Skip to content
1-844-BOURBON
Updated November 2026 · BourbonTown Tours

Private Kentucky Bourbon Tours: Custom Distillery Days from Louisville, Bardstown and Lexington

Private Kentucky bourbon tours from BourbonTown Tours are full days at the distilleries you pick, run for your booked group and nobody else, with pickup at your hotel or your door in Louisville, Bardstown or Lexington, for groups of two and up who want the day to themselves. BourbonTown Tours has run 3,000+ private tours since 2012, and a private day costs $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee. We build your day and book every distillery ticket. You just show up.Private bourbon tours for your group only, built around the distilleries you pick. From $275/pp, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee.

Plan My Private TourCall 1-844-BOURBON

Just need a driver? Book Transportation Only

Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2026Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2025Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2024
691 five-star reviews3,000+ private tours since 2012

Send us your dates

Tour type

Plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee.

I agree to receive recurring text messages from BourbonTown Tours about my tour inquiry, booking, and related updates. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help or STOP to opt out. No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. See our Privacy Policy for details.

We reply the same day between 8 AM and 8 PM Eastern. Requests after 8 PM get a reply the next morning. No deposit to start planning. No pressure, no pitch.

Private bourbon tour quick facts

  • Private tours only, one booked group per tour.
  • Tour rate: $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee.
  • Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call.
  • A tour day runs 6 to 8 hours.
  • Sedan, SUV or van for groups up to 14.
  • Groups over 14 travel in multiple vehicles or a bus or motor coach we contract.

How does a private Kentucky bourbon tour work?

A private Kentucky bourbon tour works in three steps: you send your dates and headcount, we build the day and book the distilleries, and we drive. Nobody in your group plans the route, holds the tickets or gets asked to stay sober.

  1. Tell us your dates and how many people are coming.

    Add any distillery your group has its heart set on, and the city you are staying in.

  2. We build the itinerary.

    We pick a driving cluster that fits your list, book the distilleries once your tour is confirmed, and confirm every reservation in the itinerary you get back.

  3. We drive.

    Pickup is at your hotel or your door, and the guide who drives you knows the bourbon as well as the roads.

Every tour belongs to one booked group, and groups are never combined.

A real person answers 1-844-BOURBON.

We reply the same day between 8 AM and 8 PM Eastern. Requests after 8 PM get a reply the next morning.

The longer version of how a day gets designed sits on our custom private tour page, and answers to common bourbon tour questions sit on their own page.

93% of our inquiries come from outside Kentucky.

Based on 3,570 web inquiries, December 2023 to September 2026, across all 14 BourbonTown Tours web forms, one row per person. Excludes bot submissions, internal test entries and datacenter-resolved addresses. Reflects where the person was when they inquired, not their home address.

★★★★★
Preston was wonderful. He shared some interesting facts and information along the way, as well as some great recommendations for the rest of our stay in Louisville. He planned the perfect itinerary for our day in bourbon country!
Allyson Z · Tripadvisor
★★★★★
My group had a great experience with BourbonTown Tours from start to finish! From speaking and emailing with Ron to get our transportation and itinerary ironed out, to spending the day with our driver, Reid.
lizabelle1217 · Tripadvisor
★★★★★
Our coordination leading up to our tour was great, communication was great. Our driver Tommy was professional, knowledgeable, and punctual. Would absolutely recommend them and use them in the future.
Cole M · Tripadvisor

What does a Kentucky bourbon tour cost in 2026?

A private Kentucky bourbon tour with BourbonTown Tours costs $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee. Bigger groups pay less per head, because the vehicle and the day are shared across more people.

GuestsRate per person
2
$425
3
$389
4
$375
5
$355
6
$325
7
$305
8
$295
9
$285
10 or more
$275

Every rate in the table is plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee. The rate covers everything except lunch and driver gratuity, and a box lunch can be built into the quoted price when the route rules out sitting down. A deposit reserves your date. Your quote includes the full details.

Two other formats price differently.

Transportation Only puts our private vehicle and driver on the plan you make: SUV for 1 to 6 guests, $100 an hour. Van for 7 to 14 guests, $150 an hour. 4-hour minimum, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee. Billing runs from the time our vehicle leaves our garage until it returns. The Barrel Crawl is tastings only, with no distillery tours: $299 per person for 4 to 5 guests, $269 for 6 to 9 and $239 for 10 or more, minimum 4 guests, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee. A full guide to Kentucky bourbon tour costs covers Derby week and multi-day trips, and the Barrel Crawl has its own page.

What is included in every private tour?

Every private tour includes distillery tickets, tasting fees, trip planning by a Bourbon Experience Coordinator, the private vehicle with a professional guide who drives the tour, and a confirmed lunch reservation. Lunch itself and driver gratuity are the two exceptions: we book and confirm the lunch table, and the meal goes on your tab. Bottles are always the guest's to buy.

Audi A8 sedan, one of the BourbonTown Tours fleet
VehicleAudi A8 sedan
Guests1 to 3
GMC Yukon XL SUV, one of the BourbonTown Tours fleet
VehicleGMC Yukon XL SUV
Guests1 to 6
Ford Transit passenger van, one of the BourbonTown Tours fleet
VehicleFord Transit van
Guests7 to 12
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, one of the BourbonTown Tours fleet
VehicleMercedes-Benz Sprinter van
Guests7 to 14
A bottle being hand-dipped in red wax at Maker's Mark

Groups over 14 travel in multiple vehicles or a bus or motor coach we contract. Standard distillery experiences are included; premium and VIP add-ons are quoted on your planning call. Hands-on experiences we can write into a private day include Rickhouse Barrel Thieving and Beyond the Barrel at Bardstown Bourbon Company, You Do Bourbon and the connoisseur tasting at Heaven Hill, the Knob Creek bottling experience at Jim Beam, and bottle dipping at Maker's Mark, each checked against your date. What every tour includes lists the lot, and our vehicle fleet page shows each vehicle.

Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2026Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2025Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2024
691 five-star reviews3,000+ private tours since 2012
Get My Custom Itinerary

Where do our Kentucky bourbon tours pick up?

Our Kentucky bourbon tours pick up at your hotel, vacation rental or front door in Louisville, Bardstown or Lexington, and airport pickup can be arranged. The city you sleep in decides which distilleries sit closest, so it is worth choosing the base before the list.

Driving clusterFrom LouisvilleFrom BardstownFrom Lexington
Louisvillein the cityabout 50 minutesabout 90 minutes
Bardstown and beyondabout 50 minutesin the cityabout 75 minutes
Frankfort and Versaillesabout 60 minutesFrankfort about 50 minutesVersailles about 15 to 20 minutes; Frankfort about 30 minutes
Lawrenceburgabout 65 minutesabout 45 minutesabout 30 minutes
Lexingtonabout 90 minutesabout 75 minutesin the city

Times are approximate and run the same in both directions.

Louisville, Bardstown or Lexington: which base fits your list?

Pick the base that sits closest to the distilleries you care about most: Louisville for the city stops and an easy Bardstown day, Bardstown for the Bardstown cluster and Maker's Mark, and Lexington for Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace and Lawrenceburg.

Frazier History Museum on Main Street, Louisville

Private bourbon tours from Louisville

Louisville carries its own distilleries, Old Forester and Michter's among them, along with Angel's Envy, Rabbit Hole and the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience downtown, so a city day starts without a highway leg. From a Louisville hotel the Bardstown distilleries are about 50 minutes away and the Frankfort and Versailles cluster about 60, which makes Louisville a workable base for every cluster except a full Lexington day. We collect you at the hotel, so the day starts without anyone moving a car. Read private bourbon tours from Louisville for the city routes, and transportation-only bourbon tour drivers for the driving side of it.

Lux Row Distillers visitor center, Bardstown

Private bourbon tours from Bardstown

Bardstown sits about 50 minutes south of Louisville, and its stops are a short drive apart: Heaven Hill, Willett, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Lux Row and Preservation, with Maker's Mark about 30 minutes south in Loretto. Heaven Hill sits about 5 minutes from Bardstown Bourbon Company, so a group staying in town spends the day at distilleries rather than on the road, and is collected later in the morning than a group coming down from Louisville. Frankfort is about 50 minutes from Bardstown if a second cluster is on the list. Start with private bourbon tours from Bardstown, or read the Heaven Hill distillery guide, the Willett distillery guide and the Maker's Mark distillery guide first.

Horse farm barn near Lexington, Kentucky (Spendthrift Farm)

Private bourbon tours from Lexington

Lexington works two ways. The Distillery District sits on the west side of downtown, with James E. Pepper and Barrel House inside it and Town Branch around the corner, a short ride from central Lexington hotels. Around it sit Woodford Reserve in Versailles, about 15 to 20 minutes out, Buffalo Trace in Frankfort, about 30, and Four Roses and Wild Turkey in Lawrenceburg, about 30 minutes southwest. That makes Lexington the closest base for the Frankfort, Versailles and Lawrenceburg distilleries, and Blue Grass Airport sits about 15 minutes from downtown. See private bourbon tours from Lexington, plus the Woodford Reserve distillery guide and the Buffalo Trace distillery guide.

Which Kentucky distilleries can you visit?

You can visit the distilleries in five driving clusters: Louisville, Bardstown and beyond, Frankfort and Versailles, Lawrenceburg, and Lexington. We build each day inside one cluster, because windshield time between clusters, not distance on a map, is what costs you stops. Many stops on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®, including Maker's Mark, Woodford Reserve, Four Roses and Heaven Hill, fit into our private days. We also build in great distilleries that sit outside the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, like Buffalo Trace, so your day isn't limited to one list.

  • Louisville:Old Forester, Michter's, Angel's Envy, Rabbit Hole, Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, Stitzel-Weller and Peerless.
  • Bardstown and beyond:Heaven Hill, Willett, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Lux Row and Preservation, plus Maker's Mark in Loretto and James B. Beam in Clermont.
  • Frankfort and Versailles:Buffalo Trace, Castle and Key, Woodford Reserve and Bulleit.
  • Lawrenceburg:Four Roses and Wild Turkey.
  • Lexington:James E. Pepper, Barrel House and Town Branch.

Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call. Sunday hours are shorter and vary by distillery, so a Sunday works as two stops around a sit-down lunch or three with a box lunch. The full roster, with the drive time from each pickup city to each cluster, lives on the Kentucky bourbon distilleries directory. For the tour formats built around them, see our private Kentucky distillery tours by cluster, and for Lawrenceburg, the Wild Turkey distillery guide.

Woodford Reserve distillery in Versailles, Kentucky

When should you book a Kentucky bourbon tour?

Book 2 to 4 months ahead for most of the year and earlier for fall and spring weekends, the peak months. The dates below are the ones that fill first.

When you are comingHow far ahead to book
Derby week4 to 6 months
Bourbon Festival, mid-September6 months or more
Fall and spring weekendsEarlier, they fill first
The rest of the year2 to 4 months
Short noticeSometimes a week, but tours may be full

If Buffalo Trace matters to you, reach out at least 10 weeks ahead. Windshield time, not distance, decides how many distilleries fit in a day, and the month you come decides how early you need to ask. All of that is worked through on our bourbon tour planning guide. Alongside it sit the best times to visit bourbon country, a first-timer's guide to bourbon tours, where to stay in bourbon country and bourbon tours during Derby week.

Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2026Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2025Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2024
691 five-star reviews3,000+ private tours since 2012
Check My Dates

Private or group bourbon tour: which should you book?

Book a private tour if your group wants its own schedule, its own distilleries and nobody else in the vehicle; book a shared tour if you are traveling solo or want the lowest price per seat. Both are honest choices, and they solve different problems.

Private tourShared group tour
Who rides with youyour booked group onlyother guests
Routebuilt around your listset in advance
Pickupyour hotel or your doora central meeting point
Paceyoursthe group's
Best forgroups of two or more, celebrations, first-timers who want it handledsolo travelers and tight budgets

What sets a BourbonTown Tours day apart is the combination, not any one piece: private tours only since 2012, a published per-person rate by group size, distillery tickets included and booked for you, pickup at your door in three cities, and a real person who answers 1-844-BOURBON.

We are not Uber or Lyft drivers. We will educate you in bourbon. Your guide can tell you why Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace rarely share a day, and why at Four Roses the tasting is the better call than the tour, as the Four Roses distillery guide sets out. We pick guests up at their door or hotel rather than at a central lobby the way shuttle operators do. Private versus group bourbon tours and a comparison of Kentucky bourbon tour operators go deeper.

A tour group with their guide outside Preservation Distillery, glasses of bourbon in hand

Bourbon tours for groups and celebrations

Groups and celebrations of every size run on the same rules, with a vehicle matched to the headcount and a route matched to the occasion.

Corporate days, bachelor and bachelorette weekends, birthdays and anniversaries each get a page of their own: corporate and group bourbon experiences, bachelor party bourbon tours in Kentucky, bachelorette party bourbon tours in Kentucky, anniversary bourbon tours in Kentucky and birthday bourbon tours in Kentucky. If you are buying the day for somebody else, bourbon tour gift cards cover it. About BourbonTown Tours covers the company itself.

Planning from out of state: Bourbon tours from Atlanta, Bourbon tours from Chicago, Bourbon tours from Florida, Bourbon tours from New York, Bourbon tours from Texas and Bourbon tours from DC and Virginia.

Frequently asked questions about Kentucky bourbon tours

Can someone in our group come along if they do not drink?

Yes, and they are welcome on every stop. A guest who does not drink rides with the group, takes the distillery tours and simply skips the pours. The per-person rate is set by how many people are in the party, not by how many are tasting, so the price per head does not change.

Is there an age limit on a bourbon tour?

Yes. You must be 21 to consume alcohol, and some experiences may require all attendees to be 21. Guests under 21 can come along but can't drink, so tell us who is under 21 when you book and we confirm each stop when we build your itinerary. Anyone tasting needs a government-issued photo ID.

What if our group is bigger than 14 people?

Groups over 14 travel in multiple vehicles or a bus or motor coach we contract. One vehicle carries up to 14 guests, from the Audi A8 sedan for up to 3 to the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van for 7 to 14, so a group above that needs a quote built for its size. Send the headcount with your dates and we will come back with options for keeping the group together through the day.

Do you run bourbon tours on Sundays?

Yes. Sunday hours are shorter and vary by distillery, so a Sunday works as two distilleries around a sit-down lunch or three with a box lunch. Willett is closed on Sundays and Heaven Hill keeps Sunday hours of 1 to 5 PM. Downtown Louisville changes too: Angel's Envy opens on Sunday afternoons, while Old Forester and Rabbit Hole are closed.

Can you pick us up at the airport?

Airport pickup can be arranged when you send your flight details with your dates, and your quote spells out how it works for your booking. Lexington's Blue Grass Airport sits about 15 minutes from downtown Lexington, so a Lexington arrival is close to that cluster. We suggest landing the day before the tour, sleeping in town and starting fresh from the hotel, so a delayed flight never costs a distillery slot.

Can we plan a two-day bourbon trip?

Yes. A two-day trip is two tour days, each typically running three stops, and it lets a group cover a second driving cluster without rushing the first. Multi-day trips are quoted rather than priced per day. Tell us the dates and we will lay out both days in one itinerary.

What happens if a distillery is booked up on our date?

We plan around it before you ever see the itinerary. Every stop is booked against your actual date once your tour is confirmed, and if a slot is gone, the day gets other stops in the same cluster instead. If Buffalo Trace matters to you, reach out at least 10 weeks ahead, and send the other distilleries on your list with your dates.

Send us your dates

A private day in Kentucky bourbon country comes down to three choices: the base city, the driving cluster and the distilleries inside it. We handle the rest, from the tickets to the lunch table to the drive home.

Give us the dates, the headcount and any distillery your group has already set its heart on, and we come back with a day built around it. If you would rather talk it through, call 1-844-BOURBON.

Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2026Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2025Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2024
691 five-star reviews3,000+ private tours since 2012
Tour type

Plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee.

I agree to receive recurring text messages from BourbonTown Tours about my tour inquiry, booking, and related updates. Consent is not a condition of any purchase. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help or STOP to opt out. No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. See our Privacy Policy for details.

We reply the same day between 8 AM and 8 PM Eastern. Requests after 8 PM get a reply the next morning. No deposit to start planning. No pressure, no pitch.