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The Oscar Getz Museum of Whisky History is named after Chicago liquor magnate Oscar Getz. Getz purchased a local distillery in Bardstown, KY in the midst of World War Two. By 1957, he became the "liquor industry's Man of the Year" (Roadside America)&nbsp;and had begun to collect pieces for his own personal whiskey museum. Getz later paid the city of Bardstown to renovate a former Catholic seminary--Spalding Hall--to house the collection. Sadly, Getz died one year before the museum opened in 1984.&nbsp; Admission to the museum is free--per the&nbsp;Getz family's request--in order to make the collection as accessible as possible.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Temperance Movement Exhibit, Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey 

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The Bardstown Historical Museum and the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History are located on the first floor of Spalding Hall in Bardstown, KY. 

Exhibits at the Getz Whiskey Museum include articles and documents that detail the history of whiskey production and distribution in America. Visitors to the museum will see authentic moonshine stills, advertising memorabilia, vintage jugs and bottles, and much more. Items included in the museum's collection date from the pre-colonial period through the end of prohibition. 

The Bardstown Historical Museum features an array of artifacts related to the settlement and development of Bardstown and the surrounding area. Pieces within the museum's collection include Native American relics, land grants, various documents related to the Lincoln presidency, pioneer travel accounts, and more.  

Bardstown Historical Museum and Whiskey Museum 

Like bourbon itself, this tour starts with the art of barrel-making at the Kentucky Cooperage. Tour stops include numerous distilleries, a few museums, and several important historic sites related to the history and heritage of bourbon production in Kentucky. Like any tour in Clio, users can alter the itinerary to match their interests and schedule. Enjoy!

Kentucky Bourbon History and Heritage Tour

Barrel-making was one of the early and most essential skilled crafts, allowing for the storage and transportation of liquid. &nbsp;Staves are the oak planks that constitute the sides of a barrel. Each stave must be straight and free of knots, as well as properly fitted together to create a water-tight barrel. The staves are kept in place by metal hoops and liquid is added and removed through a hole in the side known as the bung. &nbsp; The craft of making barrels has been kept alive largely owing to the producers of whiskey and wine. Charred white oak barrels are essential to aging bourbon, for it is during the multi-year process that the spirits interact with the wood in a way that gives bourbon its desired flavor. The process is similar for wine and other spirits, but the process of making bourbon requires a&nbsp;new barrel each time. The type of wood used in producing a barrel makes a tremendous difference in the taste of a bourbon. For example, American white oak can that has been properly charred can impart a spirit with sweet flavors such as vanilla, even though their is no actual vanilla used in the process of making bourbon.&nbsp; Independent Stave Company operates cooperages in Lebanon, Missouri and Lebanon, Kentucky. Of these two locations, only the cooperage in Kentucky is open for tours. The company also operates subsidiaries that operate cooperages under the T. W. Boswell name in California, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and France. Many of the large bourbon producers, such as Jack Daniels, produce their own barrels. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Established in 1912 by T.W. Boswell to produce staves for barrel makers, Independent Stave Company expanded to include the production of white oak barrels for bourbon producers in 1951.The company later expanded to include cooperages that produce barrels for making wine and whiskey throughout the world. The company's Kentucky Cooperage offers public tours that last just under an hour and demonstrate the art of barrel making. 

Kentucky Cooperage- Independent Stave Company

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The idea to craft a new bourbon could not have come at a more inopportune time. After the prohibition, people were thirsty certainly, but it was not a thirst for bourbon, but rather Scotch and Canadian whiskey. Bourbon had the reputation of a rough blue-collar drink. President Roosevelt even instructed the bourbon distilleries to shut down. This was to preserve the grain and support the war effort. In addition, the Korean War threatened a second permanent closure of the bourbon business. The unpopularity of bourbon did not aid the hope for its revival by Bill Samuels Sr. &nbsp;He wanted to change the taste of bourbon and give it a new name in society.

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Samuels already had a history of distilling. His father owned a distillery with a special recipe of his own. Even though he was experienced, Samuels enlisted help from fellow bourbon makers including Jerry Beam, Hap Motlow, Ed Shapiro, and Pappy Van Winkle. These men, specifically Van Winkle, instructed Bill Sr. never to cook a wheated mash under pressure. The discussion was not so much about the process but rather one of taste. Samuels wanted to appeal to the front of the palate where reside sweet and spicy rather than sour and bitter. The advisory team, as they called themselves broke things down into three stages: Grain, Process, and Maturation. Bourbon, at that time, was made with corn, rye, and malt. However, Samuels thought rye triggered the taste buds in the back palate. So he eliminated that ingredient. With that much tweaking, he needed another member in his bourbon army, his wife Margie.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Margie Samuels became the engine in this well-oiled machine. After the advisory team had the groundwork for the recipe, she decided to test it by baking bread. She baked the bread with all the possible grains that could he used to make whiskey resulting in 150 loaves. As they shared these loaves to people to gauge what tasted best, the clear winner was red river wheat. The invention of the Hammer Mill and the pressure cooker had advanced the distilling of whiskey since Samuels Sr. had worked with his father. However, the committee noted the issues that would come with the use of these tools. Samuels explained how if they were to use The Hammer Mill it wouldn’t grind the grains but would explode them, triggering a trace amount of heat covered up by heavier whiskeys but not bourbon. Similar issues would be present in the pressure cooker. Therefore, Samuels Sr. looked into the maturation process. He went to a place in Missouri and discovered that most barrels were made from staves which dried in kilns. The owner then told Samuels he should leave the wood outside for a year and a half so the elements would help reduce the natural tannins. With that, he also recommended Samuels char the wood. That magic, as it was magic, laid the foundation for it all.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Although the bourbon industry was still in turmoil, Bill Samuels Sr. was determined to create a new name for this “blue collar drink.” In 1953, he found an old run down distillery in Loretto, Kentucky ( where Makers Mark still resides today) &nbsp;where he began his journey to change the name of alcohol forever. One of the reasons he purchased the spot was because it had a spring-fed lake right on the grounds. The spring water ran over native Kentucky limestone that filtered in without the weight of iron in the drink. With new and innovative ideas about taste and a first batch finished, Samuels shocked his family and burned his Dad’s old recipe. This marked the new era of bourbon. While Samuels Sr. worked with the recipe, his wife mandated the three most important things regarding business: hand-torn labels, hand dipped wax seals and a cork. These became the iconic symbols now known across the world.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With the four W’s: Water, Wheat, Wood, and Wax, Samuels believed that the industry had what it needed for success. Initially, Samuels’ high prices shocked a lot of people considering the low status and lack of campaigning. The Samuels family moved forward regardless. Bill Samuels Jr., at first not wanting to be a part of the family business, soon became the company's biggest marketer. He later took over the business. To combat the early perceptions of the bourbon industry, in1965, Makers Mark released an edgy campaign “It tastes expensive…it is.” &nbsp;The company continued with savvy marketing strategies which began to turn the little old distillery into the fortune machine it was meant to be. A most successful airline strategy is what caught the attention of the media. The Wall Street Journal published the article in 1980, “Makers Goes Against the Grain to Make Its Mark,” and on the front page, a discussion of all the obstacles the little distillery overcame in spite of the public’s perception. This sparked the interest of people all over the world.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In a new decade, Makers Mark turned from regional distiller to global phenomenon. Makers Mark is now run by Bill Samuels Jr.’s son Rob who still is amazed at the legendary work his grandfather created. Even though it’s in the backwoods of Kentucky, thousands of visitors come to see it and experience revolutionary bourbon making. The popularity made Makers Mark the only operating distillery in America ever to be titled a National Landmark. Makers Mark began as low-status beverage, but now that red wax seal represents the sophistication its founders envisioned.&nbsp;

Makers Mark Distillery established its first bottle in 1959. Bill Samuels Sr. envisioned a whole new name for bourbon when he purchased what was Burks Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky. The once "blue collar drink" became an overnight sensation. The sweet taste and the iconic red wax seal became world-renowned. The popularity made Makers Mark the only operating distillery in America ever to be titled a National Landmark. Makers Mark began as a low-status beverage, but now that red wax seal represents the sophistication its founders envisioned. Now 57 years later, Bill Samuels Jr. still stands true to the slogan "it tastes expensive...it is".

Makers Mark Distillery 

Haven Hill was founded by five brothers of the Shapira
Family in 1934, and the first barrel was filled in 1935. It is now a third
generation family business that has battled ups and downs including the
historic distillery burning down in a fire in 1996. Master Distillers at Haven
Hill are from the famous “Jim” Beam family. Parker Beam is now the
sixth-generation Master Distiller. 

In 2004, the Bourbon Heritage Center was opened. Awards
started coming in 2004 as well. Wine Enthusiast named Haven Hill the Wine Star
Distiller of the Year in 2004. In 2008, Haven Hill won both the Distiller of
the Year and Visitor Attraction of the Year at Whisky Magazine’s Icons of
Whisky-USA. It was Visitor Attraction of the Year again in 2009.

In 2013, the company filled its 6,000,000th
barrel. The collection includes Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage, Elijah
Craig Single Barrel, Parker’s Heritage Collection as well as other limited
release bottlings.

The award-winning Bourbon Heritage Center at Haven Hill Distilleries in Bardstown, Kentucky offers visitors a unique educational and entertaining experience. Bourbon Hosts guide visitors through the history of Bourbon making. Yes, you do get an educational Bourbon tasting at the end of each of tour. You can tour a working rickhouse and have your tasting in a barrel-shaped room. 

Haven Hill Distilleries and Bourbon Heritage Center

Visitors can choose between the Barton Tradition Tour, the
Bushel to Bottle Tour and the 1792 Estate Tour. All tours are complimentary and
do include a tasting. You must have reservations to take the Estate Tour. All
ages are welcome, and there is a gift shop on site. 

The Distillery has produced dozens of award-winning
bourbons. Bourbon is successfully distilled in central Kentucky in part because
of the type of soil, limestone filtered water and typically perfect seasonal
fluctuations.

Barton 1792 Distillery opened in 1879 and is the oldest fully-operating distillery in Bardstown. The facility sits on 196 acres and features 29 barrel aging warehouses and 22 other buildings. It gets its name from the year that Kentucky joined the United States. Barton 1792 Distillery includes a visitors center and offers guests the choice of three different interpretive tours that end with the opportunity to taste some bourbon for those of legal drinking age. 

Barton 1792 Distillery

The historic distillery is located on the Salt River in
Lawrenceburg, Kentucky and the warehouse and bottling facility is at Cox’s Creek. The
bourbons are award-winning. The Visitor Center has variety of antique bottles
and memorabilia and a bourbon tasting bar. Tours meet in the new Visitor Center
and tastings are offered at the end. Tours focus on warehousing, barreling and
bottling. 

Four Roses first began in 1888. Four Roses has been making
10 distinct recipes and mingles them by hand to create its brands. It is a more
time-consuming processes, but worthwhile. Whisky Magazine named is the American
Whisky Distiller of the Year for 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015. 

Four Roses was founded by Paul Jones, Jr. It has gone
through a number of changes and ownerships over the years. It began being sold
as the Four Roses brand again in 2004 shortly after being purchased by Kirin
Brewing Company, Ltd. Today its Master Distiller is Brent Elliott.

Four Roses Distillery was built in 1910. It has Spanish Mission-style architecture. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It operates continuously except for a couple months in the summer. Its warehouses uses a single-story rack to minimize temperature variations. Guests can participate in tours and tastings. 

Four Roses Distillery

Jim Beam began in 1795 when founder Jacob Beam sold the
first barrel of “Old Jake Beam.” Next came David Beam who expanded the
Distillery. Then there was David M. Beam who turned it into a national brand. James
Beam, known as “The Colonel and The Legend” unveiled Jim Beam shortly after
Prohibition ended. It has been the world’s No. 1 bourbon ever since. Prohibition
was the only time Jim Beam didn’t distill bourbon. After prohibition ended, Jim Beam was up and running again after a short 120 days.&nbsp;

Today Jim Beam’s Master Distiller is Fred Noe, Jim Beam’s
great grandson. Noe filled the 10 millionth barrel of Jim Beam in 2005. Jim
Beam has continued to be award-winning innovators in the field of distilling
bourbon. They developed new techniques, added flavors and continue to set the
global standard for bourbon.&nbsp;

In 2012, a new visitor’s experience began at Jim Beam when
the Jim Beam American Stillhouse was opened. It’s a replica of a 1940’s era
stillhouse. Visitors can tour the facility and have a tasting, but there are
lots of special and insider events. These do sell out, so tickets should be
purchased in advance. Fred’s Smokehouse restaurant is next door as well. 

&nbsp;Today, Jim Beam is one of the leading names in bourbon, selling just over 7 million cases globally. Despite their rise in popularity, Jim Beam has kept the same mash bill for over 200 years. They have recently brought on Mila Kunis as a spokesperson, breaking them into the mainstream. Mila acts in commercials for the company, but also has her own barrel of bourbon sitting at the Jim Beam distillery.&nbsp;

The Jim Beam Family has been making bourbon in Kentucky for more than 200 years. They have famously passed the recipes from generation to generation – seven of them actually. In fact, the same bourbon yeast strain that was started after Prohibition is still active today. Visitors can tour the facility and taste premium bourbons in the American Stillhouse tasting room. You must arrive by 3:30 for the last tour. You can also make reservations. The tour will take you through the entire process of making a bottle of Jim Beam, and includes a tasting at the end. 

Jim Beam American Stillhouse

In 2014, Brown-Forman received significant tax incentives to restore two historic buildings and create a visitors center, tasting rooms, and a distillery that will produce Old Forrester bourbon. Evan Williams previously announced plans to create a similar distillery and visitor's center on Main Street. A total of five distilleries are expected to open along Main Street by 2018.&nbsp;

Whiskey Row refers to the stretch of Main Street that once built its reputation from the unique whiskey and bourbon it produced. Most of the buildings were built in the Revivalist and Chicago School style buildings with cast-iron storefronts between 1852 and 1905. Main Street was only a block from the waterfront, and distillers such as the Brown-Forman Company and John T. Barbee and Company maintained offices on this street. After a decline in production, bourbon distilleries moved to other locations and many of the buildings were demolished. In recent years, Main Street revitalization projects led to the restoration of some of the remaining buildings. Brown-Forman once again intends to distil whiskey at this location while a host of other bourbon producers and retailers are returning to Whiskey Row.

Whiskey Row 

Originally known as the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery and later the Labrot &amp; Graham Distillery, the Woodford Distillery is located on one of the oldest distilling sites in the state of Kentucky. It located about 8 miles away from the city of Versailles. The distillery building dates back to 1890, although the site has been used for distilling since 1780. It is the oldest Kentucky distillery currently in operation, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (added 1995), and is designated as a National Historic Landmark (2000). The Oscar Pepper Distillery was established by Elijah Pepper, who began crafting whiskey in 1812. In the mid-19th Century, Master Distiller Dr. James Christopher Crow worked on key improvements to bourbon production, such as sour-mash fermentation, pot still
 distillation, and barrel maturation. In 1878, the Pepper family sold the property to Leopold Labrot and James Graham. Labrot and Graham operated the distillery until 1941, though it was not open for production during Prohibition. The distillery and its products are now owned by the Brown-Forman Corporation, who operated it until 1968, sold the property in 1971, and re-purchased it in 1993. Three years later, the Woodford Reserve brand entered the market. Woodford Reserve is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby and a multiple award winner. The distillery also produces Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon (introduced 2012), the "Masters Collection" (limited bottlings produced from the pot still distillation method), "Distillery Series" whiskeys, and Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey (introduced 2015). The Woodford Distillery houses a 500-foot-long gravity-fed barrel run, 
iconic copper pot stills, and 100-year-old cypress wood fermenters. Additionally, it also features one of the few heat cycled barrelhouses in the world. Visitors are invited to view the only copper pot still and triple distillation process used to handcraft Bourbon. Educational distillery tours are available on most days.

The Woodford Reserve Distillery is the smallest and oldest distillery in Kentucky. Dating back to 1812, it is located approximately 8 miles away from the town of Versailles off U.S. Route 60. This distillery produces Woodford Reserve Distiller’s Select, the Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby, as well as the newer Double Oaked. It features the only copper pot still and triple distillation process used to handcraft Bourbon.

Woodford Reserve Distillery

The Buffalo Trace Distillery, formerly known as the George T. Stagg Distillery and the O.F.C. Distillery, is located in Frankfort, Kentucky. It is primarily known for its bourbon, although it also produces rye whiskey and vodka. The distillery is a sprawling 130 acres and features architecture spanning 4 centuries. It is currently owned by the Sazerac Company, the largest distilling company in the United States. In addition to Buffalo Trace, the Sazerac Company also owns the Barton Brands distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky; the former Glenmore Distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky); and the A. Smith Bowman facility in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The company claims that the Buffalo Trace facility is the oldest continuously-operating distillery in the country, and records indicate that distillation has occurred on the property since 1775. "The Old Taylor House" is the oldest building on the property. It was constructed in 1792 by Commodore Richard Taylor. In 1812, Harrison Blanton erected the oldest distillery on the site. The distillery was purchased by Edmund H. Taylor in 1870 and renamed the Old Fire Copper (O.F.C.) Distillery. In 1878, George T. Stagg bought the O.F.C. Distillery, as well as the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery. Stagg renamed the facility after himself in 1904. Warehouses A and B were constructed in 1881, and are still extant today. A lightning strike in 1882 burned down the O.F.C. Distillery. Rebuilt the next year, its large mashing and fermenting wing (the "Dinkel Building") is still standing. This distillery is notable for its many "firsts." After Stagg installed a steam heating system in 1886, it became the first climate controlled warehouse for aging whiskey in the U.S. The distillery produced Blanton's, the first single-barrel bourbon in the world. In 2000, it became the first American distillery to win the Whisky Advocate's "Distillery of the Year" award. Additionally, this distillery has the distinction of being one of the few allowed to produce and bottle whiskey (for medicinal purposes) during Prohibition. The Sazerac Company purchased the distillery in 1992, rechristening it as the Buffalo Trace Distillery in 1999 following extensive renovations. Along with the flagship product, Buffalo Trace, the distillery produces numerous other spirits. Visitors to the distillery are invited to taste the products produced on site, browse the gift shop, and explore the property in various tours that cover different facets of whiskey production. The focus of the tours range from history, to bourbon crafting, to ghost hauntings.

Located in Frankfort, Kentucky, the Buffalo Trace Distillery was built in 1920, although distilling has occurred on the site since 1775. According to the Sazerac Company, owners of the award-winning Buffalo Trace Bourbon Whiskey, it is the oldest continuously-operating distillery in the United States. As the George T. Stagg Distillery, this property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. The production capacity of the Buffalo Trace Distillery is estimated to be approximately 2,650,000 US gallons of whiskey per year.

Kentucky Bourbon History and Heritage Tour

Bardstown Historical Museum and Whiskey Museum

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