Jim Beam Distillery Tours & Info

A tour guide's tips, reviews, FAQs, and more!

About Jim Beam Distillery Tours

Just about 30 minutes outside of downtown Louisville is the world-famous Jim Beam Distillery, also known as the James B. Beam Distillery. With over 200 years of family history in the whiskey business, the distillery boasts several generations of storytelling with an impressive lineup of whiskey to back it up. The Jim Beam distillery tour covers some of its flagship brands, including Jim Beam White Label, Basil Hayden, and Knob Creek whiskey.

Guests on the Jim Beam Distillery Tour will indulge in hands-on activities, a progressive tasting, history, and much more. The grounds are very welcoming, with a large open-style barn that has a tasting loft and gift shop, which serves as the visitors center. Guests can also visit the onsite bar and restaurant, the Kitchen Table, for southern eats and craft cocktails. We can spend a whole day here, which is why we suggest having the Jim Beam Distillery tour on your list during your bourbon trip!

What We Love

The Family History

The Beam family settled Kentucky all the way back in the late 1700s, which means the family predates the creation of bourbon. With 8 generations of Beams (and currently Noes) in the picture, members of the Beam family have been in the bourbon business from its earliest origins to the massive industry it is today. They’ve been here through the good times and the bad, and you hardly find a distillery in the region that one of the Beams hasn't touched! There are so many family stories here, and the legacy is really unmatched at this place.

Great Facilities, Food, & More!

The Distillery Campus

We love visiting the Jim Beam campus. Being the closest legacy distillery to the city, it’s not hard to spend a morning or afternoon at Jim Beam and make it back in time for the races. There really isn’t anything as big as Jim Beam in the city, with its large rick houses, winding paths, and rolling hills. You can even spend some time here without a signature Jim Beam tour, as walk-in tastings are welcome in the loft and at the bar. On a nice day, you might see folks sipping cocktails on the patio or playing cornhole. It’s a nice way to get out of the city and see a bigger operation without a large crowed or too much time on the road!

An Overall Great Tour

The Well-Curated Tour

The Jim Beam distillery tour is very well-curated, but doesn’t shy away from its blue collar nature. This means, for every nice display, lounge, or prop, you’ll see a machine, worker, or real piece of equipment doing a job on the tour. Their tour is able to wind through history, production, aging, and more in just a little over an hour. The layout of the tour is friendly, allowing your attention to shift from one the many aspects of bourbon to another without overloading you. In short, the Jim Beam tour is just a really good tour and one that we will always recommend to guests!

Bookers, Baker's, Basil Hayden, & More!

The Impressive Lineup of Products

We find that a lot of folks really only think of Beam as the home of Jim Beam White Label. While that is Beam’s best-selling product, there are products that bourbon drinkers new and old typically enjoy and may not know that they’re part of the Beam portfolio. Some of those products include Basil Hayden’s, Old Grandad, Bookers, Baker’s, and Knob Creek! Guests on the Jim Beam distillery tour will get a chance to interact with some of these brands, while getting knowledge on them or tasting at the source.

Jim Beam Distillery Tour Options

The James B. Beam distillery has a number of bourbon experiences on any given day. Here are a few of the standards!

The Beam-Made Tour

The Beam Made tour is Jim Beam’s flagship bourbon tour. This tour runs 6 days a week, with Multiple tours on the hour. On this tour, guests will enjoy a few demonstrative areas of the distillery before moving into some of the working areas.

Tasting Experiences

If you dig down into the “additional tours” section of the Beam Website, you will typically see a few prearranged tasting options. We recommend booking one of these for guests that do not wish to do a distillery tour, as everything is already set up for you when you arrive.

VIP & Speciality Tours

These change pretty often on the website, as special events are featured here, too. But there are a number of specialty tours and VIP experiences for those who wish to focus on a particular part of the distillery - ie. history, barrel aging, or culinary.

Walk-Ins

We aren’t sure of Beam’s official stance on walk-ins, but our stance is… book in advance! But if you find yourself at Beam on a day that’s full, you can visit the tasting loft upstairs or grab a drink at the bar. And be sure to check the screen or ask the staff for availability on additional tours or experiences.

** Please note, we try to keep these descriptions fairly vague. If we told you everything, why would you come for yourself! We encourage you to do a Jim Beam tour yourself and save some questions for the staff once there. **

Jim Beam Distillery Tours FAQ

Can I visit the Jim Beam distillery without a tour?

You can! The property is rather large, but even with that, there are times when they are running at capacity. If you plan to do a tour at Jim Beam or another one of their experiences, you should always book in advance to make sure you get the time slot you’re after.

Is there food at Jim Beam?

Yes there is! The Kitchen Table is Beam’s onsite bar and restaurant, and serves up some of the best distillery food on the bourbon trail. The restaurant serves up some mouthwatering BBQ and southern food, and some really great shareables. You can make a reservation online at the restaurant, or can make one the same time you reserve a distillery tour.

How to book a tour or experience?

For all up-to-date experiences and availability, you can visit the Jim Beam website directly. We recommend booking as soon as you have your travel dates down, or to set a reminder to book when the distillery schedule is updated for your travel month.

If you want to add Jim Beam to a custom bourbon tour for you and your group, please reach out to us! We would be glad to coordinate your perfect bourbon day.

Is the Jim Beam Distillery near other distilleries on the bourbon trail?

Yes it is! The distillery is about halfway to Bardstown coming from Louisville, so it’s accessible for a Bardstown or Louisville bourbon day. It can also help break up long one-way drives from Louisville to Bardstown. If you check out any of our distillery guides, we mention that the Jim Beam tour is an option for any Bardstown or Louisville bourbon trip!

Book a Bourbon Tour with Us

We hope that we made planning your Bourbon Trail day a bit easier with our guide to Jim Beam. For the easiest experience, let us do the work! Just pick your distilleries and we'll do the rest! Inquire below.

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