J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery — Local services in Frankfort

When was the last time you were looking for something to do and decided maybe to just go blend some bourbon out of the barrel? Well, to be quite honest, it has never really just popped into my mind before but on this fateful day it did. We happened to be across the road at Buffalo Trace and I was talking about a bottle I was given for my birthday from J. Mattingly and I had watched a youtube interview with the owner and It looked like something that would be interesting to do and the owner seemed like a guy that I would get along with.

We hopped on the website and found that there was availability for the VIP experience so we booked it and shuffled our plans a bit to make it happen. Upon entering there was a very nice women that took a look at our ID's and verified what we were there for and quickly introduced us to Dakota which is who would be helping us out for the experience. Dakota led us down to the private barrel room where he gave us the rundown of how the experience works.

With three stations you had a choice of Rye, Whiskey, and Bourbon and you pick one area and taste those barrels and then you get to tasting and blending. In the middle of the experience Jeff popped in and we all starting talking all things Bourbon, Hand Canons and Freedom Seeds and we quickly realized we found what we would consider our top stop for the entire trip. There is something about going into a business and meeting a bunch of the team and finding similar interests all while enjoying some amazing bourbon. I won't say which barrel exactly but I can say that there was one barrel in the bourbon selections that was absolutely amazing. I tasted a ton of bourbon throughout the weekend and it is the one that has stuck in my mind since. I am very glad I chose to have that one bottled by itself.

If you are headed to Kentucky to have bourbon and you want to have not just a few pours but a great overall experience, these are your guys. This was most definitely the highlight of our trip and I look forward to going back when I find my way back out to Kentucky.

Thank You Jeff and Dakota for making J. Mattingly the talk...

A hidden gem! My husband & I discovered this place by chance after leaving BT (legit right across the street!) and I am so glad we did! The unassuming storefront hides an awesome, chill tasting room with the feel of your dream man-cave/she-shed (no? just mine?). We were en route to the airport so our time was sadly limited, but the staff could not have been nicer or more inviting. I didn’t catch the name of the gentleman who originally helped us (shame on me!), but he was kind enough to accommodate our restricted schedule while still making us feel welcomed. And special shoutout to Bev, who led us through an abbreviated tasting while somehow not making us feel rushed or unimportant. She made sure to point out which bottles we’d be able to get back in New York vs which were only available for purchase on-site, information we really appreciated.

This place really knows how to do hospitality right - unlike the corporate feel of some of the bigger players we visited on our distillery trip, J. Mattingly offers the cozy sense of hanging out at your buddy’s basement bar, but in the absolute best possible way. We’re so sad we didn’t find them until the end of our trip (and that we didn’t get to meet resident distillery cats Benny and MJ!), but we’ll definitely be back the next time we’re...

We got to the new facility on Reilly Road, across from Buffalo Trace, due to a discombobulated miscommunication, a result of the closing of the Bourbon 30 tour.. We had been advised that the place was still under construction and to not judge it by the exterior appearance. Yes, it is still under construction, in the finishing stages though, but what we saw told us this is a cool place.

Once the confusion settled a gentleman came out and offered to give us a tour of everything behind the scenes. Since opening is planned for only about 2 weeks away things were in fairly good shape. A very impressive facility, I am looking forward to returning and seeing the finished tasting area and mix your own blend room. After the tour, we had 3 tastings, all cask strength. Our favorite is the rye whiskey. Long story short, our tour guide was Harry, the President of J Mattingly! I cannot praise the man enough for taking time out during what has to be a very busy and chaotic time for him to personally not only give us a tour and detailing all the specifics of the place but spending a good deal of additional time talking about bourbon (of course) and just us in general.

I put this place on the must see list. Being small is just more quaint than the big dogs. A 6...