Ole Smoky Distillery "The Barrelhouse" — Attraction in Gatlinburg

We just had the WORST experience at the whiskey distillery. Let me just say, though, we had an an amazing experience at the moonshine distillery up the street with Anna but at the whiskey distillery we just can't even shake the experience we had. I'll just start off by saying my husband and I are 33 and huge whiskey connoisseurs. We write a whiskey blog and are part of a whiskey society. We expected to come in and have an amazing experience like we've had everywhere else but boy were we so wrong. Like we said we had just come from the moonshine tasting up the street and never had more fun. Everyone was so kind and accommodating. We have to drive to Cincinnati tonight so there's no way my husband could have any alcohol but there are some flavors he wanted a minuscule taste of, not even a full sip and at the moonshine tasting room they were totally cool with it. We left so much moonshine behind with just one tasting between the two of us, we just wanted to taste flavors. We thought it would be the same at the whiskey distillery. WRONG! Not only were we told we couldn't do that but we were yelled at like we were five years old by a girl who looked half our age. I mean scolded. To the point it changed us from being in a great mood to wanting to get out of Gatlinburg and get on with our road trip. We will tell all of our friends in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Colorado and Ohio to never visit this distillery. We've visited distilleries all over the world in Scotland, Ireland and Kentucky and never had an experience like this. The ONLY reason this place even got two stars was Anna at the moonshine distillery who based on her alone would've gotten 5 stars. Sorry, whiskey distillery, you ruined it for us whiskey lovers. Talk to your staff or lose customers including the most touristy...

This is the second time we have visited Ole Smoky. We are Michigan and I'm 100% sure we will be going again at some point. The staff is friendly and the whiskey is EXCELLENT if you like specialty flavored whiskey. We were in town visiting friends and we let them know ahead of time this was must go to place. I knew this trip was a trip to restock my home bar as I cant get most flavors in Michigan. I ended up getting 6 or 7 bottles. If you like root beer...dont hesitate...but a bottle..if not 2, in my case 3. Because I bought so much I got a free shirt and cooler as well. The staff is always helpful and will give you advice on what they like and dont like. Take the time to do a tasting if your not sure. Not going to lie in have yet to do that, I just know what I like and what I want so for me there was no need. The next time we go back I plan on spending more time and trying new things. For me I could spend an hour or two there just sipping away the day and talking with people. If you go on a weekend be ready for a crowd..this is a place people come to visit. Also, some of the whiskeys they sell can only be bought at the distillery so if your from out of state you might was to consider that. I have yet to have a bad bottle from this place. Can't wait to go back...

If you like whiskey and/or moonshine, their tastings are a must! It costs $5 for a tasting but you get a $5 voucher to use on any merchandise in the store. The stores offer passports and if you get stamps from all three of their stores in the area you get a free t-shirt. There's one store on The Island in Pigeon Forge and there's two stores in gatlinburg. One of the stores in Gatlinburg is the moonshine store and the other one's the whiskey store. You may have to ask for the passport because they don't always offer them or give them to you. The catch is, you have to purchase something. (They have moonshine jar pourers for only three bucks.) If you do a tasting at the store, you get a $5 voucher, then you can use it towards a shot glass or something and get a stamp from that store on your passport. You don't have to do a tasting in order to get a stamp on your passport. You only need to purchase something. But if you like to taste different moonshines and whiskeys, it makes sense to spend five bucks, do the tasting and then get a five dollar voucher. The bartenders are a hoot! They tell jokes and funny stories the whole time you're doing...