A newer, beautifully designed visitor center in Bardstown with some of the best educational tasting experiences on the trail. Great gift shop with distillery-exclusive bottles you won't find anywhere else.
Heaven Hill's Bardstown visitor center is one of the newer facilities on the trail, and it shows. The design is clean and modern, the experiences are well-structured, and the tasting options are some of the most educational available anywhere.
What makes Heaven Hill special is the "You Do Bourbon" tasting. Instead of just sipping finished products, you taste through different grains, mashbills, and aging profiles to understand how bourbon gets its flavor. It's the best "learn while you drink" experience on the trail — you'll leave understanding bourbon in a way that most tours don't teach.
The gift shop is also a standout. Heaven Hill produces an enormous portfolio (Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, Larceny, Henry McKenna, Rittenhouse Rye) and the visitor center often has distillery-exclusive bottles and single barrel picks that don't hit retail shelves.
The standout experience. An interactive tasting where you explore grains, mashbills, barrel char levels, and aging to understand how each element shapes the final bourbon. Best educational experience on the entire trail.
A broader tour covering Heaven Hill's history and the bourbon-making process. Includes a tasting of their core lineup. A good choice if you want a more traditional tour format.
Select and hand-bottle from a single barrel. Similar concept to Old Forester's Bottle Your Own but with Heaven Hill's portfolio. A nice keepsake.
Heaven Hill is one of the easier bookings on the trail. Standard tours and tastings usually have availability at 1–2 weeks out, even on weekends. Walk-ups are often possible, especially on weekdays.
The "You Do Bourbon" tasting is the most popular option and fills up slightly faster — book 1–2 weeks ahead to be safe.
One of the best gift shops on the entire trail. Heaven Hill's portfolio is massive — Elijah Craig, Larceny, Henry McKenna, Parker's Heritage, Rittenhouse Rye — and the visitor center frequently has distillery-exclusive single barrel picks and limited releases that don't appear at retail. If you're a bottle hunter, check here. Prices are at MSRP.
Heaven Hill is the best educational bourbon experience on the trail and home to one of the best gift shops. The 'You Do Bourbon' tasting should be on every first-timer's list — you'll learn more about how bourbon works in 60 minutes than most tours teach in a full day. Easy to book, well-priced, and the gift shop alone is worth the stop. A perfect complement to Maker's Mark on a Bardstown day.
Address: 1311 Gilkey Run Rd, Bardstown, KY 40004
Hours: Monday–Saturday 9:30 AM – 5 PM, Sunday 12 PM – 5 PM
Parking: Free, large lot. Never an issue.
Postcard-perfect campus with hand-dipping experience.
Craft gem in New Hope. Monk's Road bourbon is excellent.
Modern craft facility with Ezra Brooks and Blood Oath.
Historic tavern operating since 1779.
Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience is featured in our 3-Day Bourbon Trail Itinerary. See the full day-by-day route for how it fits with nearby stops.