TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums United States & Canada Louisville, Ky

Hi all,

I will have the better part of an afternoon and one full evening in Louisville this August.

Any must hits during this short time? We're open to any and everything.

Will arrive about 2:00pm on Friday, 8/15. (Going to a wedding in the afternoon of the 16th).

Staying here: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/sdfsd-springhill-suites-louisville-downtown/

Thanks for any info! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

I would either head to Buffalo Trace distillery which has a great tour or go down to Heaven Hill, possibly Makers Mark or both of those for a tour. Another good option is Four Roses. They are very interesting tours and each is very different, even if you are not a Bourbon fan. Americana, great history.

That is what I would do, probably will be making a trip there next year just to do those and more.
Cheers,
Todd

Thanks Todd,

We're planning on hitting 1 tour on Friday (trying to pound out the Urban Bourbon Trail the afternoon/evening before a wedding might not be wise).

We have to pass on Buffalo Trace and Four Roses just because of the distance from our hotel, but what do you reccomend out of Heaven Hill (never had or heard of) vs Makers Mark (which of course I've been drinking for years)?

Heaven Hill is big, many different brands come from this place. Elijah Craig, Evan Williams are just a couple of their brands. I think they are the second largest of the distilleries. It is either Parker and Craig Beam are the master distillers there.

If you are a Makers drinker, they have a good tour as well. Even though it is owned or was owned by Jim Beam (now Suntory out of Japan) they have kept the place fairly old school and it also has a lot of history.

I like the bourbon and the tasting room from Heaven Hill, but I would probably say that the Makers Mark tour is better. The actual Jim Beam distillery in my opinion was my least favorite of any if you had considered it.

I also would not try to do more than two tours in a full day, to appreciate the places you need to take your time. So if you are on a short day, only try to hit one. You are not going to get to drink that much bourbon so that is not an issue.

Cheers,
T

Todd,

Thanks for the info. I dunno if I'm just a moron, but I keep getting multiple addresses for the same distilleries so I don't know if the ones closer to the city are just "satellite" tasting locations or something?

I am staying in downtown Louisville. Do you know if there are any legit distilleries with decent tours/good tasting rooms that are within a 15 minute drive?

Looks like Evan Williams is right in the city. Will probably be doing that one. Ever been?

Evan Williams is made at Heaven Hill Distillery, but it does look like Evan Williams is doing their best to bring some of this closer to a city. Heaven Hill is probably the closest "good" tour to where you will be at and it is about a 45 minute drive each way. Jim Beam is closer, but low on my list.

Enjoy,
Todd

Here's a link to the downtown distillery I'm leaning towards: http://www.yelp.com/biz/evan-williams-bourbon-experience-louisville

Vendome is downtown I believe. They make the stills for all the big buys and are starting to produce stills for us little micro distillers as well. If they have public tours it would be very interesting.

I think we're doing the Evan Williams Experience downtown. That'll be Friday. Saturday we will try to hit a good lunch joint, any recommendations there?

Rough Outline looks to be:

Friday
Evan Williams Bourbon (downtown)
Go to Germantown and grab something from Nord's Bakery, check out Greenhaus, and eat dinner at Hammerhead's.

Saturday
Eat a late breakfast at Toast
go to Why Louisville
chill at the pool until wedding/reception.

Go to a Louisville Bats baseball game. (Reds-AAA) and to the Louisville Slugger factory. They can put your name on a bat that you select for purchase.

Cinci,

Unfortunately Fri would be our only logistically possible night to do a game since the Sat game is an evening time instead of afternoon, but we already are doing the bourbon tour & getting dinner. So this trip will be Bats-less.

However, we will probably check out the Louisville Slugger factory!

Aye, got sucked into the wedding party and now I have to go to the rehearsal dinner.

So now my Friday is kind of jacked -_-

Hammerheads is now off the possibility list, and I'll have to re-adjust what to do Friday so I'm still presentable at said dinner. DARNIT!

Should we go to Jackfry's or Corbett's for lunch on Friday friends?

On a similar note, we'll order pizza for the hotel pool on Sat pre-wedding. What do the Louisville experts say is the best pizza in the city?

Thanks!

leaving Fri morning.

fri-jack's fry, evan williams distillery, rehearsal dinner
sat-toast, order wick's pizza, wedding
sun-nord's bakery

that's the plan!