Best Small Distilleries in Kentucky: Lesser-Known Stops Worth the Drive
Updated November 2026 · BourbonTown Tours
The best small distilleries in Kentucky are Willett and Preservation outside Bardstown, Bardstown Bourbon Company and Lux Row in Bardstown, Limestone Branch in Lebanon, Whiskey Thief in Frankfort, Jeptha Creed in Shelbyville, and the three distilleries of the Lexington Distillery District. Each sits a short drive from a better-known name, which is what makes one easy to fit into a day.
BourbonTown Tours has run 3,000+ private tours since 2012. This guide covers what each of these smaller stops gives a visitor and how we build one into a day. For every distillery we visit, grouped by driving cluster, see our directory of bourbon distilleries in Kentucky.
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Quick Facts
- Bardstown area: Willett, Preservation, Bardstown Bourbon Company and Lux Row.
- Willett: no more than 14 people on a tour of about an hour and fifteen minutes; closed on Sundays.
- Preservation: a working farm where everything is pot-distilled, with a shop that sells age-stated bottles outside normal retail.
- Limestone Branch: in Lebanon, about 20 minutes from Maker's Mark.
- Whiskey Thief: a farm distillery outside Frankfort where you fill a bottle by hand from the barrel; the bottle is the guest's to buy.
- Lexington Distillery District: James E. Pepper and Barrel House, with Town Branch around the corner downtown, a short ride from the central Lexington hotels.
- Stops in a day: custom tours typically run three stops inside one driving cluster, and we can add or subtract on your planning call.
What Makes a Lesser-Known Distillery Worth a Visit?
The big names earn their crowds. The smaller stops earn a place on the day for different reasons.
- Size. A smaller tour means you get close to the production and have time to ask a real question. Willett, for example, takes no more than 14 people on a tour.
- Something to do, not just watch. Several of these stops hand you the glass or the bottle: a tasting drawn straight from the barrel, or a bottle you fill yourself.
- Bottles you will not find at home. Some sell age-stated or distillery-only bottles that sit outside normal retail.
- The setting. A working farm, a ridgeline or a downtown district you can walk changes how the visit feels.
Featured Lesser-Known Distilleries
Willett Distillery, Bardstown
On a 130-acre ridgeline outside Bardstown, Willett runs a production tour that stays small by design. No more than 14 people go out at a time, departures run on the hour, and the format is progressive: you taste as you move, station by station. Guests keep a Glencairn glass and work through five or six expressions, choosing from Pot Still Reserve, Old Bardstown, Johnny Drum, Noah's Mill, Rowan's Creek and Family Estate single barrels, with a bourbon and chocolate pairing to close. The tour runs about an hour and fifteen minutes, and Willett is closed on Sundays. See the Willett distillery guide.
Preservation Distillery, Bardstown
Preservation is a working farm rather than a visitor campus: by the distillery's own description, 40 acres of historic tobacco ground, with a reservoir and rickhouses still in use. Production is small: Preservation pot-distills all of it, in batches of one to three barrels. The standard tour and tasting takes 30 to 60 minutes, and most groups spend an hour to an hour and a half once you add the bottle shop. Collectors come for what sits on its shelves: age-stated bottles you will not find in normal retail, including Rare Perfection 14 and 15 Year, Very Olde St. Nick and Wattie Boone and Sons. See the Preservation distillery guide.
Bardstown Bourbon Company, Bardstown
Bardstown Bourbon Company is home to Rickhouse Barrel Thieving, a one-hour tasting inside a working rickhouse: three whiskeys pulled straight from individual barrels, then a pour of one of the distillery's own expressions. It is a tasting, not a tour, with no bottle to take home. Plan it for a Wednesday to Sunday visit, the only days it runs; on a BourbonTown Tours private day it sits inside the tour rate. It also has a tasting room in Louisville, while the distillery itself is in Bardstown. Read more about Rickhouse Barrel Thieving.
Limestone Branch Distillery, Lebanon
Limestone Branch is in Lebanon, about 20 minutes from Maker's Mark. That makes it the natural second stop on a day built around Maker's Mark: the drive south to Loretto picks it up on the way.
Lux Row Distillery, Bardstown
Lux Row is one of the Bardstown distilleries, inside the same short hops that connect Heaven Hill, Willett and Bardstown Bourbon Company. More on our Lux Row page.
Whiskey Thief Distilling Co., Frankfort
Whiskey Thief is a craft distillery on a working farm outside Frankfort. Guests taste bourbon poured from the barrel with a thief, then fill a bottle by hand from the barrel they like; the bottle you fill is yours to buy. It makes a good end-of-day stop. See our Whiskey Thief page.
Jeptha Creed Distillery, Shelbyville
Jeptha Creed is in Shelbyville, in the Frankfort and Versailles cluster, on the road east out of Louisville toward Frankfort.
The Lexington Distillery District
The Lexington Distillery District is downtown, a short ride from the central Lexington hotels, and holds James E. Pepper and Barrel House. It is an easy place for a group to finish a day. See private bourbon tours from Lexington.
Why These Distilleries Are Worth the Visit
- A more personal visit. Willett caps its tour at 14 people, and Rickhouse Barrel Thieving is an hour in a working rickhouse, tasting whiskey drawn from individual barrels.
- Hands-on moments. At Whiskey Thief you fill a bottle by hand; at Bardstown Bourbon Company you taste whiskey pulled straight from the barrel.
- Bottles outside normal retail. Preservation's age-stated bottles and Whiskey Thief's own bourbon are the kind of thing you carry home from the shop. Bottles bought on the day are on the guest.
- Places with character. Preservation is a working farm you walk across. Willett sits on a ridgeline where country hams hang between the barrels in the aging houses, left from the farm the land used to be.
How We Fit a Small Distillery Into a Day
A real day gets built inside one driving cluster. Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call. The smaller stops slot in beside the big names:
- Bardstown: Heaven Hill to Willett is about 8 minutes and Heaven Hill to Bardstown Bourbon Company about 5, so a Bardstown day can pair a flagship tour with Willett, Preservation or Rickhouse Barrel Thieving.
- Maker's Mark day: Limestone Branch is about 20 minutes from Maker's Mark, so the drive south picks up a second stop.
- Frankfort and Versailles: Whiskey Thief makes a good last stop after Buffalo Trace, Castle and Key or Woodford Reserve.
- Lexington: the Distillery District is a short ride from the central hotels, so a Lexington day can finish there.
We book distillery tickets once your tour is confirmed, against your actual date. Our guide to planning a Kentucky bourbon tour covers how many stops fit and how far ahead to book.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best small distilleries in Kentucky?
The best small distilleries in Kentucky include Willett and Preservation outside Bardstown, Bardstown Bourbon Company and Lux Row in Bardstown, Limestone Branch in Lebanon, Whiskey Thief in Frankfort, Jeptha Creed in Shelbyville, and the three distilleries of the Lexington Distillery District. Each sits a short drive from a better-known name, so one fits easily into a private day built inside a single driving cluster.
Is Willett Distillery worth visiting?
Yes, for a group that wants a real production tour. Willett sits on a 130-acre ridgeline outside Bardstown, and no more than 14 people go out at a time. You keep a Glencairn glass and taste five or six expressions station by station, with a bourbon and chocolate pairing to close. The tour runs about an hour and fifteen minutes, and Willett is closed on Sundays.
Where can you buy bottles outside normal retail?
At the distillery shops. Preservation's shop carries age-stated bottles such as Rare Perfection 14 and 15 Year, Very Olde St. Nick and Wattie Boone and Sons, all outside normal retail distribution. At Whiskey Thief, you fill a bottle by hand from the barrel you like. Bottles bought on the day are on the guest.
Can you add a small distillery to a Maker's Mark or Buffalo Trace day?
Yes, inside the same cluster. Limestone Branch in Lebanon is about 20 minutes from Maker's Mark, so the drive south picks up a second stop. Whiskey Thief makes a good last stop after Buffalo Trace, Castle and Key or Woodford Reserve in the Frankfort and Versailles cluster. Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call.
What is the Lexington Distillery District?
The Lexington Distillery District is downtown Lexington's distillery area, a short ride from the central hotels. It holds James E. Pepper and Barrel House, and Town Branch, part of Lexington Brewing and Distilling, sits a few blocks away downtown. Because the stops sit close together, a Lexington day can finish there, and Versailles is about 15 to 20 minutes away.
Plan your private bourbon day
BourbonTown Tours has run 3,000+ private tours since 2012. Every tour is private to your group, never mixed with strangers, and covers everything except lunch and driver gratuity. Distillery tickets are included.
Private tours run $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee.