Barton 1792 Distillery – Take 2
Barton still conducts free tours and tastings but they’re not as loose as they were last time I was around. You must sign up before and they limit the group to just nine. A buddy from work wanted to go spend the day visiting whatever we could get into and he was willing to go to Barton to just hang out. They opened a welcome center on Cathedral Manor in Bardstown. Everybody had to meet there for temperature checks and then we would follow our guide through security to get to the real distillery. Well, everybody who was allowed to go. Greg wasn’t part of the tour so he was required to stay behind with the car and got a tasting whilst I rode in with the guide.
Not too much has changed since the last tour other than the size of the group and the mask requirement.
The original stone building can be seen in the photo above with the tractor and everywhere the building material changes is an addition added over time.
I love finding the plumb bob in rick houses. Especially after seeing the big collapse back in 2018. An article with some overhead shots of barrels can be seen here.
The highlight of the visit is tasting the white dog right out of the still and they still do it. This time it’s with small single use plastic cups instead of everybody using the same glencairn like last time. It’s still unbelievably high alcohol content and tastes like popcorn.
Anyway, when we got back to the real gift shop for our tasting Greg was waiting for us. They added a table for him and he had another round. Pretty cool.
There’s something really down-to-earth about Barton. They really seem to enjoy showing people around and they don’t hide anything behind “sanitized” presentations. It’s a working still with dust and dirt around and that’s just what you’re there to see. I appreciate that transparency and it makes me want to go back over and over.
By the way, the Chocolate Bourbon Cream is just as good as ever. And they were selling 1792 at full proof the day we were there. I’ve never seen that on a shelf.
Here’s my first trip there. I’m sure some of the photos will be quite similar.
~ Freddy
