The Complete Bourbon Trail Booking Guide

Why Booking Matters More Than You Think

Here's the reality that catches most first-time visitors off guard: nearly every major distillery on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail requires advance reservations. This isn't like visiting a brewery where you walk in and grab a flight. These are structured, timed tours with limited group sizes, and the popular ones sell out weeks — sometimes months — in advance.

I've seen people drive hours to Buffalo Trace only to find out every tour that day was booked. I've talked to visitors in Bardstown who couldn't get into Maker's Mark because they assumed Saturday afternoon walk-ups would be fine. They weren't.

The good news: booking isn't complicated once you understand the system. Every distillery handles it slightly differently, but the core strategy is the same — book the hardest ones first, be flexible on days, and always have a backup plan.

The Master Booking Table

Here's every major distillery on the trail, sorted by how far in advance you need to book. Bookmark this — it's the single most useful reference for planning your trip.

The Booking Order: What to Book First

Don't book chronologically by day. Book in order of difficulty. Here's the exact sequence I recommend, structured as a timeline counting backward from your trip:

Distillery-by-Distillery Booking Details

Here's the specific booking information for the distilleries that cause the most headaches:

Buffalo Trace

Angel's Envy

Maker's Mark

What to Do When Everything Is Sold Out

Don't panic. There are always options, even if your first choices are gone.

Check for cancellations. The 5–7 day window before a tour date is prime cancellation territory. People's plans change, groups shrink, weather scares people off. Check the booking page daily during that window. Early morning is often when cancellations are processed and released.

Try a different tour at the same distillery. Buffalo Trace has four or five tour options — if the Hard Hat is gone, the Trace Tour, Ghost Tour, or Bourbon Barrel Tour might have openings. At Maker's Mark, the standard tour is often available even when the hand-dip is sold out. You're still visiting the same campus and getting a quality experience.

Shift to weekdays. If you have any flexibility in your schedule, Tuesday through Thursday availability is dramatically better than Saturday. Even just shifting one day off the weekend can open up options that were impossible before.

Pivot to craft distilleries. This is honestly one of the best things that can happen to your trip. Getting shut out of a big-name booking forces you to discover places like Preservation Distillery, Log Still, or Wilderness Trail — smaller operations with better bourbon than you'd expect, more personal experiences, and none of the crowds. Some of the best bourbon I've had on the trail came from distilleries I'd never heard of before visiting.

Weekday vs. Weekend: The Real Difference

If you can swing a weekday trip, the experience is dramatically better in every way:

• ✓Booking availability — Weekday tours are 3–5x easier to get. Buffalo Trace Hard Hat on a Wednesday? Very doable with 4 weeks notice. On a Saturday? You're fighting for scraps at 8 weeks.
• ✓Smaller groups — Tour groups on weekdays are often half the size of Saturday tours. That means more time with guides, better Q&A, and a more intimate experience.
• ✓Gift shop inventory — Allocated bottles at Buffalo Trace and other distilleries are more likely to still be available midweek. Weekend visitors clean out the good stuff by Saturday afternoon.
• ✓Restaurant reservations — Easier to get into top spots like Proof on Main or the Old Talbott Tavern without long waits.
• ✓Hotel rates — Lodging in Bardstown and Louisville is typically 20–30% cheaper on weeknights compared to Friday/Saturday.

The one tradeoff: a few distilleries have reduced weekday hours or fewer tour times (especially Monday/Tuesday). Always check the specific distillery's schedule before booking.

Seasonal Booking Patterns

Booking difficulty changes significantly throughout the year. Here's the pattern:

Hardest to book (September–November): Fall is peak Bourbon Trail season. The weather is perfect, the foliage is beautiful, and the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in September draws huge crowds to Bardstown. Book 8+ weeks ahead during this window. October Saturdays are the absolute hardest dates on the calendar.

Moderately competitive (April–June, December holidays): Spring is the second-busiest season. Derby week in May makes Louisville bookings especially tight. The week between Christmas and New Year's sees a bump too. Book 4–6 weeks ahead.

Easiest to book (January–March, July–August): Winter is the budget play for booking — nearly everything is available at 2–3 weeks notice, including Buffalo Trace Hard Hat. Summer is hot but uncrowded. Both windows are great for spontaneous trips.

Booking for Groups

Groups of 6+ create some additional booking challenges. Most distillery tours cap at 15–20 people per session, and a group of 8 can eat half the available spots on a single tour. Here's how to handle it:

Book one person as the coordinator. Have one person make all the reservations with the full headcount. Don't have individuals booking separately and hoping you get the same time slot — you won't.

Call ahead for large groups. Groups of 10+ should contact distilleries directly. Several offer private or semi-private tours for larger parties that aren't listed on the website. Buffalo Trace, Maker's Mark, and Woodford Reserve all have group booking contacts.

Consider a tour company. For groups of 6+, hiring a company like Mint Julep Experiences can actually save money when you factor in the coordination time, designated driver costs, and the tours they have access to. They often have relationships with distilleries that get priority booking. Expect $250–$400 per person per day for a guided experience.

Cancellation Policies & Flexibility

Things change. Here's what you need to know about canceling or modifying:

Most distilleries offer free cancellation with 24–48 hours notice. A few have stricter policies for premium experiences (like Maker's Mark hand-dipping or Old Forester Bottle Your Own). Always screenshot your confirmation email and note the cancellation policy.

Over-book intentionally. This is a strategy, not a mistake. If you're worried about a tight itinerary, book a backup tour at an easy-to-book distillery for the same day. If your preferred tour goes smoothly and you don't need the backup, cancel it within the cancellation window. It's better to have one extra booking to cancel than to be stuck with a gap in your day because something fell through.

Your Booking Checklist

Here's the exact action list, in order:

• 1Pick your travel dates and decide weekday vs. weekend
• 2Book Buffalo Trace Hard Hat Tour (or Trace Tour as backup) — 6–8 weeks out
• 3Book Angel's Envy and Maker's Mark — 4–6 weeks out
• 4Book Old Forester and Woodford Reserve — 3–4 weeks out
• 5Book lodging — where to stay guide — 3–4 weeks out
• 6Book Heaven Hill, Evan Williams, and remaining stops — 1–2 weeks out
• 7Book or plan craft stops (Log Still, Preservation, Lux Row) — 1 week out or walk up
• 8Book dinner reservations — 1–2 weeks out
• 9Confirm all bookings, screenshot confirmations, check cancellation policies
• 10Check for Hard Hat cancellations one final time — 5–7 days before trip