Public vs Private Bourbon Tours: How the Two Formats Compare
Updated October 2026 · BourbonTown Tours
The difference between public and private bourbon tours is who decides the day. A public tour sells seats to anyone who books a given date, on a route and a clock the operator fixed before you signed up, so your party shares the vehicle with other parties. A private tour is booked by one group, and that group chooses the distilleries, the order and the start time. BourbonTown Tours runs only the second kind.
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Quick Facts
- A public tour sells seats on a set date, route and schedule to separate parties.
- A private tour is booked by one group, which picks the distilleries, their order and the start time.
- Our side of the comparison is private only. Every tour is for one booked group. Groups are never combined.
- Booking the whole day for your group costs $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee.
- That figure pays for everything except lunch and driver gratuity.
- Length: a tour day runs 6 to 8 hours. Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call. The FAQ below covers pickup.
A public tour sells seats on a plan that is already set
A public bourbon tour is sold one seat at a time. Anyone can book a place on a date and departure time the operator has published, and the distilleries, their order and the time at each stop are decided before the first seat is sold. The other seats go to other parties, so the people beside you in the vehicle are people you did not book with.
That structure has a plain advantage: there is nothing to design. You pick a date, take a seat and follow a plan somebody else drew up, and for a group that wants exactly that, the format delivers it. The trade is that a shared vehicle can run only one plan. Every party aboard shares the same stops, in the same sequence, at the same speed, so the day fits the route rather than any one party on it.
What a public tour costs and what its ticket covers are for each operator to say. The only prices on this page are BourbonTown Tours' own.
A private tour is planned around one booked group
A private tour belongs to the group that booked it. Nobody else rides in the vehicle, and your party makes the calls an operator makes on a public tour: the distilleries, the sequence, the time spent at each stop, and when the day starts and finishes.
On a BourbonTown tour your group also has a professional guide to itself, and the guide is part of the rate. Your party rides in a vehicle of its own, for up to 14 guests, and our vehicle fleet page gives the seat counts. Groups over 14 travel in multiple vehicles or a bus or motor coach we contract. See What's Included for everything else the rate carries. For the lunch stop, we book and confirm the restaurant reservation; the meal is on the guest's tab. On a private tour, we book distillery tickets once your tour is confirmed, against your actual dates, and confirm every reservation in the itinerary.
How the two formats compare, factor by factor
Set side by side, the two formats differ on three points, and on each one the difference is who makes the call.
- Who rides with you. Public: other parties on the same departure. Private: your group only.
- Who picks the distilleries. Public: the operator, before seats go on sale. Private: your group.
- Who sets the clock. Public: a published departure time and a set time at each stop. Private: your group's start time and pace.
Geography still limits a private day, because windshield time between clusters decides how many distilleries fit. The drive from Maker's Mark to Buffalo Trace alone takes about an hour and fifteen minutes, so a route that mixes far-apart names spends its hours on the road. The Kentucky distillery directory sets out which stops are neighbors. If your group wants a set plan and is content to share it, the public format is built for that. If it wants its own list and clock, that is a private tour.
Our tours are booked by one group, never by the seat
BourbonTown Tours does not sell seats. A booking belongs to the group that made it, and no second party is added beside yours at any point. Empty seats in your vehicle stay empty, because nothing is sold to fill them, and no scheduled departure exists for anyone else to book into.
The reason is the trade set out above. Two parties in one vehicle have to share one plan, and a plan shared that way belongs to neither of them. Keeping every booking to a single group is what lets the day follow your list, your pace and your start time rather than a route set for a vehicle of separate parties.
That one format is behind all 3,000+ private tours since 2012. See Tour Options to read how a custom day gets built.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a public and a private bourbon tour?
A public bourbon tour sells individual seats on a date, route and schedule the operator has already set, so separate parties share the vehicle and the day. A private tour is booked by one group, which chooses the distilleries, the order and the start time. BourbonTown Tours runs only private tours: every tour is private to your group, never mixed with strangers.
Does BourbonTown Tours ever combine groups?
No. A booking is one group's from start to finish, and we never put another party into it. That is the whole difference from a public departure, where seats are sold one by one to whoever books the date. It is also what lets your group, and nobody else, choose the stops and the clock. Our custom private bourbon tours page explains why the company runs no other format.
How much does a private bourbon tour with BourbonTown Tours cost?
We charge $275 to $425 per person depending on group size, plus 6% KY sales tax and a 3% booking fee, for a day your group has to itself. The per-person rate falls as your group grows, as Kentucky bourbon tour costs by group size shows, and at every size that rate pays for everything except lunch and driver gratuity.
Who chooses the distilleries on a private tour?
Your group does. Give us a list of names, or just your hotel city and the kind of day you are after, and we turn it into a running order of distilleries close enough together to fit a tour day of 6 to 8 hours. Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call.
Where does a private tour pick us up?
Your private day begins at the guest's hotel or door in Louisville, Bardstown or Lexington. Your group says which hotel or door, as it says which stops, and nobody meets the vehicle at a central lobby. Airport pickup can be arranged. If your group is flying in, say so in your first message along with the rest of the plan.
Request a private bourbon tour
Tell us when you are coming, how many are in your party and what you hope to taste, and we plan the day from that. We reply the same day between 8 AM and 8 PM Eastern. Requests after 8 PM get a reply the next morning. A deposit reserves your date. Your quote includes the full details. A real person also answers the phone, for anyone who would sooner plan by voice.
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)