When I visited it was the first day they were in the new visitor center. The center was very nice looking and had a few items for sale. I would like to see if once it has been opened for a while. read more

Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience - Tours Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

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My experience was terrible with Heaven Hill. Their whiskey does not taste good. From a branding perspective they position themselves as an American family owned business, but it is not a good representation of Kentucky whiskey. read more

What a great place awesome grounds the tour was amazing the staff was very friendly the old truck outside was very nice to look at

We've visited twice, once in September 2018 and again in June 2019. Right now, the Bourbon Heritage Center -- the visitor's center with the tastings and gift shop -- is under extensive renovation, so it's a bit cramped and more of a makeshift, "pardon our dust" situation. Compared to other stops on the bourbon trail, the Bourbon Heritage Center shines for allowing you to try true, high-end bourbons. Whereas most other places have tastings that primarily introduce you to the introductory or widely available expressions from their distillery, the Heaven Hill philosophy is to let some of their best work shine. For instance, the highlight of the $20/person connoisseur's tasting is a pour of the $250 William Heavenhill limited release, which is available at the gift shop (and virtually nowhere else, certainly for out-of-town visitors). The downside is that there's not much of a show here. There's no tour of the distillery plant or the rickhouses, and the tastings themselves are relatively brief. This is ideal for seasoned whiskey lovers like ourselves, who mostly want to enjoy the whiskey rather than seeing a still for the umpteenth time. For novices, however, it may be better to visit Maker's Mark, about a half hour drive away -- much prettier and more accessible to a wider audience. read more

Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience - Connoisseur's experience - Pikesville Rye, William Heavenhill, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, and Bernheim Original - Tours Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

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Great history of family bourbon business. Enjoyed self guided tour, took our time and read the fascinating family history. Beautiful building and landscape. The bourbon tasting was enjoyable. read more

Not much to rate on this one. We arrived too late for a tour or tasting. Nice retail shop and clean restrooms. Location is not as pretty as other distilleries we have visited. read more

Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience - Tours Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

We've done many tastings and tours - and this was, by far, the most disappointing experience we have ever had!! The environment was touristy, the space for the tastings noisy, the "host" difficult to hear & understand. She was more into theatrics than providing information, we tasted Bourbon we couldn't purchase, a 45 minute "experience" lasted 28 minutes. A TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT WE WON'T REPEAT! read more

Gift Shop Staff are rude and surly. Looking down their noses at you and acting shitty when you ask a question, whether cashier or floor staff. Like they don't want to be bothered. Screw 'em. There are way too many distillery places to go to to be treated boorishly and impolitely!! Next time we travel through Kentucky, we'll just go to Buffalo Trace. At Buffalo Trace the staff was helpful, friendly and considerate. We'll just go back there. read more

A must see on the bourbon trail. Sebastian walked us through a tasting before we bottled our own. Holly gave us two samples to enjoy the the self-guided museum. A beautiful store with friendly staff. Take the time to have a cocktail, too! read more

Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience - You Do Bourbon - Tours Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

People make such a difference and the employees at the Heaven Hill gift shop definitely make a difference. They make you feel unwanted and an intrusion on their otherwise boring day. This is our second visit in six months and will be the last. If we aren't welcome then I'll go somewhere else. I am sure they get tired of all of the bourbon aficionados showing up every day from all over the US, so it might seem reasonable For the employees to be exhausted dealing with repeated stupid questions. Although when we walk in I do not want to be greeted with the stupid question "why are you here"? The eight of us left without buying a single bottle. It is hard telling how much money these employees cost the company in lost sales per day yet alone per year. read more

The people and service were great! There were lots of products and all for a decent price. We just happened to stop by to take a look even though yelp and Google said closed. But they were open !! read more

Very unique place. We did the rickhouse tour which was super interesting and a tastiNg. Walked through the museum...also very interesting and readable and easy to enjoy. Loved the film about barrelmaking. What it lacked in atmospheric beauty it made up for in price and interest in what they offered in tour, tasting and knowledge. I would recommend a stop. We did all we wanted to do and see in 1 1/2 hrs. read more

THIS IS A ZERO STAR REVIEW This company is absolutely disgusting. I've drank their whiskey for many years and I submitted online, two $5 rebates for Black Velvet whiskey on 12-2-20. 6 to 8 weeks for the rebate to be processed. We are now on week 13. As of this review, a complaint has been filed with the Better Business Bureau and also the Attorney General's office in Kentucky. I've emailed this company and they stated 6 days ago that with extradited shipping they will be sending me $20 back. Absolutely no updates, no tracking number, no email no phone call back. This morning 6 days after that email I called them and emailed them stating that I'll be filing a complaint with the Attorney General's office. It goes to show you how much they care about their customers when they can't be bothered to get a rebate back in time, cannot be bothered to message you back, and they cannot be bothered to respond to the Better Business Bureau and that complaint was filed 2 weeks ago. What a way to run a company, avoid all costs! read more

Heaven Hill was my favorite stop on our tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Our group booked the 30-minute "Whiskey Connoisseur Experience" and I really enjoyed it. I had a great time learning about the history of Heaven Hill, bourbon whiskey, and various aspects of the bourbon industry. Our guide, Kathleen, was great. Heaven Hill is home to the "Bourbon Heritage Center," which is a free, open-to-the-public, mini museum dedicated to the history of bourbon. There's also a nice gift shop where you can buy most of Heaven Hill's bourbons. There are two tours you can book: (1) The Mashbill Tour and (2) The Whiskey Connoisseur Experience. The Mashbill Tour costs $10 per person and lasts 1 hour. You get to tour one of the rickhouses (bourbon aging warehouses) and taste 3 American whiskeys. The Whiskey Connoisseur Experience consists of 4 tastings of premium or limited release bourbons. We were lucky and actually got to try 5 tastes. They were: * Henry McKenna 10-year single barrel * Elijah Craig single barrel * Elijah Craig small batch * Pikesville straight rye whiskey * 25-year-old "Bad" bourbon whiskey Kathleen stepped us through a brief slideshow presentation of the history of Heaven Hill and bourbon before we commenced with the tastings. She tasted along with us. (Side note: Most of the guides here are older ladies.) If I recall correctly, we each got 1 oz. pours of each whiskey. Kathleen described the ingredients and resulting flavor profiles of each whiskey as we drank them. I thought it was interesting to learn how the different levels of corn, rye, and barley can affect each whiskey's flavor. For example, the more rye a whiskey has, the more kick in its flavor. Oak barrels bring out the vanilla flavor to whiskey. Kathleen showed us a bottle of Elijah Craig filled with actual corn, rye, and barley in the approximate proportions of that particular bottle's formula/recipe. I thought that was neat. The gift shop has cross sections of example barrels showing different levels of whiskey evaporation and resulting concentration/color. The "bad" whiskey we tasted was not for sale. It was a special bottle that was only released for tasting for folks on our particular tour. It was heavy on rye and a couple of us actually liked it. The bourbon tasting tables had a bucket to dump water (and extra whiskey if it came to that) as well jars of water, water droppers, and bread/cracker bites to cleanse our palates. Water could optionally be added to our servings of bourbon to help release each bourbon's flavors. Outside, there are acres upon acres of mold-covered, white, 7-story rickhouses on fields of green grass. I thought these were cool to look at. We learned during the tour that the mold on the outside of the rickhouses are a result of the evaporation of water and alcohol from the barrels during the whiskey aging process. It's a well-known characteristic (distiller's mold) of rickhouses. If you're trying to decide which distilleries to visit on the Bourbon Trail, I highly recommend Heaven Hill in Bardstown. read more

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Great experience. Nicole was absolutely amazing she did a great job and was very knowledgeable along with smart and funny. I highly recommend it. read more

We had a great experience. We booked the tour for 10am then the bourbon experience for 1130 and the timing was perfect. The tour was interesting and fun. It is mostly in a rickhouse full of bourbon so it's hot in the summer months and smells like bourbon. The bourbon experience was also fun and interesting. You get to try some really good juice. One of the bottles retails for $250 My recommendation is get there early and as soon as they open go to the gift shop and see if they have any limited release bottles for sale. That's how I stumbled into the old fitz. read more

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This distillery is beautiful! The staff is so kind & friendly. The tour was informative & extremely interesting to learn about the process & history. The bar upstairs is lovely with stunning views on the patio to enjoy cocktails after your tour. They have a great gift shop & a really cool museum area as well. Put this one on your Bourbon Trail stop! read more

very pretty great tour gift shop could use some different items . drinks are good. tour guides are great Jim was extremely knowledgeable and made the ambassadors tour fun read more

This was a fun stop. There's no distillery to tour but you can choose from a 40 min tour/tasting with 4 samples ($20/person) or an hour tour with 3 samples and a visit to the warehouse (slightly less expensive but I don't know the exact cost since we didn't do this one). This was the most expensive tour we did but it was super fun. Our guide was Kathleen and she wins all the awards for being awesome, fun and informative. We had a mini lecture about the history of whiskey and the distillery, then went to a private room for the tasting. The tasting included the four samples, palate cleansing crackers and a bourbon cream. We really enjoyed the product and bought a bottle of McKenna afterwards. It's a nice low rye. Take some time to look through the displays before your tour. There's a lot of good history, well presented in an interesting interactive design. read more

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Out of all of the distilleries my husband and I went to we loved Heaven Hill the best. We have a service dog, and this dog was treated like Royalty by every staff member at Heaven Hill. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about the workings of Heaven Hill. In fact, out of all the distilleries, the workings of Heaven Hill is the one I remember the best The tasting only had 3 different kinds of bourbon, I would have liked to taste more - however - what I did love was the ability to taste straight and to taste with water. The gift shop was amazing. From candles to bbq sauce to super cute shot glasses - the prices were affordable. The buildings and grounds are clean, and well kept. What was kind of funny was that they have a lot of pollinators on their grounds and I was literally attacked by a butterfly. This sucker didn't just sweetly land on me .... oh no ..... it very aggressively went for my face. Our tour guide and group were astounded. If you are doing the whole bourbon trail - Heaven Hill is a must visit. Just beware of butterflies read more

Solid stop on the bourbon trail and definitely worth a stop but not the most impressive of them all. They have a large combination gift shop/museum area where you can see the history of bourbon, models of the distilling process, and buy everything bourbon related you can ever imagine. Be sure to try the free sampling of a lot of bourbon based sauces and the display where you can smell bourbon, pretty amusing. The tour itself isn't bad but they don't distill there so you only see the racks. The tasting room is unique and is in the shape of a giant bourbon barrel where you get to sample some enjoyable bourbons. This place is near Maker's Mark so you can easily see them both the same day. read more

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Best tasting experience on the Bourbon trail! Thank you so much for serving us in real glass instead of plastic junk. We can't wait to visit again soon. read more

We stayed in Bardstown, so this was a natural stop. We did the $20 tasting, which includes no tour at all. The tasting was very nice, a great cross-section of all of their bourbons and even some that they do not offer commercially. The talk the presenter gave was OK, but very heavy on the "we are the only family-owned distillery" content. The displays that have at the visitor center are excellent. They really give a very good overview of the bourbon making process, and the local history. We combined this tour with Maker's Mark, and they were very complementary, as Makers had a poor tasting but an excellent tour. I would highly recommend this combo. read more

Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience - Bourbon display at entrance - Tours Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

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My husband and I decided to go to Louisville for the weekend for my 30th birthday, and the weather didn't cooperate. When almost all of the other Bardstown distilleries closed, Heaven Hill stayed open! And we were very glad it did! We got there just in time for the 2:00pm Whiskey Connoisseur Experience. It's $20, and it's not a tour, but a 40-minute tasting of Heaven Hill's premium or limited release whiskeys. Our "guide" Paul also talked to us about the history of Heaven Hill (which is still family owned) and about each whiskey we tried (one was $250/bottle!!!). You also get to keep your tasting glass. The tasting was great! And Paul was an excellent guide - very informative and nice. There is also a little museum in the building which shares the history of bourbon in the county and of Heaven Hill. And a gift shop, of course! Definitely a great stop in Bardstown! read more

Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience - Tours Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

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Our tour guide was knowledgeable about the bourbon at the distillery but the tour itself was rather bland. She took us to the rickhouse and saw how they placed all the bourbon barrels. We just walked around the rickhouse and listened to the history behind the making of bourbon. After touring the rickhouse, we went back to the visitor center to go into the tasting room. I thought the tasting room was quaint and intimate because it only can fit about 20 people or so. All of the tasters were set up for us already and we tried 3 samples. She taught us how to properly inhale the bourbon prior to trying it. At the end of the tasting, she handed us a piece of bourbon chocolate to end the tour. There isn't a really great display of how the bourbon is made compared to Maker's Mark or Jim Beam. The visitor center is nice but I had a more enjoyable time at the other distilleries. Active duty military will get in for free and $10 for everyone else. read more

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Beautiful distillery, new bar opened upper level. Bottle your own bourbon was a great experience, friendly staff. Great tour, area to sit and watch short film. We would go back and I recommend this distillery. read more

Wow! Great distillery! I've been to Buffalo Trace, so the tour felt similar with the information. This is my first stop for the bourbon trail though! It's $10 per person which is not bad considering that this was a basic tour that allowed you to try three different bourbons. Our tour guide was Larry, an awesome older guy from Toledo who is also a Buckeye fan. Yay! He was funny and personable. Really honest about the fact that he just started working there like four weeks ago and just a fun guy, in general. He answered our questions honestly. At the end, you get to try bourbon chocolates! That was my goal! Tasted really good though not as strong as the ones made with Woodford Reserve that I'm used to. These didn't have nuts, but the ones they sell do so be careful if you've got an allergy. Still awesome though! It was a Monday so it was just me and my two friends for the 11 am tour. It's supposed to be an hour but we had things to ask so we stayed with him about 15-20 minutes over. They weren't that busy that day though. The other staff was super nice too. We tried Larceny, Elijah Craig, and Rittenhouse. My favorite was the Larceny. Smooth and strong! Wasn't a fan of Elijah Craig which had a spice that I couldn't enjoy. Rittenhouse isn't bourbon but whiskey. Wasn't a fan but it was fine. Larry was a great guide with the tastings. I don't know a lot about that stuff since I don't drink bourbon straight. They've got an awesome selection of stuff to buy including sauces, coffee, candles, apparel, etc. I got a long sleeve half off for $12! What a steal! I'd come back anytime if someone asked me to. I really had fun! If I could request Larry again, I totally would! read more

For starters, I love some of the bourbon that comes out of this Distillery. This was the 3rd stop along the trail for me. The bourbon heritage center is a very nice building. They have a lot of historical information in there about the process, Elijah Craig, and many other things. Iris was our tour guide and she did a good job. She said that she was fairly new to the tour giving but overall she did a good job. There is no distillery here- I did not realize that when i bought my tickets for the tour. So basically, the tour guide gives some historical information about Heaven Hills and then you walk across the street into a rickhouse. After that, you come back for a tasting in the Parker Beam tasting barrel. So.. not a lot of tour for the money. Apparently the distillery was on site until a fire destroyed it and they no distill elsewhere and bring it to this site for aging and bottling. I am going to keep buying the bourbon because it is excellent but not sure i would go on another tour at this location again read more

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Heaven Hill Distilleries is located in Bardstown, Kentucky. The only way to try their bourbon is to go on the deluxe tour and tasting which costs $5.00. We didn't want to go on this tour, so just browsed the gift shop. The heritage center which their displays are free to browse. I ended up buying their Evan Williams bourbon honey mustard. There were many others to try, but this one was my favorite. Their gift shop was pretty big with many fine bourbons to choose from Evan Williams, Elijah Craig and Larceny Bourbon. read more

Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience - Tours Near Me - Bardstown, Kentucky

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Love this distillery and the tour was so professional. Shapiro a family is awesome. Feels like the real American dream. Great enforcement of masks. Felt very safe. The build a bourbon was awesome! read more

This place is always fun! This is the best history tour for the bourbon trail and has a lot of unique displays and items for sale. There are many tour options. As this was the last stop on our day of hitting up some distilleries we got the finest tour. It was just the tasting and a bit of history and you are able to try some top shelf bourbon. Last tour of the day too! They are always professional and polite and willing to answer any questions within the scope of their knowledge of bourbon! This is a must stop for any bourbon trail enthusiast! I will be back with another crew of out of town guests! read more

Enjoyed our visit. They currently do not do any distilling at this location, but they told us a lot about the history of Heaven Hill and shared a nice tasting. read more

Such a beautiful place to go and walk around. Super great customer service though. I had called the number on google maps and that had been for the one in Louisville not Bardstown. After sorting out the confusion they fit us in on the three o'clock tour which we were super thankful for. We have been on a few other distillery tours and this was more of a warehouse/product tour. Which wasn't bad but you didn't get a lot of the history of the distillery or family itself just the product. The whiskey and bourbon all had great flavor though. Our guide was very knowledgeable on the different flavors and how to do a proper tasting. You definitely get a Big Ol' Kentucky hug from every taste. The only thing I would most definitely recommend is to make sure you call the right location as they have one in Louisville and the tour is more expensive and if you come here on a weekend when it's super busy they may not be able to fit you in a tour like they were able to for us. read more

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Go to the bar and pray Jamal is working!! He was great! We chatted for a while and he was so friendly. He recommended drinks and pours and was very helpful. Thanks Jamal! read more

So I had a little bit of preconceived notions of this place of being corporate. After all, they do make a lot of different well-known labels. However, the Bourbon Heritage museum is really cool. The gift shop has a lot of different items besides just the bourbons they make and sell. We took advantage of booking the whiskey connoisseur experience. You get a 40 minute whiskey and bourbon tasting with a guide in a separate room. Allen did a great job! He was friendly, funny, and clearly knew what he was talking about. It was just us and another couple in the room. You get to learn about the history of the distillery and then are led by a knowledgeable guide through tasting 4 different bourbons and whiskeys. Of course my favorite would be the special edition Heaven Hill 5th edition which retails for $250/bottle. We got to keep the glass we tasted with. (After doing all 10 distilleries, we have SO MUCH glassware now.) The entire distillery burned down in the mid-90s, but while they rebuilt, they managed not to lay anyone off. The pictures of the fire are incredible. Maybe someday I'll return to do the tour, but it was a cold day. We were also doing tours of several of the other distilleries on the trail too. It's a very picturesque setting on a hill. read more

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Over all great experience while on the Bourbon Trail! Don't forget to get your passport stamped! This was the second distillery we visited and was much better experience than the first. Located in the middle of no where, I could see how it would be hard to find but the building is huge and noticeable signage. You walk in to a desk and they will give you a restaurant style buzzer while you wait for the tour time. Plenty to see and read in the building while you wait. Tour is some outside but most inside. You do have to walk to the "rickhouses" but it's not far and all sidewalk/road. I had never seen a rickhouse before and couldn't believe the size. Also cool to see that the "old way" of doing things hasn't changed in so many years. The house was cool when we went but the guide said he does get hot in the summer time. They don't keep it temperature controlled as that's kind of the point when making bourbon. Guide was very funny and spoke loudly for everyone to hear. I would say keep up though as sometimes he would start taking before all the group was ready. After the tour you go sit at a large bar and taste three of their products. The guide shows different ways of tasting so it's like getting six tastes instead of three! I'm not a bourbon drinker so I can't say anything to the taste. All too strong for me. Give me something fruity and sweet! But if you like that sort of thing this is the place for you! read more

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Beautiful location and the grounds are very nice. My issue is that we were booked for a tasting, but were not allowed to shop for limited bourbons before our tasting while others who did not pay for a tasting were allowed in to buy. So we tasted some awesome bourbon and when we got back to the gift shop, they were all sold out. Why not give us the option in the tasting room to buy when we are doing the tasting. If we would have known, we never would have done the tasting. Poor customer service. read more

Over our trip we visited 7 distillery's- this was by far our favorite. The building and property are gorgeous, the grounds remind me of top facilities at home in wine country. Our host Bev was extremely gracious and knowledgeable. We were set up with a private tour through a friend in the industry and were able to get a behind the scenes peek of the work they do here. We visited a rick house and were given a very good explanation of how the bourbon making process goes- my husband is well versed and honestly I didn't have much interest- but Bev was so charming and engaging that surprisingly I learned a lot. That said I did enjoy the tour and history more than the tasting- but that was the part my husband appreciated the most. We walked out with $500 worth of bottles & clothes and the knowledge we earned was priceless. read more

We felt like we needed to tour this facility because it is a family owned distillery and we had tried their Elijah Craig the night before and thought it would be worth seeing what else they had. If you have toured any other distillery, this tour will not offer anything new because they do not do anything onsite. On the other hand, they did have one of the best tastings we had been to. We sampled 3 products and it was done in a large room where everyone had a seat and could engage with our guide. The enormously large gift shop was a bit of a turn off for us (kind of a disneyland kind of feel....) but we did feel like they did what they did well and it's possible that we are just not the clientele they are trying to attract. read more

Not a fan. Annoyed at over priced everything. Total upscale awful. Doesn't belong on the map of the Bourbon trail