Just returned from our trip and it was an awesome time. Highly recommend to anyone that has even a basic level preference for whiskey. The area was beautiful with color changing for fall and when you get out to the horse farm area with the rolling hills and fences it is very scenic. All the food we had was really good and people were friendly. Here is a quick run-down of my experience of the distilleries we visited:

Angel's Envy - we did the bottle your own experience which came with a tasting and short history. After we were done we had a very short tour of the facility and then ended upstairs in the tasting room. Very good old fashion. We enjoyed the experience. Unfortunately the bottle we filled which was a single barrel selection could not be engraved, but it is logged with your own name. This is across from the Louisville Slugger baseball field. It would have been nice to have had more time to walk down the street and visited more of the local shops and other distilleries but we did not have time.

Buffalo Trace set the bar really high as our first real tour. The grounds are really cool with the brick rick houses and facilities. Our tour guide Fred was awesome and thought we was the famous one I had read about, however, that is Freddie, a different guy. But Fred was awesome as well. This was my personal favorite and I think was the same for everyone else in our group. Nice grounds, good tour, lots of information, good tasting, and nice gift shop. There were no special releases that I wanted to lug home but there was a line out the door when we arrived with local people picking up their whiskey release.

Hit Castle and Key next and that is also a very beautiful location. We didn't have a reservation and everything was booked, so we didn't get a full tour. However, the guide told us to wait after hours and she gave us a quick private tour through the facility while it was closing down. Pretty cool that she even gave us a tasting in the dark of the barrel room. We all turned on our phone lights and enjoyed what was still there from earlier tastings.

Woodford Reserve was probably my second favorite over-all experience. Beautiful location and buildings. The walk from the fermenting vats into the copper still area is a sight to behold. That by itself was probably the most impressive photo op of the trip. Good tasting as well and our guide was really good.

Four Roses was our least favorite site. I didn't see any construction but the tour had no real interesting information that we had not already heard. The facilities are not much to look at, and several of the areas we went to we were only allowed to peak through the window of the door and then moved on. The tasting was interesting as you can see their different recipes diagram and how each type is made but overall I would probably suggest to anyone else to skip this one. We didn't go to Wild Turkey but it is really close and would be a great alternative option.

Bardstown Bourbon definitely had a different feel. Very modern and advance technology. Everything is stainless steel and computerized. Our tour was really good though and got to taste straight out of one of the barrels that has another two years to go, and was really good already. The tasting was really good and our tour guide was interesting and well spoken. Ate lunch here and probably one of our best meals. (The Stave near Castle and Key was probably our favorite food location).

Our last distillery we visited which was not planned was Heaven Hill. We did not tour anything, just the gift shop and had a drink in the tasting room. We each did a flight. Not sure what the tour would have been but it seemed like a nice facility and a good stop if you are in the area. Probably a lot of information on the fire in '96 I would guess.

We spent most of our time in the Frankfurt area and it is a really neat little downtown. They were having a little Christmas celebration one night that we happened to be down there and all the locals were hanging out. Seemed like straight out of a Hallmark Christmas movie.

I definitely think two tours a day was a good amount due to driving distances and also sipping on drinks during meals and along the way. Tastebuds and liver probably wouldn't care for a third. We reserved most tours ahead of time which really helped as well. Thank you to everyone that replied with their own feedback. Cheers!