Alltech Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co.

This was a great Valentines Day treat! You can do a whole or half tour. The whole tour gets you a trip to the brewery and the distillery. The half just gets you the distillery. If you do the half, you get 4 sample tokens to try the whiskys. The whole tour gets you 6 tokens to try the beers and the whiskys.
My favorite part was getting to sample the coffee infused whisky, Bluegrass Sundown. It was so good, I had to buy a bottle! Unfortunately, you can only buy some of the products at the distillery :(But that’s even more of a reason to make a return trip!

Our first stop on Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail could not have been better. We were familiar with Alltech’s bourbon barrel aged ale (we get it at Lone Star Taps and Caps in God’s Country… North Texas, that is).
We didn’t know it was a distillery as well. So it was a surprise to see it as a stop on the Bourbon Trail — and a pleasant surprise it was indeed.
It was a quick side trip to Alltech from the Lexington Airport (about 5 miles away). On a weekday we were able to have a 30 minute tour of the distillery. At the time of this writing (Jan 2016), the brewery section is being updated/​renovated, so we didn’t tour it. However, George gave us a great tour of the distillery section. We only had 4 people in our group so we had ample opportunity to ask all of our questions.
Super-​cool things: We got to see the alcohol fermenting in open cypress stills. We went back into the production area and learned that Alltech fills and labels bottles by hand. Seriously, who does that? I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it.
We were given 4 tokens for samples and had great options — a light whiskey, a 4-​year, a 6-​year single malt, a rye, a couple rums (a new product for Alltech) and a coffee-​based liquor. We bought the the single malt (Town Branch) and the coffee-​based liquor (Bluegrass Sundown).
We also followed George’s advice and stopped at a liquor store (Kentucky laws prohibit them from selling their beer on site along with the bourbon) to get a 4-​pack of the Bourbon Barrel aged ale that we know and love along with a 4-​pack of their stout. Mixing a bourbon ale and a stout is a thing of beauty. Plus a wonderful way to wind down from a long day of travel.
Make sure you put Town Branch on your visit list — it may be small, but it’s mighty!

In general the tour was ok. It seemed a little
bizarre to be on the Bourbon Trail since the bourbon appeared to be an afterthought while Beer seemed to be their main thing. Good and ample samples which was nice. Honestly, the bourbon wasn’t really that great though. After 7 distilleries though it was nice to try some beer for a change (but again their bourbon was pretty «blech» compared to other bourbons on the trail). HATED that we had to watch a video of the owner/​founder brag about how awesome he was. It was supposed to be about the start of the company but really was just an arrogant man tooting his own horn for 20 minutes — super lame!
Honestly I would’ve prefer if the Bourbon Trail would take this one off the trail and put a distillery like Willet or Buffalo Trace on the trail.

Awesome tour with tour guide Alex, very knowledgeable. Loved the long tour of both the beer brewery and bourbon distillery. The Kentucky bourbon barrel was my favorite beer. Overall, great experience. Partially under construction at the moment.

This was a fantastic stop on the Bourbon trail! It was nice to have a break from all bourbon– half the tour is for their brewery. You pay either $ 7 for 4 tokens or $ 10 for a souvenir glass and 4 tokens. They said it was something about Kentucky law that we couldn’t have more than 4 tokens a person. Another quirk is that, because of the law, they can sell the bottled spirits but not beer on location.
The tour started with a short video, and then our tour guide Carol took us to the brewery. It’s under construction, but we got to see the work in process and then go to the tasting room. Then we went to the bourbon distillery and its tasting room. You had to plan out what you wanted to taste (we had 6 beers to choose from and 6 liquors), but it was all delicious. The last option– the Bluegrass Sundown, was a heated mixed bourbon drink with cream on top– fantastic. Save a token for this!
Overall great experience– the tour wasn’t as informative about the bourbon making process as Makers Mark or Woodford, but honestly at this point I didn’t need to hear more about it anyway. Great tour!

We were on the Bourbon Trail and while leaving Markers we made a last minute decision to try to make the last tour of the day. A few minutes late and joined Scott’s tour –great personality /​knowledge. Beautiful facility, although small. Tough choices to be made on which ale /​bourbons to try.
Future world for this location should include food. A small restaurant /​pub /​coffee bar setting would make it tough to leave.
Special tours of the bottling facility would be nice.
Outstanding products, looking forward to what comes from this business in the future.

Why 5 stars? Because what more could you ask for in a tour?
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The tour was informative, entertaining, thirst-​quenching, and our guide, Dana, was the perfect alcohol sherpa.
We started off with a short video explaining the history of the facility. Then it was off to the brewery, and the finale was the bourbon tasting. We were given 4 tokens at the beginning of the tour to use on the top beers/​bourbons of our choosing. There were about 8 – 10 choices in total.
Dana was flawless as the host. She provided great info, and just genuinely seemed to enjoy herself and the subject matter, while doing so. Great job!
Being that I am not a bourbon drinker, my absolute favorite tasting portion of this tour was the pumpkin beer. That is definitely one of the best I’ve ever had. We get the bourbon barrel beer down here in Florida, but oh how I wish the pumpkin version would find itself on the shelves in Tampa!

We had a great time here! We got there a little early before our tour started, so we had a chance to browse through the gift shop (which is where you purchase your tour and where it begins). They have a lot of great things in their shop, which could be good or bad, haha.
Our tour guide was Lisa, and she was awesome! She did all the normal tour guide-​y things, but also had a great sense of humor and made it not just informative, but fun! The tour lasted about an hour, and we had the opportunity to taste different beers and bourbons (you get 4 tasting tokens, use them wisely), and had some great photo ops throughout. Unfortunately we weren’t able to tour the brewery because of construction going on inside, but we did get a sneak peak of what was going on and didn’t feel like the tour was any less informative or valuable. All of the staff we met were really really friendly (there’s that southern hospitality again!), and made us all feel really welcome. We ended up buying 3 bottles– the single barrel bourbon (that had just been bottled that morning), the regular bourbon, and the bluegrass sundown– as well as some things from the gift shop. We love to do local brewery tours when we travel, and this was no exception. This was our first distillery tour, but we were impressed all around, and really enjoyed ourselves. Everything seemed very well thought out and organized, and we never felt rushed or uncomfortable for any reason (sometimes when you do these tours you feel in the way or like youre taking up someones valuable time, not the case here). We almost didn’t stop before leaving town, but a last minute change of mind brought us here, and we were both really glad we did! It was a great way to end our week in Lexington!

This was our first stop on the Bourbon Trail and it was a pleasant introduction as to what was to come… very friendly staff, great tour guide Steve, wonderful beer and bourbon since it’s a brewery as well, fantastic Bourbon Barrel Ale (bought some to take home last day of the Trail tour) and a wonderful dessert liqueur … loved this place and will definitely look for Town Branch bourbon in my home state… keep up the great work, guys!

The only stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail that provides a tour of their beer brewery and bourbon distillery. Our tour-​guide Dell was an absolute delight; great mix of information, humor, and southern charm. Very enjoyable tour. $ 5 for tour, along w/​tickets for 5 free tastings. Your choice if you use the tastings on beer, bourbon or a combination.

Had the short tour with Dale today just covering the spirits but it was awesome. There were plenty of samples and the tour covered everything you would want to know about their products.

Went there yesterday and we have had the Kentucky Bourbon Ale before… The tour, facility and all the beers and Spirts where amazing! Dale our guide was AMAZING. When in the Lexington area this is a MUST see!

my boyfriend and i were celebrating my birthday with a road trip, and this place was one of our stops. i very much enjoy their kentucky barrel ale, so i wanted to check out the brewery in person.
we arrived a little after a tour had already started and paid $ 10 for our tour & souvenir glass. we were told that we could join the tour that had «just started, so you didn’t miss much,» or we could wait roughly an hour for the next tour. we opted to join the current tour. you walk through the gift shop to a sitting area. we heard about two sentences before it was time to head over to the brewery. i’m pretty sure we did «miss much.»
the brewery area is definitely a working space, so keep your wherewithall about you. if you’ve never been on a brewery tour, this one is fairly sparse when it comes to information. our guide didn’t leave anything out, but there was also very little elaboration.
after your spin in the brewery, you’re funneled into a tasting room. there were roughly 25 people in our group, and that was at least 10 people too many. it was crowded. you’re given 4 tokens (1 for each taste), and our guide gave us the run down of our tasting options. since town branch (the distillery) is located on the same property, and run by the same folks, the tour includes both offerings. what’s confusing is that the tasting options start out with the distillery options, and then move on to the beers. but… we haven’t toured the distillery yet… anywho, the beer tasting is sort of like an auction: «who wants to try the kolsch? who wants to try the seasonal?» etc., etc. this is honestly the worst tasting i’ve been to. what they achieve in efficiency, they lose in atmosphere and comfort.
i will say, their seasonal offering right now if the «old fashioned.» a play on an ale infused with orange and cherry, this was delicious, and i did purchase some off-​site (they’re not allowed to sell it there).
once the beer tasting is over, you walk across the street to the distillery. this tour, too, is informative, but lacking in any character. the tasting room doubles as the fermentation area, which was nice. this building is beautiful. again, the tasting was a bit like an auction. the rye was good, the whiskey was not, and the bourbon was so-​so.
the one saving grace of this tour was the bluegrass sundown– a bourbon infused with dark roasted coffee and sugar. 1 part of that plus 2 parts hot water and a whipped cream floater– it’s described as an irish coffee with a kentucky twist. holy moses was it good. i would have purchased a bottle to make the drink at home, but at $ 36 for maybe 16 oz., i couldn’t justify the cost.
if you’re a newbie to brewery/​distillery tours, you might enjoy this. if you’re more seasoned, you’ll probably find this lacking in personality. also– the crowd in attendance, at least when we were there? straight up weird, and a little trashy.
overall, not a great experience. i would not return.

Yes, this is the newest on the Bourbon Trail. As far as samples go, in my opinion, by far the best! Not only do you get bourbon but you also get beer samples! The beer is sooooo good!
Not much to see like the more established places but better samples! My fav was the bourbon beer and the coffee bourbon stout beer!
Military is free!

I went to the Alltech Brewery/​Distillery today with my family. We did one of the brewery/​distillery tours, and it was awesome!!! Our tour guide, Chuck, was very knowledgeable. We had a zillion questions, and he was able to answer all of them. It was cool to learn more about how beer and whiskey are made.
You get four tasting tokens, and there are nine things you can taste — four spirits and five beers. The tours start every hour on the hour, last one at four. We got there about half an hour early, so we had no problem getting tickets. The trick is to take people who don’t drink so you can use their tasting tokens.
My favorite part was smelling the charred oak that falls off the barrels when they pour the bourbon out. Apparently if you get there earlier in the day, you can see the workers doing their thing. I’ll be back to see it in full swing! :)

We went here in the summer and did a tour of the brewer & distillery.
I am not a fan of beer but if had to pick something to drink I like the flavor the bourbon barrel aging adds to their beers. I hate the taste of hops so if given the choice I would pick anything over beer. Good thing this place is also a great bourbon distillery!
Their bourbons are really smooth and I really loved them all. I opted to take home the Rye and their Kentucky Sundown but as soon as I got back to PA — where it is not distributed — I regretted not buying the bourbon as well. I’ll just have to venture back down sooner rather than later I guess. Our tour guide was great, super knowledgeable & personable (I wanna say it was also Dale but cannot remember for sure).

Let me start by saying: Excellent bourbon.
My wife and I took their «tour» which was very small, and odd. We visited 2 rooms total, and that was that. Tour guides’ personality was a bit dry for my taste. But the tasting offerings were quite nice, and we purchased 2 bottles. Not sure I’m familiar with them, or if they offer their product around here, but I will be looking!

Two summers ago, my sister in law and I did the Bourbon Trail and this was last on our list. At the time (on a Sunday), they did not have any tours that day. It was shut down due to a private event. I was a little upset because we were looking forward to getting our passports stamped and would have completed our journey.
The staff was very friendly and gave us two free tour tickets for next time. They even stamped our passports. So I was able to get my free t-​shirt! YAY!
Two years later, we are back and I’m excited to do this tour! I can’t believe I didn’t lose my tickets either.
It’s $ 7.00 per person. Make sure to show up 15 minutes early before the tour time. You are to receive four tasting tickets to taste their choice of the five beers and four spirits. You can only choose 4 tastings. The tour begins in the Visitor Center (brick building) and proceeded to the next building where they brewed the beers. After that, we went to the Beer Tap room where you can sample the beers. I wanted to save my tickets for the bourbon so I only tried the Kentucky IPA. Hoppy, yet had a great taste. After the tasting, we went to the distillery where you can really smell the yeast. WOW! Powerful smell! The four spirits they offered were: Bourbon Town Branch, Rye Town Branch, Pearse Lyons Reserve, and Bluegrass Sundown.
I had three tickets left and ended up trying the Pearse Lyons Reserve (my personal favorite), Bourbon Town Branch and the Bluegrass Sundown (second favorite).
After the tour, you have an option to purchase the bourbon at the store (they also sell other merchandise) but they do not sell the beers.
What a great experience! I really love the building (great architecture and open).
Highly recommend coming here!

The tasting system is a little different at this brewery + bourbon distillery. At the beginning of your tour, you receive 4 tickets, each one redeemable for a single sample. The challenge comes when you’re faced with 6 delicious-​looking beers on the first half of the tour — and then 4 spirits on the second half. My advice — come with a group of 4 to maximize your tasting potential!
The sips were smaller, but it was so worth it. When we visited, they were offering their standard line up of beers (Ale, IPA, Kolsch, Bourbon Barrel Aged Ale, Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout) plus their fall seasonal, a top-​notch pumpkin beer.
Sadly, this was not scheduled for release until a few weeks after our trip and I couldn’t convince anyone to sell me an advance 4 pack. A travesty, I know. Here’s hoping that someone in the DC area stocks this stuff, because it is a beautiful pumpkin beer.
The bourbon, rye, and whiskey were all a-​okay, but nothing that we were burning to try again. They all benefited greatly from a splash of water. There is also a sweet option, called the Bluegrass Sundown. It tastes kind of like an Irish crème with coffee flavor. The samples of this are topped with hot water and heavy cream, so you essentially get a small dessert in a glass.
The tour itself was a lot of fun and the guide was a trip. His sense of humor and friendliness definitely made the tour for us!

$ 7 tour. You have the opportunity to take ~6 different products using the tabs from your tour ticket. The tour is informative for both beer and bourbon lovers, touring both the brewery and distillery. You get insight into the full operation and history of Alltech. The beer is surprisingly good. The Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale has become our favorite barrel-​aged beers, and as home brewers, we fancy ourselves something of beer connoisseurs.
The bourbon was just alright through the coffee spirit they have is quite unique. Overall, it was a fun experience, and especially if you enjoy beer, this is one not to miss.