What Every Private Kentucky Bourbon Tour Includes
Updated November 2026 · BourbonTown Tours
All-inclusive is a description of how BourbonTown Tours runs every private bourbon tour in Kentucky. It is not a separate thing you buy. 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 sit inside the quoted rate on every tour, at every group size, and there is no stripped-down version of the same day sold cheaper.
Looking for a ready-made day? See our Kentucky bourbon tour packages.
A tour day is priced at $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee. What that buys is everything except lunch and driver gratuity. The per-person figure falls as the group grows, while those five things stay exactly where they are.
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Quick Facts
- In the rate: 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.
- In short: everything except lunch and driver gratuity.
- What it costs: $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee.
- Private only: each tour is run for one booked group, and groups are never put together.
- Shape of the day: 6 to 8 hours. Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call.
- Vehicle: a sedan, SUV or van, private to your group, for parties of up to 14.
- We collect your group at your hotel or door in Louisville, Bardstown or Lexington.
Distillery tickets, booked against your dates
Distillery admission sits inside the rate, and nobody in your group buys a ticket at the door. We book those tickets once your tour is confirmed, against your group's actual travel dates, and every reservation we hold is confirmed in the itinerary you get back. Which Buffalo Trace ticket we book, and why, is set out in our guide to private Kentucky distillery tours.
Tasting fees
Tasting fees are in the rate as well. Where a distillery charges for its tasting alongside the tour, that charge has already been paid inside your per-person figure, so nobody in your party pays for that tasting on the day. A full guide to Kentucky bourbon tour costs shows how the per-person figure itself is built.
The private vehicle
Your vehicle is private to your group and included in the rate, sized to your headcount as a sedan, an SUV or a van, and our fleet and who each vehicle suits gives the seat counts. Airport pickup can be arranged.
The professional guide
A Bourbon Experience Coordinator plans the trip with you before the day, and a professional guide drives the tour and stays with your group for the whole day. Both are part of the rate rather than an extra line on the quote. The work is bourbon: what a mash bill, a rickhouse and a barrel do to what ends up in your glass, and what is worth asking at each tasting bar.
The confirmed lunch reservation
Lunch is the one included item that works differently. We book the restaurant reservation and confirm it in your itinerary; the meal itself is paid at the restaurant, on your group's tab. The table is ours to hold and the bill is yours to settle. Where a day's stops leave no gap to sit down, a box lunch can be built into the quoted price when you ask for one. Our Kentucky bourbon trip planning guide covers where lunch lands in a day.
What is not included
The rate covers everything except lunch and driver gratuity. The restaurant tab is settled by your group at the table, and driver gratuity is left with you. Bottles stay with the guest too, including the one bought to dip at Maker's Mark.
Tax and the booking fee sit apart from that list rather than inside it: 6% KY sales tax applies to the product and a 3% booking fee applies to the sale, and both are written on the quote you approve. A full guide to Kentucky bourbon tour costs sets out how both are applied.
Lodging is not part of any tour price either, because we do not book or resell hotel rooms. If you want help picking which city to sleep in, where to stay in Kentucky bourbon country covers each of the three pickup cities.
Why the Barrel Crawl and transportation only are different
Two other things we run are different products, and neither is described as all-inclusive. The Barrel Crawl tasting day is tastings only with no distillery tours, at a lower per-person rate and a minimum of 4 guests, which is exactly why that description never applies to it. Transportation-only bourbon tour drivers put a vehicle and a driver on an itinerary you have planned yourself, with distillery tickets and lunch left on your group.
What we quote separately
Multi-day trips are quoted. 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. Any bottle a guest buys or dips is theirs to pay for. The experiences on our custom tour page describe them.
Reserving the date
A deposit reserves your date. Your quote includes the full details. The bourbon tour FAQ carries the deposit and payment terms in full, and a real person answers 1-844-BOURBON if you would rather ask on the phone.
Frequently asked questions
What is included in an all-inclusive bourbon tour?
Five things, on every private tour we run: 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. Your rate covers everything except lunch and driver gratuity. Kentucky sales tax at 6% and the 3% booking fee are shown separately on the quote rather than folded into the per-person figure.
Do we pay for distillery tickets at the door?
No. Admission is inside your per-person rate, and we book the tickets ourselves once your tour is confirmed. Each reservation is confirmed in the itinerary you receive, so nobody in your party pays for entry on the day. Which Buffalo Trace ticket we book, and why, is covered in our guide to private Kentucky distillery tours.
Is lunch included in the price?
The reservation is; the meal is not. A table is booked and confirmed for your group while the day is built, and your group pays for the food and drink where you eat. Lunch and driver gratuity stay with your group, along with the tax, the booking fee and any bottle bought on the day. If the driving leaves no gap for a sit-down meal, a box lunch can be built into the quoted price on request.
Is there a cheaper version without the tickets or the guide?
No. There is no stripped-back version of the day at a lower price, and the five inclusions are on every private tour at every group size. What moves with headcount is the per-person figure: $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee. A full guide to Kentucky bourbon tour costs breaks that down by group size.
Is the Barrel Crawl all-inclusive?
No, and we never describe it that way. The Barrel Crawl is tastings only, with no distillery tours, and it runs at a lower per-person rate with a minimum of 4 guests. Lunch is not part of it. It is a different product from a custom private tour, and the Barrel Crawl tasting day sets out how that day is built.
Ask for your itinerary and your rate
Send us the dates, the headcount and the distilleries on your list. We will draw up the day and price it, with every inclusion written into the quote that comes back to you.
Your tour includes:
- Trip planned by a Bourbon Experience Coordinator; a professional guide drives the tour
- Distillery tickets booked for you
- Lunch reservation made (meal on your tab)