How do I book a bourbon tour with Sipping in the South?

Choose your experience, group size and date online and your date is confirmed the moment you book, with no payment due up front. Our team then confirms each distillery reservation and sends your final itinerary. If a preferred stop is unavailable, we offer an equal alternative before anything is final.

Where do Sipping in the South bourbon tours operate?

We operate private Kentucky bourbon tours across Louisville, Bardstown, Lexington, Frankfort, Loretto and the greater Bluegrass region. Pickup is included anywhere in the Louisville area; pickup elsewhere in Kentucky is available for an additional charge.

What is included in a bourbon tour?

Experiences include luxury transportation, guided distillery visits and tastings, full trip planning, and, on full-day tours, lunch and on-board amenities such as snacks and a cooler of drinks.

Do you offer bourbon classes or education?

Yes. Options include Bourbon 101 and Bourbon 201 group classes, 'A Little Bit of Bourbon' at $45 per person (4-guest minimum), and 'History of Horses & Bourbon', a 90-minute session at $60 per person (8-guest minimum).

Do you have short or last-minute bourbon experiences?

Yes. We offer last-minute half-day getaways in Frankfort, Bardstown, Loretto and Louisville, from $125 per guest.

bourbon tasting tips: Taster’s Tip: Prepping Your Palate

The Journal

Bourbon Education · July 2, 2026 · 1 min read

Taster’s Tip: Prepping Your Palate

These bourbon tasting tips start before you ever pick up a glass.

If you really want to enjoy the full flavor of your bourbon, skip the coffee, juice, and spicy foods that morning. Your palate will be much more open to all the good stuff.

Coffee

The bitter oils and roasted flavor can coat your tongue. It changes how you taste sweetness, smoke, and spice, and the smell alone can overpower more delicate bourbon notes.

Orange Juice

It’s super acidic and sweet, which messes with how you taste vanilla, caramel, and oak. It can make strong bourbons taste even harsher, and that citrusy aroma lingers and dulls the experience.

Spicy Foods

Spicy ingredients can overwhelm your taste buds and make it harder to notice the layers in a bourbon. The heat and oils tend to stick around, even if you try to cleanse your palate.

If You Must

Stick with still water at room temperature. Lightly salted crackers or plain nuts work well between pours. Cheers to a beautiful bourbon day.

Angelique Rison Founder Sipping in the South

More Bourbon Tasting Tips

Our guides share bourbon tasting tips at every stop. Read The Art of the Sip, plan tasting-room visits with the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and put these bourbon tasting tips to work on Bourbon Curious. Save these bourbon tasting tips for your trip, and see Bourbon Education for more.

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