Photo tour of Jim Beam’s bourbon distillery and whiskey tour.

A 30 minute drive out of Louisville, Kentucky will bring you to one of the many bourbon distilleries that Kentucky has to offer, The Jim Beam American Stillhouse.

Silke and I decided to make a small detour on our way from Minnesota where we learned about making maple syrup back to Summerville, SC. Kentucky was very pretty this time of year, with the leaves turning different colors and the crisp cool air. What better way to stay warm than to hit the bourbon trail. Right?

Route from Louisville to Jim Beam, map courtesy of Google Earth

The drive south from Louisville to the Jim Beam distillery didn’t take very long.

It’s pretty much a straight shot and a very comfortable drive through the beautiful Kentucky countryside. Definitely a place to add to your travel planner.


Booking.com

The big Jim Beam American Stillhouse sign on Happy Hollow Rd in Clermont, Kentucky welcomed us and was pretty hard to miss. Be sure to arrive early as the Stillhouse will close at 5:30 pm.

Welcome To Jim Beam American Stillhouse

Welcome To Jim Beam

Once you’re inside the main building, the Jim Beam American Stillhouse, you are greeted by a tour guide who offers a time table for available tours and a quick layout of the buildings. Beyond this reception area is a pretty cool store that sells all the Jim Beam memorabilia anyone could imagine.

From Jim Beam hoodies to t-shirts and playing cards to books and several types of liquor. It was all there, with the Jim Beam label on it, available for tourists to purchase and take home.

On to the Jim Beam Distillery whiskey tour.

The Jim Beam Barn

The Jim Beam Barn

Jim Beam Loot at the American Stillhouse

Jim Beam Loot

We had some time to kill before the Jim Beam whiskey tour started so we checked out the store and went to get something to eat at Fred’s Smokehouse. The BBQ sandwiches we had were reasonably good and decently priced.

Fred's Smokehouse At Jim Beam

The Jim Beam Farm

The Jim Beam Farm

The Jim Beam tour was only $10 per person. It started out with an explanation of all the different grains that are used for fermentation. Everyone in the tour got to get up close to the equipment for a peek inside the fermenting equipment. Very interesting, especially if you’re a home brewer!

Where the magic happens

Where the magic happens at Jim Beams

Boiling Kettle At Jim Beam

The Boiling Kettle For Jim Beam Whiskey

We marveled over the cut outs of all the ‘Jim Beam’ family members.

They could be found throughout the tour. Fred Noe, Booker Noe, David M. Beam and Jacob Beam are just a few of the cutout we saw during our Jim Beam whiskey tour.

Fred and Booker Noe - Jim Beam Whiskey Tour

David Beam - Jim Beam Tour

David and Jacob Beam - Jim Beam Tour Review

Silke and David our whiskey tour guide at Jim Beam

Bourbon Timeline - Jim Beam whiskey tour

One of the coolest areas during the Jim Beam Distillery

whiskey tour was towards the end.

We got to see the complete collection of whiskey decanters they had made over the years. I always remembered the Paul Bunyan one that my grandparents had in their basement. For Silke it was the Army helmet and boots that her parents still have in their liquor cabinet in Germany.

Jim Beam army whiskey decanter

Paul Bunyan Jim Beam Decanter

Poulan chain saw Bourban decanter

Minnesota Viking Jim Beam Decanter

Red VW Bug Another Cool Jim Beam Decanter

Germany Land of Hansel & Gretel Whiskey Decanter

We had a very good time during the Jim Beam distillery whiskey tour.

The staff and tour guide kept everything light and entertaining. If you ever get a chance to check out the Jim Beam Stillhouse Tour it will definitely be worth your time and you’ll be glad you did!

Jim Beam Bartender - Bourbon Tour

Jim Beam Bartender

At the end of the tour we were handed a nice tulip shaped gift glass and a credit for two shots of our choice.

We thought this was the perfect ending to the 1 1/2 hour Jim Beam American Stillhouse Bourbon Tour.

Have you been on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail? Leave us your comments below. We would love to hear from you.

2 thoughts on “The Jim Beam American Stillhouse Tour”
  1. The decanters were awesome and so was the tour. The tour guide lady was very fun and informative, I learned way more about Bourbon making than I ever needed to know. LOL

  2. Great photos and commentary! I did the self-guided tour of Jim Beam (it was the only distillery on the Bourbon Trail that we opted out of the full tour for), and it’s great to see some of the little bits we missed. I’m especially bummed that we didn’t get a peek at those decanters.

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