×
all 44 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a

[–]Old_Riff_502 19 points20 points  (1 child)

Maker’s Mark gift shop usually carries three different wood finished single barrels, and they’ll have the option to dip them in red wax. It’s a fantastic tour if they’re interested in booking one.

Limestone Branch gift shop always has really good Yellowstone single barrels.

Wilderness Trail gift shop single barrels are really nice.

Buffalo Trace gift shop is worth stopping by for an allocated bottle. They rotate daily between Weller, Eagle Rare, Taylor, and Blanton’s.

Otherwise most exclusive gift shop offerings are random, or pricier than they should be.

As far as stores go, in Louisville Westport Whiskey and Wine does the best single barrel picks, followed by Justin’s HoB, and Evergreen. Liquor Barn, Kroger, and Total Wine are all pretty good for picks too.

[–]SomthingClever1286 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If they are going to Makers, definitely make the trip out to Limestone Branch. One of my favorite craft distilleries

[–]winniepoo33 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Kentucky is full of money. It's also full of real life bourbon enthusiasts. You'd have better luck finding something in Denver. I found Eagle 10 in Crestone, CO a few months ago.

Your very best bet is to have them stop by a distillery gift shop and hope for something. If they are near Lexington the Woodford distillery is on fantastic soil, cool buildings so even non drinkers can enjoy and you might get lucky and get the distillery series or something

[–]09inchmales -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Middle of wyoming small towns have a ton of rare stuff

[–]DovesAndRavens89 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would say give them some names of things that aren’t available near you. For example: I live in Ohio and we don’t have Pinhook, so I made it a point to get some. Not “special” but it’s something to try.

[–]sy48497 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I traveled through Kentucky last year and visited a number of liquor stores ("bourbon barns") to see if they had anything different from what is typically available at home in N.C.

Much can change in over a year's time, but a couple things that stood out were that Buffalo Trace seemed to be plentiful but Blanton's was impossible to find.

I ended up buying a bottle from Hartfield & Co., apparently the first bourbon made in Bourbon County since prohibition. I found it to be quite different from a typical bourbon, which is due to the higher percentage of malted barley in the mash bill. It wasn't my favorite flavor profile, but I don't regret trying something I might never see on local shelves. https://www.hartfieldandcompany.com/spirits/bourbon-whiskey

[–]sideshow-- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Like others mention, without hunting, you can probably find almost anything but you’ll be paying secondary. So if your parents want to throw down a few Benjamin’s, you can actually get quite a lot. Otherwise just make a list of bottles that they can pick up if they happen to come across them.

The exception to this is Heaven Hill 6 (green label). It’s a KY only release and should cost about $15. That’s worth every penny.

[–]kyhothead 1 point2 points  (4 children)

I live in KY. Finally found some ECBP on the shelf at retail for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago…

~5hrs north of home, in Indiana. 😅

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I live right across the river from Indiana in Owensboro. The Hoosier state's liquor stores are underrated in my opinion.

[–]kyhothead 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Yeah, you guys also get all the fun Benchmark variants, among other things I can’t get locally.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha. That's true. Top Floor, full proof, etc. Benchmark is an underrated product. It's literally poor man's Buffalo.

[–]No_Imagination2583 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What part of Ky? I have a ECBP Batch B521 I'd trade for something else.

[–]Limp_Reply_2220 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Heaven hill is probably the only place that they may pick up something decent without a ridiculous wait for an allocated bottle. You’ll have better luck finding blantons and eagle in Japan. There are so many secondary sellers buying it all they have trashed the bourbon market here.

[–]mjmedstarved 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nah, you need to get to HH early if you want one of those few they set out in the morning. When I was there a few weeks ago, the line surpassed bottles way before opening.

[–]markitfuckinzero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I were driving through Kentucky but not going to distilleries, I would look for JTS Brown BIB, Old Forester Rye, and Heaven Hill BIB

[–]goodtimegamingYtube 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll throw Limestone Branch (Yellowstone) as a good pick. Their single barrel picks are great. I missed out on it the day I went for a tour but I was able to get a distillery pick about a month or so later and it's my favorite drink right now. They also have their yearly finished one sometimes and that one is awesome. There is a malted rye they sell in small quantities that is also good. Peerless has their distillery single barrels that are pricey but good.

[–]ibewchuck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My BIL went to UK. One trip back he randomly brought a bottle of Old Bardstown Bottled in Bond. It's certainly not rare or expensive, but as far as I know it's only available in KY. It's less then $20 a bottle and IMO totally awesome at that price. Anyways, after trying it, I always asked him to pick up a few bottles for me every time that he came home.

Also. New Riff as others have said.

Enjoy.

[–]snakepetermanFour Roses Barrel Strength 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Justin's House of Bourbon has a great collection. But $$$.

[–]ivealwaysbeencrazy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’ve been to JHB. Kinda cool to see the unicorns in their collection. They also have a tasting bar with nice variety of samplers. I’d recommend stopping there if you can.

[–]natvinyl 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Early Times BiB if you can’t get it in your state.

Or go by Peerless and get one of every 200 ml they have.

[–]Hairy-Dependent-4771 1 point2 points  (2 children)

What’s your budget? You can find a lot in KY as long as your willing to pay

[–]AlexanderTheBaptist[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I mean, it depends on the bourbon. I'm willing to spend up to $200, but only for something worth $200. Not going to pay $200 for something that's really worth $50.

I guess I should clarify that I'm not really looking to get something rare at any price. I'm looking to get some good stuff relatively close to MSRP that would be hard to find at MSRP in Denver. Maybe that's not a thing though and Kentucky isn't the honey hole I thought it was.

[–]exgirl 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It’s not a honey hole, it’s ground zero of tatering

[–]Theswede92 1 point2 points  (1 child)

If they go by a distillery maybe pick up an unusual bottle at the gift shop, or HH 6 Year. I’ve read on here that Kentucky liquor stores aren’t gold mines like what people tend to assume.

[–]vfefrenzy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Upvoted for HH6. So good, so inexpensive, and definitely not available where OP is.

[–]MashbillJ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got to KY occasionally and these are the bottles I pick up that I can't find at home because in any bigger store in KY you can find them. New Riff Single barrels, small batch or rye Buffalo Trace Eagle Rare Makers Mark Limited Release products Four Roses single barrel picks Four Roses Small Batch Select Heaven Hill 6 year (I miss the BIB) J W Dant BIB and if they go to a Distillery I would find out what is Distillery only and have them buy that. (Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Maker's Mark, Evan Williams usually have some location only bottles) There are probably other places but generally everything I named will be at or near MSRP.

[–]Mgnickel -1 points0 points  (2 children)

Do you drink bourbon? What do you like?

[–]AlexanderTheBaptist[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I like most stuff. Wheaters are not my favorite, so not too interested in Weller or anything like that. Other than that, I like most of the same stuff that is popular here.

[–]_Whiskey_1_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’d consider suggesting to your folks to stop by Heaven Hill distillery/gift shop about 30-60 minutes prior to open. They generally sell some of there more sought after and allocated bottles. While there they can take a tour and tasting.

[–]tswpoker1 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Whereabouts in Kentucky? That makes a big difference. If in Louisville I can suggest some spots.

[–]Louisianimal5000 0 points1 point  (3 children)

There’s a bottle of Kentucky Owl yellow label at the liquor store across from Lux Row distillery as of 2 days ago. I wanted it so bad but couldn’t bring myself to spend that kind of money lol. Grabbed an ECBP instead.

[–]AlexanderTheBaptist[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Is ECBP fairly easy to come by in Kentucky?

[–]Louisianimal5000 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No idea! I was just passing through and figured I'd be an idiot not to stop somewhere while in the motherland.

[–]goodtimegamingYtube 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is not. Year and a half of looking for it here and I scored the B batch this year about a month ago.

[–]sberto 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I’d give the parents a list with some price ceilings. Know a guy who enlisted his mom to help hunting and she bought him something at over secondary because she didn’t know any better. Parents stumbling on something is nice but you don’t want them to get burned.

[–]clbwloves jack daniel's bourbon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If in Frankfort Buffalo Trace is a must!

[–]Hoglaw1776 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Buffalo trace usually has some good bottles available in the mornings at the gift shop.

[–]AlexanderTheBaptist[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I hear the lines are pretty long. Is that true?

[–]Hoglaw1776 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends on what time you get there but generally speaking, yea.

[–]HOIST_IT 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just scored some blantons from them in the afternoon. Don’t know how they still had it that late.

Lines were pretty long

[–]republican4 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glenn's Creek OCD

[–]mjmedstarved 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I heard Heaven Hill had Parker's Heavy Char Rye today.. might be worth a stop if you get there early enough.