Just got back from another weekend in the whiskey holy land. We had 21 people in our travel group and a great time was had by all.
Tours/formal tastings - Michter's, Old Forester, Angel's Envy, Whiskey Thief Distilling Co., Glenn's Creek
Other distillery stops for pours and such - Willett, Jim Beam, Woodford, Castle and Key
Restaurants - The Rickhouse, The Kitchen Table (Jim Beam distillery), Doc Crows, The Stave
A few things from my perspective from the tours/tastings...
Micther's - wasn't worth the time. I have heard much that is good about this brand, but it just doesn't do it for me. The tour was sort of a contrived mini demo of the whiskey making process. We were in Louisville, so this location is just in a downtown building on Whiskey Row. They do some limited production there, but it just felt staged. The tasting allowed us to sample 5 of their products (No 10 year to tatse or available to buy), but I found them to be very muted in flavor, very low proof, and very similar to each other. I really had no Micther's experience before this. Nothing here won me over as a customer.
Old Forester - this was an unexpected surprise and a solid tour. The coolest part of this experience was the fact that they do their own barrel making there and the whole process was included as part of the tour. We got to see it all...the barrel shaping, the toasting, the charring, the banding, the leak testing and the filling. It was a nice addition to the typical whiskey making tours. We got a guided tasting of the Whiskey Row series (not including the new 1924 unfortunately), but I was already pretty familiar with those products. I am a huge fan of the 1910. Our tour guide, Michael, was awesome.
Angel's Envy - Ho-Hum typical tour...2 unique things: they let you taste the mash in the fermenter (not pleasant) and they let you rub the head of the distillate on your hands. Smell...rub...smell...rub...smell...rub...and the nose of what you could pick up on changed significantly as you did this. The guided tasting was pretty limited...only included their 2 base products, the port finish and rye rum finish. Biggest surprise to me here was finding out the rye whiskey for the rum cask product is sourced from MGP. I did not know that previously. I also found out that Angel's Envy is now owned by the Bacardi corporation...which is the source for the rum barrels for finishing the rye. I did get to try their Cask strength versions of both the port finish and rye in the bar after the tour. They were fantastic...so much better then the lower proof decedents. Unfortunately, I just can't justify the cost of these at $230 and $270 per bottle. Glad I got a taste though, because they are much better than the base model (and I like the base models, especially the rye).
Whiskey Thief - a great experience and I would suggest a must do for anyone hitting the bourbon trail. Aside from the whiskey making tour (which was kept brief since they knew everyone has been on other tours), the tasting part made the day. You get to taste samples of 5 different whiskies drawn with a copper whiskey thief straight from the barrels. We sweet talked the young lady working there (Katie) into letting us taste a 6th barrel as well. She was awesome...so friendly and informative. She also brews beer aside from her gig here. Anyway, they are very liberal with the tastings. You can go back for seconds...and thirds...and... No one stopped us. This was our first stop of the day on Sunday, and I left there with a buzz. If you decide to purchase a bottle, 375 mL or 750 mL, you get to fill it yourself using the whiskey thief tool. I left with 2 bottles.
Glenn's Creek - another highlight of the trip...strongly recommend. We did a guided tasting there. You literally sit around the bar in the distilling room with the master distiller leading the experience. It felt like we were in his garage. He just hangs out with you casually swapping stories as he pours your samples. As he tells you stories about how he got started and learned the craft, he calls out many of the other distilleries (generically) for the BS they spread to the public about the process. He sat with us for near an hour and a half chatting it up. Every bottle we purchased, he wrote our name on it with a "Cheers" message with the date and then signed his name. The whole vibe was very cool and personal.