Buffalo Trace Distillery Reviews

There are pros and cons to the Buffalo Trace visitor experience:

Pros:

- Beautiful property
- The basic tour is free
- You really get up close to the bottling, it's cool to see!
- The tasting at the end is included with the free tour, which is generous

Cons:

- They only carry a (very) limited selection of their own brands for sale, even though all other distilleries seem to be able to provide theirs
- They do not have a bar where you can order a drink and taste more on your own, even though all other distilleries seem to be able to have one
- The staff gets a little defensive when you ask them about these things

Overall a good visit, but can't be marked as 5 stars for these reasons

Excellent Tour, great people and beautiful property

Take all of the different tours if you can. The hardhat is a must. Will go back and visit soon. Love this place.

Best distillery tour of four we visited on this trip.

Did the main tour and we tasted the Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare. The tour guide (Retired Rick) was great. The only reason I didn t give five stars was my disappointment that I couldn t purchase Eagle Rare bourbon (they were sold out)!. I recommend this one-hour tour and wish we had the time and had called ahead to reserve the hard hat tour.

If you love history and bourbon, this is aust stop.

Fantastic trace tour with Rae! You learn a little about the history, architecture, and the bourbon (vs. Whiskey) and then have a tasting at the end. They are taking extra precautions with covid (temperature checks on the way in, tour limited to 8 people, gift shop limited to a small amount of people). Reserve your tour online so you can be sure to get in! Gift shop open without reservation

Free tour with tasting of white dog, Wheatley vodka, Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace and the Bourbon Cream. Freddie was the highlight of the tour. You get to briefly walk through a rickhouse and see where they bottle Blantons. Best tour guide in the business, no joke. Ask him about the root beer!

Informative and free tour in a delightful smelling Beautiful place.

Outstanding. Our tour guide David was incredibly interesting and knew his stuff. He even stayed after for a few minutes to answer other questions we had at the end of the tour. We did the Trace Tour, a good basic tour that begins and ends in the gift shop and I would recommend it for anyone who's on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. The tasting at the end was great and the whole thing was completely free.

Nice place, delivered in 45 mins.overnight truck parking available . Truckers to follow Reilly rd for deliveries . Portable restrooms available near docks

Our tour was so great! Our tour guide Bob was a great storyteller which added to the tour. He made jokes and really engaged with the crowd! For a non liquor drinker the bourbon cream was good.

Beautiful place, and keeping it a safe place to go during this pandemic

Really good tour and ok tasting. Video portion was long. Didn't see the actual distillery though. Just warehouses and bottling

If you take the tour, go for the hard hat tour.
Freddy, our guide gave a phenominal in depth,interesting tour of the plant.
It was one of the best distillery tours we have been on.
Also, the whole place smells fantastic!

A lot more crowded than the other places we visited (Willett, Four Roses, Heaven Hill). Free tastings!

We did the ghost tour and it unfortunately wasn't our favorite of our trip. The ghost element needs a lot more polishing to make it more interesting. The tasting wasn't anything special but it was free so I can't complain. It's just for a place that makes most of my favorite brands I was pretty bummed to not learn anything about the owners, the history of the distillery, the property-- nor be able to buy anything that was special.

One of my favorite bourbon facilities. The Bourbon Creme is tasty and if you love landscapes, this is one of the best places to take pictures. You are allowed to wonder around the area freely to take pictures.

We loved learning about "medical bourbon" and tour was good but the tasting left a little to be desired, they started the tasting with a cheapish VODKA which kinda threw things off a bit. They should stop serving vodka.

Second time visiting here & it's still awesome. They have gotten more popular over the years and now their tours are every 20-40 minutes and they are huge groups. I appreciate that even with all this demand their tours are still FREE. Our guide was great, our testing was delicious. The grounds are beautiful and historic. No complaints.

It is a great place to visit. The staff is very knowledgeable and friendly. I recommend walking the garden grounds as well. It is a must see in kentucky.

The tours are FREE. They offer several tours and the tour guides make it fun.

Very nice distillery. The tour was nice and the staff was very friendly.

This is a great bourbon neat or on the rocks. I do like it on the rocks when I want to taste the sweet spices rolling on my tongue. Let the air hit your mouth after a sip and you will be a amazed. Excellent recipe making this bourbon. Sippers will enjoy this bourbon very much!

Nic your but it's not on the bourbon tail, which is totally fine with me. One of the few big places that doesn't charge for tours. Nice grounds and more generous samples than other tours I've been on.

Really enjoyed park like setting and tours at Buffalo Trace. I took relatives that are tea totalers and they loved the tour.
Out tour guides have been extremely nice and helpful.
A great learning experience.
We rode on a wagon one visit which was quite fun.

Loved it from the moment we entered it felt like family had invited us in to share their home. Our tasting tour was great really enjoyed the atmosphere and people. Looking forward to more in depth tours in the future.

What a beautiful distillery with an amazing history. You must take the tour!

We went on the tour that started at noon and it was a great experience. The whole thing including the tasting was actually free. It is amazing to see how much whiskey they actually produce and how complex the entire process is. Caleb explained everything very well. I'll be back if I'm in the area again.

The holy mecca of american whiskey. A must see on the bourbon trail. Tours are free (paid tours are available), and are very informative. Free tours also include a tasting. Huge gift shop (prices are a little high, but what did you expect?). A vault upstairs houses every buffalo trace product ever created, and is a sight to see. Free parking. Hours are pretty short. Even if you're not a bourbon whiskey fan, the history alone is worth the trip!!!

I think this was the best tour of a distillery I've had! The guide was very knowledgeable and fun. The tastes we had were delicious! The bourbon creme, wow! So good!! Best of all, it was free! You have to try it!!

Just finished your and would recommend to all!! Great tour guide! Only suggestion is that tour guides get portable microphones
Cause if in back of group you can't hear them.

Did the expansion tour and was able to snag a bottle of Weller!

Smells like heaven. The employees are amazing you can hear their pride in the products! Take the tour, go through the gift shop. Tours are hard to come by so book early before you travel. Wanted to do the ghost tour, but they were already booked. Plenty of parking and safety protocols are in place and enforced. Definitely worth your time!

Buffalo Trace, I feel mixed. Your bourbon is phenomenal. Your hard hat tour is phenomenal. Your regular tour, which I went on this Saturday, is underwhelming. All you see is a presentation about what bourbon is, a walk through a warehouse, and a quick walk through the bottling plant. I'm pretty sure a few years ago, the regular tour at least walked you around the distillery and showed from outside where all the dirty work went down! This time, I was just bored. I felt like every step they were stalling and telling silly ghost stories to try to make the thing last an hour. At least it's free!

The grounds here are enormous and there is so much to do onsite. We did the haunted tour and then had a great tasting. Bought lots of stuff at the store and I can't wait to come back. Their Bourbon Cream is almost always in my coffee.

Awesome tour and awesome taste testing..... The gift shop was pretty cheap unlike the other places. Will be visiting again.

Had a great visit to Buffalo Trace on Saturday morning! We arrived at 8:50am to make the first tour at 9am and there was a line! We had 30 people on the 1st tour. Everyone was very friendly. The biggest surprise for me was the manual packaging line. Very cool. Tasting was nice too. Loved the bourbon balls too. An unexpected treat!

Extremely beautiful campus, very friendly and knowledge staff, and the tours they offer are amazing - and free! Definitely worth the travel if you re coming in from out town, and an absolute must is you re local. Make sure to stop by the gift shop and check out which bourbons they re offering that day as they sell some of the greatest bourbons in the world, hands down. Come and check out this national historic landmark, it s all around a must see!

Went to a buddy's wedding here. Absolutely beautiful. The newlyweds set us guests up an abbreviated tour. I'd like to go back for the full tour. Do you like bourbon? Local history presented in an entertaining fashion? Then it's a no brainier. Enjoy.

Tours are super informative. Need reservations for the special tours, but walk in for standard tour. Just walking around the grounds alone is an adventure, just don't enter any buildings besides visitor center. Lots of history here. A must visit for bourbon tours.

One of the best distilleries to tour in Kentucky. The history is fascinating and the bourbon is even better. Many different tours are available with distiller hosted dinner events. Be sure to subscribe to the mailing list or check their monthly calendar for the special events. I've attended several and it's never a disappointment.

The tour guides here are on another level, really well done. Good lunch spot on premise too.

Place is huge! They have done a great job keeping things running during covid and are taking the right precautions. Just disappointed we couldn't do a tour, but that's covids fault, not theirs!

Amazing historic bourbon distillery. The intoxicating smell of the bourbon making process fills the air as you see historic rick houses and beautiful grounds. A must visit for any whiskey enthusiast and tourist alike.

My family and I toured Buffalo Trace Distillery in late November 2018 and absolutely loved it. We had the most friendly and entertaining guide possible, Freddie. He is the third generation of his family to work at the distillery and presents the property as though it is his own. You must visit and ask to be led by Freddie on tour!

The history included in the tour is the real gem here (hint .. it is not just the distillery buildings itself, but the beautiful location and its ecology (wildlife trails))
The tasting after the tour is limited, but they do have a cream liqueur blend that is very good.

We had the most exceptional good fortune to be guided by Freddy and Leslee. Freddy is a third generation Buffalo Trace employee, and his humanity and wisdom were only surpassed by his sense of humor. What a generous soul! The distillery is gorgeous, fully authentic, and the only disappointment is the limited stock of bourbons for sale. Just Eagle Rare and Buffalo Trace - which are really their mid-level whiskeys. Still, the overall experience was the most heart-warming and informative of all our distillery tours. This is a must visit for all interested in Bourbon.

This is a must visit and learn the history of kuntucky bourbon. Will go again.

The staff was very friendly and accommodating. The grounds are well maintained and the tour was interesting and informative. And of course the bourbon is delicious.

We took the Trace Tour and it was an awesome experience. An immaculate campus and a truly beautiful setting. I learned a lot about the craft of bourbon making during our tour and the tour guide did a great job making the experience fun. The More

Started in 1773. Ask for Harlen. E. H. Taylor's legacy.... 140 acres. Home of Pappy. Home of all the Taylors. Always busy. Always patient. 60k gallon beer still. 5 main recipies. Blanton's! Elmer T Lee. Col. Taylor. George T. Stagg. Stagg Jr. Look for Warehouse X. Ask about the One Tree experiments. 6 stills on site - the holy Grail project!

Staff was friendly and the gift shop was beautiful. Very strict on social distancing and masks. Heat and masks made it hard to fully enjoy.

It's worth a visit to KY just to take a tour with Freddie. #askforfreddie

Really is an amazing experience. So much history and bourbon in one place. See back in hills of Kentucky it is well outside Louisville but worth the trip. I would recommend visiting in the fall. Most of the tour is outside so too hot and too cold could name it miserable.
The tour is free and our tour guide was very knowledgeable. Ends with a tasting of 5 different products.
Give yourself some extra time to explore grounds. It is beautiful.

Good tour for being free plus good amount of sampling!

Completely free tour and samples! Tour is about an hour and well worth it! Staff is very friendly!

Only go if you can make a reservation on the more intimate tour to actually see the process. They only give you a taste of the low end products and don't sell the good stuff in the gift shop. The buildings are cool though.

45 min unloading overnight parking available truckers follow reilia rd for deliveries

What a fun place to visit. Book ahead of time for a tour (or get lucky like me). The EH Taylor tour is an excellent slice of distillery history, I'm sure the other tours are excellent as well. The only thing that would have made the day better, is if the gift shop had a wider range of their products. I did score a Blanton's though. Highly recommended!

Great tour/tour guide, history and samples. Very informative. Recommend.

A must see if you are a bourbon and history fan. Carey was our guide and he obviously had the qualities of a fantastic guide. 1. He knew the subject. 2. He was proud of the facility and 3. He loved people.
There are multiple tours here as this is also a national historic landmark. Take the time to roam the property and see the plaques identifying special buildings.

Free tours with 20% discount to military on merchandise. (No alcohol)

Take the time to get off I-65 and go here. Absolutely worth the time.

Came all the way out from Virginia to do a tasting and we couldn't get in. And they were open. Didn't see anything about having to have an appointment on the webpage.

Still one of my favorites... Wonderful tasting room... An the tour is so informative and fun... And did I say free... Don't miss this stop

This tour is absolutely amazing. They do such a great job welcoming everyone from a bourbon rookie to a well seasoned veteran. The tour is so educational and fun. Seeing a piece of history here! We loved our tour guide as well. The gift shop is amazing as well!

Great tour. Tour guide was very knowledgeable and enrtaining. A must stop for whisky lovers.

Fun tour. Lame video however included in tour. Very cool grounds.

Great Distillery,Tour and Tasting ! Mark was our Tour Guide and he did a awesome Job highly recommend going and request Mark as your guide!!

"You are literally helping reforestation efforts when you drink whiskey!" This was probably my favorite tour of the weekend, shout out to Laura who was the best tour guide! We got to see a few ways they store their barrels and two different bottling operations! We had our fill of standing around large hot fermenting vats and loud stills and I was very grateful that this tour took us to a cool and dark barrel warehouse instead. Thanks for a great tour Laura, and a great whiskey drinking experience Buffalo Trace!

Visited several distilleries over the years and this has been my fav tour

The staff are amazing. Everyone I meet was very knowledgeable, courteous, and patience. I asked many questions and they kindly answered every question, even adding additional antidotes.This is a great history tour and the grounds are beautiful. I would not only recommend the tours, tasting, and distillery I will be returning for some more fun.

Great location to visit for a taste of Kentucky. Also a great venue for events! Get married at a distillery!

Blantons not available. Staves not available. Was told to go to website. Was a wasted 300 mile trip.

My favorite distillery. Undoubtedly slim picking on bourbon for sale.

Gorgeous! Tour guides are very knowledgeable and very friendly. Awesome experience.

Lots of truck parking opposite of BP gas pump white building says ASH building use restrooms at bp sleep in ash building walk to reciever for check in don t need to move truck til u get dock...

I've been on the tour twice, both times offering a different experience. The distillation process was observed on the first tour. The second tour consisted of video and interacting with the workers in the packaging process. Tour guides have a true passion for their work and try to convey their knowledge about everything burbon. Well worth the time.

This is the best alcohol related tour I've ever been on. Much more informative than Jack Daniels. Free tasting is also a nice treat.

The ground are beautiful and well kept. Your guides were friendly. You watch a short video, do a little Q&A then go for the tour. One of the highlights is going through the Blanton's bottling room.

Highly recommend, very warm friendly people, great bourbon. Has a much more personal feel than larger operations.

Good free tour and 2 shots of legendary bourbon afterwards. What's not to like?

Cool old location, the bourbons offered on the tasting were meh

Awesome Bourbon tour. Our guide Jimmy did a spectacular job.

Very neat distillery, though it could have better signage, as you basically roll into the trucking entrance and try to find the tasting room from there. Bourbon is really good, but they don't sell any of the top shelf stuff at the distillery, no Stagg, or Weller... Couldn't find them in all of Ky, sad. Good stop anyway.

This was the first distillery tour we did and it put the others to shame. Extremely friendly staff and beautiful property. One of the guys bottling Blanton's asked my wife and I if we wanted to hold one of the bottles and him take a picture of us.

fun afternoon if you like bourbon. Went on the hard hat tour.

This place is pretty awesome & full of so much history. Love that they offer their tours & tastings for free! If you don't have time for the whole tour, they do offer just the tasting. The bourbon cream is to die for.

We went to Buffalo Trace on our 3rd day of hitting various places on the Bourbon Trail. It was definitely my favorite! The tour offers a slightly different perspective than other tours (some of them are so similar, but this one definitely offered new information)...and it cost nothing. WOW! The tasting was free, too. After paying at every other place, it was a nice change. It would be worth it even if you had to pay. Definitely a worthwhile stop!

Always a great experience. All of the staff are informative and helpful

Good tour conducted by a well informed guide. There was no charge for the tour or the samples. The grounds are well kept and there are many very old buildings that are also well kept. It has a very historic feeling to it. Very much worth the time.

Fantastic tour guide and absolutely beautiful wedding venue. The history of this place is incredible. The tasting was great! I highly, highly recommend the root beer mixed with the bourbon cream when you have the tasting.

Product I purchased clearly has an issue and isn't nornal, buffalo trace refuses to do anything about it, spoke with Mark Brown who claimed it was normal to taste like grass and mold.

Awesome stop while checking out all of the distilleries. Will definitely be back. Get some Bourbon Cream!

So authentic and the best tour on the Bourbon Trail!