The Loretto and Lebanon loop is the easiest big-name bourbon day from Bardstown: Maker’s Mark is about 21 miles and 40 minutes away, and Limestone Branch in Lebanon is about the same drive. Tour Maker’s Mark in the morning, dip a bottle in red wax, stop at the peaceful Loretto Motherhouse, then finish at Limestone Branch, a small distillery where a branch of the Beam family keeps the craft going. The whole loop is about 60 miles, and every mile of it is farm country.
How far are Loretto and Lebanon from Bardstown?
Head south out of town on Loretto Road (KY 49), which takes you past Willett’s hilltop distillery almost as soon as you leave Bardstown. From there it is rolling Nelson and Marion County farmland all the way.
| Stop | Distance from Court Square | Drive time |
|---|---|---|
| Loretto Motherhouse, Nerinx | about 18 miles | about 35 minutes |
| Maker’s Mark, Loretto | about 21 miles | about 40 minutes |
| Limestone Branch Distillery, Lebanon | about 28 miles | about 40 minutes |
| Lebanon National Cemetery | about 28 miles | about 45 minutes |
The motherhouse is only a few miles from Maker’s Mark, so the two fit together easily. Lebanon, the Marion County seat, is the far end of the loop.
Maker’s Mark
Maker’s Mark is a postcard of a distillery: dark buildings with red-trimmed shutters on Star Hill Farm, about 1,100 acres of fields and woods. Bill Samuels Sr. bought the old Burks’ Distillery on October 1, 1953, for $35,000, and the first bottles appeared in 1958. His wife, Margie Samuels, named the whiskey, drew the label and came up with the red wax dip that made it famous. In 1980 it became a National Historic Landmark, the first distillery recognized while its landmark buildings were still in production.
What you taste is a wheated bourbon: the mash bill is 70% corn, 16% red winter wheat and 14% malted barley, with no rye at all. Wheat in place of rye is the reason fans call it a soft, easy pour. The Maker’s 46 Cellar, blasted into the limestone hill in 2016, is a tasting cave with real atmosphere, and reviewers call the Dale Chihuly glass ceiling an unexpected showstopper.
The official visit page lists the Maker’s Mark Tour at about an hour and 15 minutes. The distillery and gift shop are open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and tours run every hour on the half hour. Tour options and prices vary by season, so check the booking page rather than older guides (anything quoting a single-digit price is decades out of date). Parking is free.
Book ahead in fall. The standard tour usually has room within two or three weeks, but the hand-dip experience can sell out four to six weeks ahead, according to a trip-planning site. You must be 21 to taste and to dip a bottle; children may join tours. For more depth, see our full Maker’s Mark guide.
Lunch is easy: Star Hill Provisions, the distillery’s restaurant, serves from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and grab-and-go food is available at the Homeplace Bar from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Loretto Motherhouse
A few minutes from all that red wax is a very different kind of Kentucky history. The Sisters of Loretto were founded here in 1812 by Mary Rhodes, Ann Havern and Christina Stuart under Father Charles Nerinckx, to educate the poor children of the frontier. Their first name was “The Little Society of the Friends of Mary at the Foot of the Cross,” and their schools later included what became Webster University. The town of Loretto, population 723, is named for them.
The motherhouse at 430 Academy Lane in Nerinx has a church with a concert series, retreat centers, a working farm, woods and the Loretto Woods Natural Cemetery. The Heritage Center welcomes walk-ins Tuesday through Thursday from 1 to 4 p.m. and visits by appointment Friday through Monday; call (270) 431-0096. It closes for major holidays, including Christmas week.
Two dates for fall 2026: the Heritage Center Quilt Show runs October 10 to 16, and there is a tour of the Loretto Woods Natural Cemetery on October 15. The motherhouse is one stop on Kentucky’s Catholic heritage circuit; our Kentucky Holy Land page connects it with the Proto-Cathedral in Bardstown, Nazareth and the Abbey of Gethsemani.
Limestone Branch Distillery
Limestone Branch, at 1280 Veterans Memorial Highway in Lebanon, calls itself an intimate, no-frills craft distillery, and that is exactly the appeal after a big campus like Maker’s Mark. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail describes it as an 1872 family brand revived by Steve Beam, a place where the Beam family’s craft continues in small-batch form. Its brands are Yellowstone Bourbon, Minor Case Straight Rye (finished in cream sherry casks) and Bowling & Burch Gin.
It is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reservations are appreciated, but walk-ins are always welcome, and Minor’s Lounge pours by the glass or in cocktails, with a patio for sunset. One thing to know for 2026: owner MGP paused distilling here on May 1, 2026 for at least 12 months. Tours, tastings and the shop continue, but the still will probably be quiet during your visit. Our Limestone Branch page has more detail.
Lebanon also bills itself as home to Kentucky Cooperage, where many of the state’s bourbon barrels are made. Tour schedules there change, so call Lebanon Tourism at (270) 692-0021 before building your day around it.
Lebanon National Cemetery and Ham Days
Lebanon was a Civil War staging area and Union supply depot. The government took the land for Lebanon National Cemetery in 1862, and it became a national cemetery in 1867, beginning with scattered remains of Union soldiers gathered from the surrounding countryside. There were 865 original burials, 281 of them unknown. The grounds, at 20 Highway 208, are open daily from sunrise to sunset. It is a quiet, moving 20-minute stop.
If you are here in late September, you will find the town busy with Ham Days, billed by Visit Lebanon as one of the oldest festivals in the state. The 2026 festival runs September 19 to 27.
How to plan the day
Leave Bardstown around 8:45 a.m. and take the first Maker’s Mark tour. Eat lunch at Star Hill Provisions, then drive the few minutes to the Loretto Motherhouse for the Heritage Center’s 1 p.m. walk-in hours (Tuesday through Thursday). Reach Limestone Branch by mid-afternoon, and stop at the national cemetery on the way out of Lebanon. For the drive home, go back through Loretto, or loop north through Springfield and add Lincoln Homestead State Park. The day-trip routes page maps both versions, and our three-day Bourbon Trail itinerary builds this loop into a longer stay.
Best days: Tuesday through Thursday gets you every stop, including the Heritage Center’s walk-in hours. Avoid Sunday and Monday, when Limestone Branch is closed. As always, one person in the car should stay off the tastings; the roads out here are two-lane, curvy and dark at night.
