On Tap Tours — Local services in Lexington

On Tap Tours is not the kind of company I’d describe as professional, reliable, or stress-free. If you’re looking to sit back and relax while someone else handles the details of your bourbon tour — look elsewhere.

Communication started strong, as it often does when a business is working to earn your payment. But shortly after my initial deposit, the responsiveness vanished. I spent weeks trying to confirm basic information — tour stops, transportation, group size — and was met with silence. Emails went unanswered, calls ignored, texts read but not replied to. I even had friends reach out using different names and numbers just to get someone to respond. It wasn’t until nearly 10 days of chasing them down that I finally connected with a representative named Chris, who apologized and explained that my original tour planner had been underperforming and would no longer be handling the booking.

Chris assured me he would “make it right” and even agreed to delay my final payment until after the tour was completed. He also promised a discounted rate "cut us a deal" to reflect the service issues I’d experienced. That gave me some temporary peace of mind, and the itinerary came together quickly after that — though not without further follow-up on my end to clarify guest count and ticket details. Still, I remained hopeful.

The night before the tour — literally at 11:30 PM — I received the first and only confirmation of our pickup address. The drivers arrived late, and while they were courteous and got us to our destinations safely, they didn’t add anything to the experience. We weren’t guided, there was no coordination or context provided — they simply drove.

Despite requesting an early-morning stop at Buffalo Trace, we didn’t arrive until 2 PM. Worse yet, our group of 13 was split up at the distillery, which strongly suggests the reservation had not been made in advance — a red flag considering I had booked and paid months earlier. The drivers later told me they hadn’t even been informed of our tour until late the night before. They had no pickup address, no itinerary, and no idea how many people were in our group. Two vans were dispatched when one would have sufficed — resulting in unnecessary costs for gas, mileage, and driver fees. We were charged for 15 people when only 13 attended. (got a two partially refunded)

To be clear: my group had a good time despite the disorganization, but that was no thanks to On Tap Tours. The value of a bourbon tour company is in handling the logistics and creating a seamless experience — that didn’t happen here. I was promised professionalism, follow-through, and a fair resolution. What I received was a patchwork of last-minute decisions, poor communication, and unmet commitments.

If you're simply looking for transportation from distillery to distillery, this company can probably provide that. But if you're expecting anything beyond the basics — including the “we’ll make it right” service they like to promise — prepare to be disappointed. I’ve rarely had to work this hard just to get what I paid for.

I’m genuinely surprised by the volume of glowing reviews. Maybe I caught them on an off...

OVER PROMISED, UNDER DELIVERED. The owner Staus was very knowledgeable on the locations, however, much of what we discussed was going to happen for the tour did not happen. He said to trust him & that the day was going to be great, but the value for what we paid per person was not there. We were charged nearly 2,000.00 for a day that to be honest was not even close to being worth it. Firstly, the bus was supposed to have birthday decorations for my husband, there was NO DECOR. Also we were supposed to be provided breakfast scones & snacks & there was NOTHING as discussed. Had I known there wouldn't be anything I would have provided something for our guests as it was going to be a day of drinking. Not to mention, the entire day felt as though the driver AJ & tour guide Laura were our servers when we arrived at each venue, the staff at the locations were completely disconnected & uninterested in our group. With the exception of Limestone Branch, that is why I give it 1 star instead of zero. It was the highlight of our trip. I expected the rest of the locations to meet that standard, but that was not the case. We then arrived at Wildside winery where we waited OVER AN HOUR & A HALF to be served our wine flights. AJ (our driver) was even cleaning the wine glasses so we could get out of there. Luckily the grounds were beautiful & our group was in good spirits to make the best of it, but come on. None of us would be back because the service was inexcusable. Lastly, we arrived at the Stave for dinner... HOURS AFTER PLANNED only to arrive greeted with food that was clearly made long before our arrival. Much to our dismay we sat down to separate picnic tables stacked with tins of over cooked steak, soggy fried quail, & ice cold noodles to then DINE UNDER A TENT IN THE PARKING LOT. While the rest of the patrons were dining inside the restaurant or under a covered patio next to the live music. I felt the day we were TREATED AS SECOND RATE, compared to the other patrons. The concept of lex on tap is great, BUT THE DELIVERY LEFT MUCH TO BE DESIRED. Our group was laid back with a great attitude & can have fun anywhere while doing anything so we made the best of it. However, I would DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMEND this to any of my friends or colleagues after the sub par day we experienced. The value for what we received at the price we were charged per person was...

What a day!! We had a few executives come in for our state conference, and we wanted to show them Kentucky so we called On Tap Tours. My instructions were we wanted a tour where we didn't have to lift a finger, and that is exactly what we got. We were picked up in a Sprinter van and off to Bourbon Country we went. We wanted to show our guests the old vs. the new, so we chose Makers Mark, and Bardstown Bourbon. The tours were great. At Bardstown we had a private tasting, then we had another private tasting in the barrel house with charcuterie board and other food for parings. Makers Mark was a recognizable brand and was absolutely an awesome experience as well.

After a fun day, we are brought back to Lexington where we had a cocktail making class. The atmosphere was in a private room and the guests had an absolute blast. We had guests from all over the US, and they ended the day falling in love with our beautiful state. After the class we ended with a nice dinner at one of our unique local downtown restaurants.

Our tour was over two months ago, and our guests are still talking about it.... Staus and Kari were able to create the day that we requested, and there were zero regrets. Thank you for putting such a great program together. I was a little nervous before the trip, because these were important guests. I will have zero reservation in setting this up in the future.

Great experience, and I highly recommend this for anyone that wants to show important business partners the bourbon making industry...