Yes, you can bring kids and non-drinkers on a Bardstown bourbon trip, and they can have a good day. Tastings are 21+ with valid photo ID everywhere, but several distilleries let minors walk the production tour with a parent: Maker’s Mark, Willett (under close supervision), Lux Row and Jim Beam among them. Bardstown Bourbon Company is adults only. For the rest of the group, the free Getz Museum, Preservation’s longhorn cattle and Lux Row’s barrel wall make a bourbon day worth the ride.
The rules that apply everywhere
Three things hold at every distillery in and around Bardstown:
- Nobody under 21 tastes, and the staff will check ID for everyone at the tasting table, including the 60-year-olds.
- Kentucky allows one tour experience per person per distillery per day, which matters if you were hoping to book a second tour for the teens.
- Distilleries are working industrial sites with stairs, gravel and hot equipment. Closed-toe shoes are required at some (Log Still says so in its FAQ) and wise at all of them.
After that, policies split. Some welcome children on the walking portion of the tour, some are 21+ from the front door, and the details change by experience. Always check the specific tour you are booking.
Where minors can join the tour
| Distillery | Under-21s on the tour? | What they’ll enjoy |
|---|---|---|
| Maker’s Mark (Loretto) | Yes; 21+ to taste and to dip a bottle in wax | Farm setting, creek, the wax-dipping station |
| Willett (Bardstown) | Yes, “accompanied and immediately supervised at all times” | The hilltop grounds and copper pot still |
| Lux Row (Bardstown) | Yes; KBT tags it family friendly and pet friendly | Six-story barrel wall, peacocks, a 19th-century stone house |
| Jim Beam (Clermont) | Tours are known to admit under-21s; tastings 21+ | Big campus, lots to look at |
| Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience | Galleries and theater; tastings 21+ | Walk-in barrel theater, patio over the rickhouses |
| Bardstown Bourbon Co. | No, every experience is 21+ | Adults only |
Willett’s visit page is specific: all minors must be accompanied and supervised at all times, and nobody may go within 10 feet of the ponds. Self-guided wandering of the grounds is not allowed for anyone. Keep small children close; the tour is all walking and lasts over an hour.
At Maker’s Mark, kids can tag along on the tour, but the famous red wax dip in the gift shop is 21+, as are the tastings, according to Visit Lebanon’s guide. Teens tend to find that unfair. Warn them in the car.
Lux Row is the easiest family stop in town. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail lists it as family friendly and pet friendly, peacocks from the old Ballard Farm stroll the grounds, and the photo in front of the six-story barrel wall works for every age. Lux Row has sold reduced-price tickets for under-21s; confirm the current rate when you book. Distilling there has been paused since May 1, 2026, but tours, tastings and the shop are open.
Bardstown Bourbon Company lists every tour, from the $24 Core Four to the $250 library tasting, as 21+. The Kitchen & Bar is a restaurant, so check with them about younger diners at lunch, but plan the tours themselves as adults-only.
Best stops for the whole group
Preservation Distillery + Farm sits on a 40-acre former tobacco farm off Sutherland Road. A small herd of longhorn cattle lives on about six acres and eats the spent grain from the stills, and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail listing points visitors to the patio overlooking the pastures. Even the non-drinkers come home talking about the cows. Confirm the age policy for your chosen tour when you book.
The Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience has the most to see without a glass in hand: family and brand galleries, an 11-minute film in the 1935 Distillery Theater, a gift shop and Five Brothers Bar & Kitchen, which serves deli-style lunches with no reservation needed. The patio looks out over rows of rickhouses, which is about as close as you get to a warehouse without a ticket.
The Four Roses warehouse and bottling site at Cox’s Creek charges nothing to walk in, browse the shop or sit at the bar, per the Four Roses visit page. Tickets are needed only for guided experiences. It’s a low-commitment stop if part of your group is lukewarm on bourbon. It is closed Monday and Tuesday.
Free and family-friendly bourbon culture
The Oscar Getz Museum of Bourbon History in Spalding Hall is free, with donations welcome, and school field trips are free with registration. Kids who glaze over at mash bills perk up at moonshine stills, Prohibition prescriptions for “medicinal” whiskey and Abraham Lincoln’s liquor license. Plan 45 to 75 minutes.
The Kentucky Bourbon Festival itself has been 21+ and ticketed since 2021, but the World Championship Barrel Relay on festival Saturday morning (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) is free and open to the public. Teams race 500-pound barrels, and children love it. Details are on the festival info page.
In June, the free Bourbon City Street Concert on North Third Street sets up a kids’ zone with bounce houses while the adults sample. It is part of National Bourbon Week.
Making a bourbon day work for non-drinkers
A designated driver is the most useful person on any bourbon trip, and they deserve better than a parking lot. Some ideas:
- Ask at booking whether a non-tasting guest pays less. Heaven Hill runs a designated-driver program; others handle it tour by tour.
- Mix tour types. A behind-the-scenes production tour interests a non-drinker far more than a seated flight.
- Put lunch in the middle, and let the driver choose where. The Bar at Willett, Five Brothers and the Kitchen & Bar at Bardstown Bourbon Co. all serve food.
- Save one stop for them. Scout & Scholar Brewing downtown pours house beer, and Mammy’s Kitchen serves breakfast and lunch to everyone.
For more on getting around safely, read our guide to bourbon tours and transportation.
A family-friendly bourbon day
Here is one way to balance it:
- Morning at Lux Row: tour, barrel-wall photos, peacock spotting.
- Lunch downtown at a family-friendly restaurant.
- Early afternoon at the free Getz Museum, a five-minute walk from Court Square.
- One adult tours Willett or Heaven Hill while the others head to My Old Kentucky Home State Park, where kids 6 to 17 pay $12 for the mansion tour and the singing guide.
- Evening: an early family dinner downtown, and bourbon after bedtime.
For a full list of kid-friendly options beyond bourbon, see Bardstown with kids.
Where to stay with kids
Many of Bardstown’s historic B&Bs are adult-oriented and full of stairs. The chain hotels on the bypass have pools, and a few downtown properties, such as the Family Suite at Jailer’s Inn, suit families. Our where to stay guide compares neighborhoods and prices.
