Sips & Sites & Bites

If you love bourbon, there’s a new travel adventure that adds a bit of blending and tasting to your experience.

Barrel Global recently announced the launch of its new service called the “Kentucky Bourbon Retreat.” 

They describe it as an “immersive experience that welcomes consumers and corporate clients to visit a distillery in Kentucky, where they will distill their very own barrels of bourbon that will then be aged and bottled to their exact specifications.”

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, you can check it out at https://barrelglobal.com/retreat-2024.

“Our Kentucky Bourbon Retreat democratizes barrel ownership by allowing individuals to create their very own batch of barrels with a truly bespoke mashbill,” said Barrel Global Founder George Koutsakis. “Distilleries typically require a minimum order of more than 100 barrels for such a service, but given our distillery relationships, we’re able to bring that minimum number down to a more palatable 10 barrels.”

When guests arrive in Kentucky for the three-day bourbon-making adventure, they come under the guidance and curation of a certified bourbon distiller. As they dive deeper into bourbon-making, folks will receive a tutorial in the science of distillation and barreling – which starts with selecting a mashbill to create a taste profile suited to their palates, tasting the new mash and the distillate, and making the correct cut between heads, hearts and tails before proofing the liquid. 

Along with the distiller, the guests return to the distillery on their final day in Kentucky to fill their own barrels with distillate, seal them, check for leaks, and finally roll them into the rickhouse.

Once the barrels are proofed, the distillery partner stores them for the required aging in their on-site warehouses until they are at the desired maturation and ready for bottling. 

The adventure costs in the neighborhood of $35,000, depending on group size and barrel yield, which includes 10 newly-distilled bourbon barrels with a completely bespoke mashbill, full participation in the distilling process – from mashing and fermentation to distilling and barreling, hotel accommodations, dinner, and a comprehensive bourbon tasting. 

To start, the adventure partners Hopkinsville, Kentucky-based Casey Jones Distillery and the inaugural Kentucky Bourbon Retreat launches this month. It’s aimed at corporate clients, the hospitality industry, families, and friend groups. Barrel Global is rolling out the service with one distillery partner, with plans to expand with additional experiences and partners in the months ahead.