Bourbon Trail Experiences During Covid-19
The Bourbon Trail is coming back to life as Kentucky begins to open up again. It is exciting times for bourbon enthusiasts as distilleries open with limited releases and new experiences. The days of stopping in for a tour on a whim are over, while the distilleries take every precaution to keep you safe during the pandemic.
With distilleries opening on different schedules planning your trip can get confusing. Below is a list of simple tips and distillery experiences available to ensure that you have a fun and safe experience.
Available Experiences
There are a few ways to experience the bourbon trail. Please keep in mind that a distillery offering tours or have opened their gift shop, but may not offer tastings. You can always hit the easy button and plan your trip with Pegasus Distilled. They will book all of your tours and tastings while providing transportation between the distilleries. A full list of Distilleries is available below.
Virtual Tour
If you don’t want to risk an in-person tour, you can tour several distilleries from the comfort of your own home. Several distilleries have created beautiful and educational tours to allow you to experience the distillery from the of your own home.
In-Person Tours
Distilleries are offering limited in-person tours. Most distillery tours are limited to 10 people or less. They have added strident sanitation regiments and cut out more congested areas of the distilleries to ensure the safety of their patrons.
Gift Shop Only
Several distilleries have opened their gift shops and are offering new limited release bourbons and whiskeys. Some distilleries are offering unique experiences like Angel’s Envy are offering tastings in their gift shop or New Riff selling batched cocktails.
Curbside Pick Up
Most distilleries are offering curbside pick up to allow you to get the limited release whiskeys with minimum risk of exposure.
Tips for Success
Book Ahead!
Tours are restricted to a certain number of people per tour to ensure appropriate social distancing. The tours are booking up very quickly, and some distillery schedules limited tours to specific days of the week. To ensure that you can visit all of your desired distilleries schedule at least a week out.
Distilleries have restrictions on how many people are allowed into the distillery at the time. Call the distillery if the information isn’t published online. A quick phone call can save you a lot of frustration and wasted time traveling.
Bring a Face Mask!
Businesses in Kentucky have the right to refuse service to anyone not wearing a face mask or covering. You cannot taste whiskey with a mask on, but many distilleries ask patrons to wear a mask when they are not conducting a tasting.
Plan Additional Time
Pre-COVID I recommended planning for an hour and a half at each distillery to accommodate time for a tour, tasting, and shopping in the gift shop. I would recommend scheduling an extra half hour minutes per location in case the distillery is at full compacity.
Distillery Operations
In-Person Tours
Kentucky Artisan Distillery (weekends Only)
Preservation Distillery (self-guided tour and gift shop)
Gift shop only
Castle and Key Distillery Pick up Saturday 2-4
Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co
Willett Distillery (Gift Shop and Restaurant)
Curbside pick up
Closed
Bulleit Distillery Opens 3 July 20
Hartfield & Co Distillery Opens 25 July 20