Use your long weekend to explore Kentucky’s best spirits this President’s Day! Mint Julep Tours has partnered with Jeptha Creed, Town Branch and Buffalo Trace for a special Sunday spirits public tour Sunday, February 18. The all-inclusive experience includes tours and tastings at all three distilleries. Plus, you’ll enjoy lunch and a Bloody Mary bar, all in safe and comfortable transportation led by your Mint Julep Tours guide.
Along with the great whiskeys at Buffalo Trace and bourbon and beer at Town Branch, travelers will get to sample Jeptha Creed’s farm-to-bottle vodka and moonshine on this limited tour. The cost for the Sunday Spirits Public Tour is $149 per person. Tickets must be booked in advance on our website.
Destination 1: Jeptha Creed Distillery
Meet at the Mint Julep Tours Gift Shop at the Galt House Hotel to join the tour, which departs at 9:30 a.m. First, you’ll head to Jeptha Creed, a new craft distillery just outside of Louisville. Here, the Nethery family crafts vodka, moonshine and other spirits using mostly ingredients from their own farm. This includes flavored spirits made with fresh blueberries, local honey, and a heritage variety of corn called Bloody Butcher not used by any other distillery.
This tour gives you a close-up view of the distilling process and insight into the lives of microdistillers. The tasting includes several experimental spirits flavors and your choice of four samples from their many vodka and moonshine varieties – or a 6-month whiskey.
After your tour and tasting, you’ll stay at Jeptha Creed for lunch accented by a special treat – a Bloody Mary bar! Using Jeptha Creed’s vodka and moonshine, you’ll build your own brunch cocktail with your favorite garnishes and spices. Jeptha Creed’s house-made Bloody Mary mix is also available by the growler if you want to take some home!
Destination 2: Buffalo Trace Distillery
Next, head to one of the most historic distilling sites in the state at Buffalo Trace Distillery. Home to many famous brands, Buffalo Trace offers a fan-favorite tour experience of their distillery grounds. Hundreds of years of Kentucky spirits heritage took place at this storied site. Travelers learn about bourbon’s local history and rises and falls. This tour also often includes a walk through a working bottling line where bourbons are hand labeled and corked. This is the place where many top brands are made including Eagle Rare, Pappy Van Winkle, Col. E.H. Taylor, Blanton’s, W.L. Weller, Rock Hill Farms, Elmer T. Lee and George T. Stagg. Tastings vary at the end of your tour – you won’t be getting Pappy, sorry! – but may include Buffalo Trace, white dog whiskey, and a bourbon cream liqueur.
Destination 3: Town Branch Distillery
Finally, you’ll venture to Town Branch Distillery, which is part of Alltech Lexington Brewing & Distilling Company’s production facility. This unique destination is both a brewery and distillery where bourbon and beer are aged in charred oak barrels. Your behind-the-scenes tour includes a sampling of both.
Your day of spirits adventure ends when you return to the Galt House at approximately 6:30 p.m.
Another Sunday Funday Option
Not a spirits person? Try our Brew in the Lou – Louisville beer tour on Sunday. Feb. 18 instead! You’ll visit three craft breweries for tours with tasting flights and sensory experiences. Led by your “brew guru,” you’ll travel around the Derby City enjoying great local beers and collecting swag at each stop.
About the Author – Rachel Goldenberg
Rachel Goldenberg has been Director of Marketing at Mint Julep since 2017. Her extensive bourbon education includes becoming an Executive Bourbon Steward through the Stave & Thief Society and graduating from Woodford Reserve’s Bourbon Academy. She is a Certified Tourism Ambassador and enthusiastic advocate for her adopted hometown of Louisville. When she’s not promoting Mint Julep’s portfolio of southern experiences, she can be found walking her dog or enjoying a drink on a Germantown patio.
