place, and they're a hassle to deal with during the tour for not only the parents, but the other guests as well who are attempting to hear and understand the tour. Please keep your kids at home or go when they are a little older like my hubby and I did. Thanks! read more

If you've made it your mission to "do the Bourbon Trail" then Buffalo Trace is a MUST. It's such a beautiful place with SO MUCH HISTORY. Book a warehouse tour and ask for Freddie Johnson to guide you. He is 3rd generation of his family to make a career here. His knowledge of the operation, of bourbon, of how to live and appreciate life and family will make you feel like he is your long lost brother, uncle, father, best friend. He is truly and genuinely concerned that you learn how YOU like your whiskey (bourbon) and he's happy to teach you! Their bourbons are wonderful, warm, and rich. Their ROOT BEER named Freddie's, is fabulous and especially when mixed with their Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream Liquor! Oh my.... and try to make sure you view on Netflix the documentary called "Neat" (Freddie makes an appearance;) and I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that Freddie was recently inducted as the First African American into the Bourbon Hall of Fame! (He's kind of a big deal;-) and we love him! If you aren't fortunate enough to secure a tour or tasting with Freddie, worry not, there's an entire team every bit as wonderful as he is. You won't be disappointed here! read more

We toured the distillery last week as we were passing through Bardstown. The tour is somewhat limited as it only went to one of the warehouses and bottling facility, which was temporarily shut down due to a power outage. But the tasting afterward was the true highlight as we sampled three whiskies and seconds and thirds were readily available unlike other distillery tours. This is truly a historic distillery with a very long history. Its products are really good and Buffalo Trace is my "go-to" bourbon for Old Fashioneds. The tour guide was knowledgeable but mildly annoying, going over tour rules a bit much. Not a lot of warmth and charm, but she knew her stuff. read more

Took the free Trace tour ..it was excellent. The guide Bob was great ,informative and knowledgeable as well as keeping it interesting for the young kids...would recommend this tour to anyone even if you don't like bourbon the history of the area and our state and it's beginnings make this tour very enjoyable. Going to come back for the hard hat tour soon.. I here it's even better... The free tour at Buffalo Trace beats Woodford Reserve and Wild Turkeys paid tours hands down. read more

We toured several distilleries around Lexington/Louisville, and this was our favorite. Loved the tour of the buildings, bourbon, and free tasting! This distillery tour was more personal than some of the others. Great store as well. read more

A beautiful, old historic distillery. The grounds are beautiful, with walking paths in the gardens. They offer many free tours of the distillery. I recommend the ghost tour in the evening. We loved seeing some of the places that the ghost hunters team had experiences at. The guides are amazing. Each tour you get 2 shots of bourbon or root beer. The bourbon is exceptional. I love that this place is in my background. read more

I couldn't have imagined a better way to start out my day on the Bourbon Trail. Buffalo Trace has absolutely gorgeous grounds, picturesque and well-maintained buildings and the air is full of the scent of vanilla, oak and bourbon. OK, so maybe I had perfect weather and a great tour guide (Fred was fantastic, as the other reviewers have indicated), but I think this is a wonderful distillery tour. Many labels fall under the Buffalo Trace family and they even have a vodka as part of the tasting that was very lovely. There are only a few varieties available for purchase (and no, Pappy Van Winkle definitely isn't one of them). The tour was close to an hour and a half, but was so enjoyable it went by quickly. I recommend taking advantage of the gorgeous grounds by packing a picnic. read more

I love this place! The vibe is so chill and the place is so cool looking. Plus you get a free tasting at the end of the tours. Buffalo Trace makes all of my favorite Bourbons so, I visit often. read more

Definitely an excellent free tour. Freddie, our tour guide said that his Pappy worked at the factory his whole life, and Freddie grew up next door. He was very animated and enthusiastic about working here. One cool part about this tour was seeing the storage buildings, and being able to take-in the touch and smell of a whiskey barrel that has been sitting in the same spot for the last 17 years. The walk through the hand-bottling line for the aged bourbons was awesome. We got to walk right up to the employees as they were bottling, applying labels, and boxing the liquor. Freddie even gave us a few keepsakes to bring home! Like a Bung, and a Bottle topper. Learned so much history of bourbon from Freddie. read more

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Barrels just sittin there. - Distilleries Near Me - Frankfort, Kentucky

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Delicious Bourbon, Beautiful locale, Just be sure to get Freddy as a tour guide if you can, he's lived and breathed the place all his life. The ghost tour was silly, but the Booze was legit. Can't wait to go back with a proper camera and go buck wild! read more

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Distilleries Near Me - Frankfort, Kentucky

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Fun place to stop. Grounds are nicely kept. We didn't take the tour because we arrived too late. I would definitely recommend this place if you're doing the Bourbon Trail. read more

All I can say is AWESOME! This place has the best service, bourbon, and facilities. I had the privilege of getting a private tour of the facility thanks to Keith. He was an awesome guide and he had so much knowledge!! The setting is just wonderful too, plenty of area to have a picnic and a bourbon!! The product is incredible! I have been trying to express to other bourbon fans just how wonderful this product is. Not to mention they have other bourbons that most people would recognize. If you do the bourbon trail, make a special stop in here!! read more