Bourbon 30 Spirits/J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery — Local services in Frankfort

This is such a unique idea, and the guys who run it are SO NICE! There are hundreds of barrels you can drink from and blend. My mom and I stayed past their closing time (we had no idea what time it was and hours flew by with us chatting and learning from Leroy and his brother). Here is a rundown of what you do here...

You buy the premium experience (DO IT! IT'S WORTH IT!)

They will show you how to use the barrel thieves to pour yourself samples of any number of barrels (bourbons, ryes, wheated, corn whiskey's, you name it), and you can taste LITERALLY AS MANY BARRELS AS YOU WANT!

Needless to say, you get drunk with the employees, and then you're basically their family at that point. In fact, they invites us to a crab boil the next day. Their dogs are also adorable and so well behaved!!!

You write tasting notes on what you sample (and they will show you their favorites, i.e. the creamiest tasting is labeled "Marsh") and when you can barely stand, you tell them, "I want 10% of this barrel, I want 20% of barrel 131, I want 25% of barrel 249, etc.)

They will make EXACTLY the same concoction you told them to, and they will pour you a glass of this bourbon. You (and they) will try it together. If you don't like it, you can go RIGHT BACK TO SQUARE ONE, and continue tasting straight from the barrel until you get the exact concoction you want!

You decide "OK, this is the blend I want". They will create a liter of it in a graduated cylinder, filter it for you, and you get to select the bottle shape, the name, the color of wax to seal it.

So for a very reasonable price, you get stupid drunk on really good single-barrels, with super fun and nice staff, and you get your own, one-of-a-kind, never can be repeated for the rest of time, 1 of 1, personal, customized whiskey you can show off to your friends!

5 out of 5 stars, it's such a unique and fun experience, they deserve everyone's business. It's a little chaotic and disorganized, but once you start drinking, it just adds to the fun! You are running around looking for barrels that speak to you. It's like Walt Whiskey World (that's what I call it). DEFINITE MUST GO!

Also there's a farm to table restaurant just down the street, so when you are drunk and hungry, they have AMAZING food for an incredibly reasonable price. What a great idea! Will definitely go back when I...

TLDR: go here, you won't regret it, but don't expect to drive home from a $20 tasting

The tasting is much more than a tasting. To start they lined up 10ish bottles for us to try. Mid way through there was a tour of the facility where we got to see the bottling and process and sample the 2 bottlings of the day. Then we got to sample from multiple barrels and had personal experience with the owner and several employees. They answered any questions we had. It was very interactive and we used the thieves to take Bourbon from the barrels. It quickly became apparent we wouldn't be able to drive back, the owner assured us they would get us back to our hotel. At the end they ended up driving us in our own car back to our hotel, unbelievable (no charge). The various Bourbon and whiskey was fantastic. If you want to take a bottle from a barrel you get to pick your bottle shape, label and name it pick colors for a wax cap covers. I'm glad Woodford reserve was full and we came here instead. The personalized experience you will get is unlike anywhere else. I'd recommend going out of your way to come here. Just be warned, you won't be able to drive after the...

We've been on many bourbon distillery tours and none have matched the uniqueness of this one, to say the least. Master Distiller Jeff and his right hand woman, Trisha, are such great people who make you feel welcomed as soon as you walk in. There was a college basketball game on and we all hung out and watched while sipping some great whiskeys. It was more like a party and hanging out with old friends while at the same time seeing the behind the scenes of the business. They are an open book and are willing to share the different aspects of their operation without trying to dress anything up. They also have an awesome way of trying whiskeys out where you get to use a whiskey theif to take juice right out of the barrel and pour it into a glass. There are around 10 different barrels that you can taste and each one has their own unique flavors. We were huge fans of the J Mattingly Rye and 4 Seasons and bought a bottle of each. Whiskey fans, this is a spot that you definitely have to...