Louisville Bourbon Trip 🥃

On a weekend in early November, I finally visited the long-awaited bourbon distilleries. As a peat lover, I’m not really into the vanilla-sweet notes of bourbon, but the distillery tours themselves are totally worth it. I joined tours at three different distilleries, each with its own unique style. 【Maker’s Mark】 Nestled deep in the valleys, this distillery had the most beautiful natural scenery among the three. The buildings are historic and full of character. The coolest part of the tour was the three open wooden fermentation tanks—you could really see and smell the different stages of grain fermentation. Strong tofu vibes! 🪣 They also had an aging cave filled with the sweet scent of mousse cake—so delightful. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the distillation columns. 【Jim Beam】 Here you can see towering distillation columns and get a detailed explanation of the barrel-making process. Our tour guide was my favorite! The facility has a sleek black industrial vibe. After the tour, I wandered off to their barrel houses—entire buildings filled with maturing bourbon, each barrel neatly labeled. Such a pleasant surprise! 🏭 【Heaven Hill】 The visitor center is actually just their aging site—fermentation and distillation happen elsewhere, so no production tour. But their self-guided area does a great job explaining the history of this family-owned distillery, with interactive exhibits on barrel-making and charring. The tasting session was the most detailed among the three. The bar overlooks a wide view, and the winter sunlight was so cozy. ☀️ Fun fact: Bourbon is aged in brand new oak barrels—not very eco-friendly, lol. 🌳 The trees around the distilleries have also been blackened and caramelized due to the distillation process. Makes me wonder—what are Scotch and Japanese whisky distilleries like? Each distillery has its own bar—highly recommended! 🍹 The roads leading to these places are also fun to drive—winding and hilly, so it never gets boring. Even if you’re not into bourbon, it’s a fascinating experience. Hopefully next time I can check out some Tennessee whiskey. Btw, I had the least crispy KFC ever here in Kentucky 😂 But shoutout to Havana Rumba in Louisville—their plantain chips were delicious! 🍌 #Whiskey #Distillery #DistilleryTour #Bourbon #BourbonWhiskey #Louisville #Kentucky #KY 🥃