The Sazerac House — Attraction in New Orleans

Sazerac House is definitely a new gem of NOLA!! It opened a year ago so it is a new discovery for us since our last visit a couple years ago. The building, interior, merchandise and down to every detail of it is gorgeous and elegant to the highest esteem. (We are architects so we do notice EVERY DETAIL). Such thoughtful designs. My husband and I were like kids walking into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory!

The most important of all, it is not merely a store front selling high end spirits and merchandise, it is an incredible museum. What Sazerac House desires is not for people to go buy their spirits and merchandise, but to experience and appreciate their history. Honesty, with numerous of such fine spirits under the belt - such as Buffalo Trades, Weller’s, Eagle Rare, Taylor to name a few, they really don’t have to worry about selling here... With that said, the complimentary tour they offer is absolutely valuable and necessary to attend!

I cannot rave enough about the tour! It’s a 45 minutes tour with 3 different tasting. It is educational, enjoyable and delightful. Our tour guide Jim is THE BEST tour guide ever! (It used to be a self guided tour but during COVID they made it into a guided tour for safety) We have been to numerous distillery/winery/brewery tours (including Bacardi in PR) and we enjoyed this tour above all, and we surprisingly learned so much! Jim is very knowledgeable, very well spoken, and so very sincere. It is one thing to nicely and efficiently delivering the information, but it’s a whole different level of experience when the guests feel enticed. It probably credited to Jim’s background of broadcasting for long years and his love for Sazerac House! They also very cleverly, creatively and elegantly incorporates interactive multimedia among the displays. Again, I cannot rave enough about how much we enjoyed the tour!

Another very important notion is their safety protocols during this pandemic. We visited towards the end of the unforgettable 2020. I have to say, Sazerac House is by far the place we felt safest going out to! They provides gloves and masks at the door in a nice cart with all kinds of sanitizers, checks temperature with a walk up screen as you go in (super cool by the way), and the spacious interior keeps all guests at adequate distances. For those that might dread Covid precautions, this is not dreadful at all. It is very efficiently and professionally done, amazing. It just shows how much they care about their guests and employees!

All the staff are very friendly, joyful, and welcoming. What a carefree and amazing experience! This is our 5th time coming to NOLA (love it like our second home!) and just when we thought we wouldn’t be doing anything new just looking for some wonderful food we miss, here’s our new highlight of the...

How many places on Yelp have a perfect 5 star rating? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I do know it’s not a large number. However , this spot makes that list. There is a reason for the five star rating!

I am so glad that someone that we ran into while visiting the city told us about this spot. It is located in the heart of everything New Orleans has to offer on Magazine street. It is hard to miss this place give that it’s located on a corner and has a ton of signage on the building.

When we arrived we scanned a QR code at the entrance and obtained tickets for a FREE ( yes FREE) tour that was starting in 15 minutes. After purchasing an allocated time you do have to sign in at the register. The staff provides you with a bracelet that is scanned during the tour for complimentary ( yes, another feeble) cocktails.

The inside of this place is beautiful. There is a wall of alcohol as a focal point with a beautiful staircase. The tour is conducted on 3 floors. You start at the top and make your way down. There are plenty of opportunities to engage during your self guided tour. Ultimately you end o up on the bottom floor where you can tour the distillery. Your final landing place is the gift shop. They have something for everyone. I opted to go with airplane size bottles since I was only doing a carry on luggage heading back home.

Overall I have nothing negative to say about this experience. It’s a great use of time and would highly recommend. It if you are...

If you are in NOLA, this a must see and do visit. My best friend scheduled the full tour which I will get to a bit later. We were greeted and wrist banded then the self-walk through was recommended to go from the 3rd floor down. The history of the Sazerac house and business demonstrated via mirrors and walls with animated video effects, plaques and antique photos and vials showing so many small details and learning points. It truly is great seeing this rich history displayed. Matt got our tasting tour part going, filled with going floor by floor again, giving us great stories and more facts before heading into the second floor tasting area were there were 8 seats at the bar like area and three small tables with more space for everyone in the tour. A small serving of the drink Sazerac, a shot of the rye and also of herbisaint plus some of the items which go into the making of drink in a small tin for demo of what makes it and a sugar cube for a bitters demonstration. The entire tour was fun but that drinking tour is a must do! Seeing a bottle is one thing but savoring the flavors with the knowledge from the actual location is such an experience. Then you can go shopping at the first floor where the liquor, books, merchandise and snacks are. Got a box of bourbon dipped praline pecans ($17) which need to last me a good...