Summer is coming … and it’s the perfect time to do road trips! One of our favorite road trips is of course through Kentucky Bourbon Country! There are so many ways to enjoy the Kentucky Countryside; by bike, motorcyle, tour service, horse back (we’ve heard it can be done!) and by your own automobile. A great place to start for your Kentucky Bourbon Trail Trip is here: Kentucky Bourbon Trail

In the meantime – here are 3 distilleries with interesting beginnings that you’ll see when planning your next Bourbon Country road trip through Kentucky!

Bulleit Frontier Whiskey
Around 1987, Thomas E. Bulleit, Jr., completed his lifelong dream of recreating an old family bourbon recipe and started the Bulleit Distilling Company. Influenced by his great-great-grandfather Augustus Bulleit, who created a high-rye whiskey around 1830-1860. Tom ceased his successful law practice and risked everything he had to experience life on the frontier.
A tavern owner in 1830s Louisville, Kentucky, Augustus Bulleit was dedicated to one goal: the making of a bourbon unique in taste. After experimenting with numerous varieties in small-batch trials, he at last came upon a bourbon with the flavor he had long sought after.
One eventful day, while transporting his containers of bourbon from Kentucky to New Orleans, Augustus Bulleit completely vanished. What happened is still not fully known, and his creation almost disappeared into history along with him.

HEAVEN HILL
Soon after the Prohibition era ended around 1933, Heaven Hill Brands, was founded in Bardstown, Kentucky by the Shapira family to create and sell Bourbon and high quality American whiskeys. At the time, it was a brand new business venture as the dot com start-ups of the 1990’s — a business created with no type of brands, no accessible stocks of whiskey, and at the height of the American Great Depression. Currently, the company is one of the biggest independent, family-owned and operated maker and seller of distilled spirits in the United States. According to expert analysts, Heaven Hill is currently the seventh biggest spirits producer in the United States and the second biggest holder of aging Bourbon whiskey in the world with an inventory in excess of around 1,000,000 barrels.
In stark contrast to the ever changing and ever-consolidating spirits industry, Heaven Hill is still fiercely independent, led by the steady hands of the Shapira family. The business is dedicated to creating long-term relationships with their customers in order to build even stronger brands and implement consistent, effective programming. Independence, premium quality and integrity; all perfectly describe Heaven Hill Brands, a business committed to creating and selling the highest quality spirits products across the world.

Four Roses Bourbon 
Around 1884, Paul Jones Jr moved his successful business to Louisville, Kentucky, where he opened a new office in a part of the historic Main Street known as “Whiskey Row”. Four years later, he then trademarked the name Four Roses, claiming all production and sales back into the 1860s. In 1922, the Paul Jones Co. purchased the Frankfort Distilling Co. all according to Paul’s passionate direction and great business sense, sales of the Bourbon amplified and Four Roses grew to become a preeminent brand.
The workers at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ky. and at the warehouse in Cox’s Creek, Ky. keep the on-going legacy of Paul Jones, Jr. Their love for quality and their delight in handcrafting an award winning Bourbon is indisputable in the smooth, mellow taste that is the signature of the Four Roses brand.

We’d love to hear how your trip through the Bourbon Trail was! Let us know on Twitter or Facebook! We love to see photos!