Latest news with #distilleries
Travel Daily News
6 days ago
- Business
- Travel Daily News
The Trail Hotel officially opens in Bardstown, Kentucky
The Trail Hotel opens in Bardstown, Kentucky, offering bourbon lovers luxury stays, exclusive tastings, curated experiences, and elevated Southern hospitality. BARDSTOWN, KY – The Trail Hotel, the world's first bourbon-infused luxury hotel, is now welcoming guests in Bardstown, KY. Housed in a reimagined historic property, the 95-room hotel invites guests to experience Kentucky's famed Bourbon country with elevated Southern hospitality and interactive bourbon experiences. The property boasts eight signature suites, a four-star dining experience, five distinct bars and an array of modern wellness amenities – all just steps away from the legendary Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel originally opened in 1970, serving as a community hub, hosting countless weddings, banquets and business meetings. Design expertise provided by nationally renowned Joseph & Joseph Architects has wholly re-imagined the property – formerly the Holiday Inn Bardstown – as a haven for bourbon lovers of all levels, from the dedicated aficionado to new enthusiasts. Redefining hospitality in Bardstown, the Bourbon Capital of the World, The Trail Hotel is more than a place to stay – it's a destination for connoisseurs of 'the good stuff,' with close proximity to 11 locally renowned distilleries. It offers an upscale home base for bourbon-minded lovers and business travelers alike. A Luxury Bourbon Experience Like No Other The property's dedication to bourbon culture goes far beyond the bottle. At the center of the experience is The Bourbon Butler, who bridges the gap between local distilleries, farms, restaurants, and other local tourism businesses for a curated experience guests will find nowhere else. With insider access and every connection, this butler will ensure guests' time in Bardstown is as immersive and effortless as possible. VIP Distillery Tours (three daily offerings, rotating among Bardstown's premier distilleries) Curated excursions to golf courses, farms, breweries and wineries Dining & Event Reservations across Bardstown and surrounding areas Custom Bourbon Experiences including private barrel tastings, speakeasy menus, and rare flight samplings Before arrival, the Bourbon Butler will check to ensure every detail is in place, whether that's an intimate tasting in the Bourbon Lounge, a therapeutic session in the Rejuvenation Room, or dinner at Oak & Ember. Adding to the exclusive appeal, The Trail Hotel will debut its own private-label bourbon and rye, available only to property guests. Hand-selected in collaboration with a renowned local distillery, this bourbon will be available for purchase and direct shipment to guests' homes and featured in special tasting experiences throughout the hotel. Elevated Food & Drink Offerings Executive chef Marvin Woods brings Kentucky's rich culinary story to life through thoughtfully crafted food and drink experiences. These include: Oak & Ember, the property's signature restaurant, offers an innovative take on Southern hospitality with a menu rooted in Kentucky tradition and a bourbon list that will impress even seasoned connoisseurs. Embers, the lobby bar, greets guests with a warm atmosphere and seating for more than 60, setting the tone for their bourbon journey. The Bourbon Lounge serves as a quiet, semi-private bourbon library for small gatherings and curated flights, while The Bourbon Vault provides an exclusive speakeasy experience hidden behind a discreet, art-adorned entrance. Outdoor relaxation meets indulgence at the poolside Swim Club Bar, while Bourbon Alley provides fireside lounges and casual bites. Meetings & Events With a Kentucky Flair At The Trail Hotel, meetings and events are infused with bourbon heritage and a mid-century modern flair. The hotel's gathering spaces can accommodate anything from small corporate retreats to grand affairs for up to 140 guests. The property features a variety of versatile indoor and outdoor venues, including lobby bar Embers, the intimate Bourbon Lounge speakeasy, and the open-air Pool Reception and Lawn spaces. Customizable meeting packages and an in-house culinary team allow events to be tailored to any need. Additional property highlights include: The Rejuvenation Room: A modern wellness retreat featuring an oxygen bar, hot sauna, cryotherapy, and IV hydration. Signature Suites: Enjoy eight luxurious accommodations with bourbon-inspired design touches. Par and Pour: This state-of-the-art, high definition golf simulator features a private bar, virtual recreations of world-famous championship courses and an in-house selection of clubs. The Reserve Room: A sophisticated private dining space accommodating up to 60 guests, perfect for meetings, receptions, private meals or curated bourbon tastings. 'We set out to create a place where the essence of Kentucky bourbon is not just tasted, but lived,' said Dan Sirrine, General Manager. 'Every detail, from our curated bourbon experiences to the warm tones and textures of the design, was made to immerse guests in Bardstown's history. The Trail Hotel is excited to welcome the world to Kentucky Bourbon Country in a bold new way.'
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
The return of Mexico's famous Tequila Express train
With "tequila tourism" gaining popularity in Mexico, a train taking tourists to the home of the spirit has relaunched after nine years away. The Tequila Express offers a gateway to an intriguing culture, alongside impressive on-board cocktails. As I boarded the Tequila Express at Guadalajara railway station, a tour guide with curly gelled hair was holding court in a bar carriage. Holding a gold-coloured microphone and a bottle of tequila, he spoke enthusiastically to a group of Mexican tourists about their country's famous spirit. At 10:30, when the train left the station, he handed out shot glasses. From Nuremberg's Techno Train to the late-night London to Margate Train, I've witnessed many chaotic alcohol-soaked railway adventures. I wondered if the long-awaited return of the Tequila Express, the tourist train running between the city of Guadalajara and the town of Tequila in Mexico's Jalisco state, would signal a similar experience. The Tequila Express launched in 1997 to serve the nascent "tequila tourism" industry in Tequila, its namesake city, which now has a population of around 45,000 and is the epicentre of the tequila industry, home to around 25 distilleries. Knocking back tequila on the two-hour, 65km ride across Jalisco's cactus- and agave plant-lined landscape proved popular, and, in 2012, the Jose Cuervo tequila company launched a rival – and much more expensive – tourist train on the same route. The original Tequila Express stopped running in 2015, then relaunched in 2017 in collaboration with the Herradura tequila brand. In 2020 it stopped again, as Covid decimated tourism. It finally returned in September 2024. Mexico's tourism industry was healthy again, and by 2023, Tequila was attracting 1.2 million visitors a year, with more distilleries offering tours. Government authorities and tourism companies reportedly invested around 170 million pesos (£7m) to get one of the world's most unique short-distance tourist trains, which offers a trip directly to the heart of the culture behind Mexico's most famous export, back on track. Carriages were refurbished for the relaunch, to the degree that my journey felt more boutique hotel than party train. I'm teetotal, so at a marble-topped bar I ordered Almave, a non-alcoholic spirit made from the same agave plants used for tequila. Piped mariachi music was constant, and tasteful low-light lamps were attached to wood-panelled walls. TV screens showed distilleries and tacos: pleasures awaiting us in Tequila. Onboard, I chatted to Antonio Cabrera from northern Mexico, who told me he was 55, but only now taking his first Mexican train journey. With Mexico currently lacking a country-wide passenger rail network, its best-known trains are arguably tourist routes such as the Tequila Express, the controversial new Tren Maya, and the Chepe Express Copper Canyon train. There were a few European backpacker types dotted throughout the carriages, but most passengers were well-dressed middle-aged Mexicans, like Cabrera. As a bartender stirred a creamy cocktail, carefully placing herb sprigs on its textured glass, Cabrera and I happily agreed that there seemed little sign of the trip getting messy, at least before we got to Tequila. The mic-wielding guide explained flavour notes as tourists gently sipped. Cabrera himself was drinking Corona. "I'm from the border area; tequila is not that popular there," he said. "But I want to try tequila later." The drinks had a socially lubricating, if not quite party-starting, effect. An exuberant American in a floppy sunhat named Leigh was on her second Tequila Express trip, and eager to talk about the previous ride. "People were dancing as they got more inebriated," she said. Silverton belly danced as we trundled past rows of Agave tequilana, the species of large, spiky blue agave farmed for tequila. The train's carriage windows were enlarged during the refurbishment to allow for better views. In the far distance, Jalisco's mountains loomed over orange-dry land. The agaves, planted by farmers with regimental precision and bearing blue sword-like leaves, had conquered the dirt all around us. The agaves' ubiquity can be explained by regulations. Since 1974, for tequila to legally be tequila, it has needed to be produced in Jalisco or one of the designated tequila municipalities located in four other states. In 2006, Unesco named Tequila's cinematic, agave-dominated rural landscape, along with the town's ancient industrial facilities, a World Heritage site. When we arrived at Tequila's Sun-blasted single-platform station, buses took tourists to agave fields and the massive distillery owned by Sauza, a major tequila producer. Passengers can buy these tours as part of train ticket packages or explore Tequila independently after departing the Tequila Express. I'd arranged to meet tour guide Luis Alberto Gutiérrez Rojas in the town's main square. We met by the large, colourful "TEQUILA" letter blocks erected for Insta-tourism impact. Around us, street musicians created a sound-swirl of guitar, trumpet, accordion, double bass and wailing vocals. Gutiérrez showed me a vast mural depicting lightning striking agave plants. This, he said, represented Indigenous people discovering the liquid that would become tequila, long before the Spaniards arrived in the 1500s. According to legend, after lightning struck agaves, juice from the burned plants fermented and the alcoholic discovery was made. He pointed out the faces of people from tequila-producing families depicted in the mural. The Cuervo and Sauza families were among Tequila's early commercial distillers, beginning in the 18th and 19th Centuries, respectively. These names still adorn some of Tequila's biggest distilleries. More like this: • The Train Maya: Mexico's ambitious new tourism megaproject • A 58-tunnel slow train through India's Eastern Ghats • The Baltic Express: Central Europe's new hop-on hop-off train We walked along Calle José Cuervo – as well as a distillery, an entire street bears the Cuervo name – and into a small cantina. A green sign behind the frayed wooden bar read: "One More Batanga". La Capilla is Tequila's oldest cantina and a place the Tequila Express staff said I must visit – for atmosphere if not alcohol. The batanga cocktail was reportedly created here in the 1960s by founder Don Javier Delgado Corona, using Coca-Cola, lime and El Tequileño Blanco tequila made in a distillery 500m from the bar. Don Javier died in 2020 aged 96, but still keeps watch over the bar in portrait form, depicted with white hair and offering a batanga. I ordered a "virgin" batanga from the barman, who assured me that he was related to Don Javier. I gave two guitar-toting musicians wearing huge black hats 100 pesos (£3.80) to play a jaunty song, then got chatting with an agave farmer. I nodded as he complained about the plant's price dropping to under 10 pesos (38p) per kilogram due to supply outstripping demand. The next morning, I was on farmland myself. I'd booked a tour with Atanasio Tequila, a small distillery also recommended by Tequila Express staff. Sheccid Carranza, who started working with Atanasio after her family invested in the company, took me to the distillery's agave field in the back of a truck. Some other Tequila tours, including Sauza's, also visit agave fields. But many are more about consumption than education, with reggaeton-blasting party trucks designed to resemble tequila barrels carrying shot-downing tourists around town. "Drinking, drinking, drinking," said Carranza. "We were forgetting about the essence, the roots… we don't appreciate how much the field workers work." Picking up a barretón – a shovel-like tool – Carranza stabbed the base of a large agave then pulled up a pineapple-sized mini-agave. She held it aloft, like a hunter with freshly slain prey. This was a hijuelo, a young agave that grows from its parent via asexual reproduction. "Your turn," said Carranza. I made 40 barretón stabs to a nearby hijuelo's base before hearing the crunch signalling that I could pull the spiky infant agave free. Carranza said that if I were a real field worker, harvesting one hijuelo would earn me one peso (4p). Planting it away from its parent plant, where it would grow for around seven years before being harvested, would earn me another peso. Carranza said that these field tours show that behind every tequila shot is a culture of hard work and farming experience. She handed me a pick-axe-like tool called a talache and ordered me to dig a hijuelo hole. I thudded the talache into the ground. As red dirt flew up, I considered how, rather than a ticket to alcohol oblivion, the Tequila Express opens up a far more insightful ride. -- For more Travel stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Forbes
23-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
New York Distilleries Are The Subject Of A New Tourism Driven App
The New York State Distillers Guild has released a new app connecting users to distilleries ... More including Black Button Distilling in Rochester. New York distilleries have been forging ahead as an industry in the Empire State and a new app is providing suggestions for making a trip out of seeing them. The New York State Distillers Guild has released the NY Distillery Trails app, a user-friendly guide to visiting the state's distilleries through suggested itineraries and category searches. While producing gin, vodka, whiskey and other spirits, distilleries can also play an important role in promoting visitation. Many have tasting rooms open to the public and may offer site tours. Also, they are heavily based in popular regions, including New York City, the Catskills and the Finger Lakes. 'We didn't realize that we became tourist destinations,' said Brian Facquet, the guild's president. 'When people come in and stay in New York, whether it's the Hudson Valley or near Niagara Falls, they look for things to do, and we are generally the things to do.' Iron Smoke Distillery in Fairport is among the over 200 distilleries throughout New York. According to Facquet, who is also the founder and head distiller of Do Good Spirits in Roscoe, the app evolved from distilleries often answering questions from visitors on what to see, do and eat. Facquet explained that New York distillery employees are similar to concierges in referring visitors not only to local sights but also fellow distilleries. Developed with Visit Widget, the NY Distillery Trails app follows another accomplishment. In 2024, New York State officials passed legislation that permits distilleries to offer direct to consumer shipping. As of April 1, 2025, New York State is home to 239 licensed distilleries, including 217 craft distillers—a category that includes farm and micro distilleries. Buffalo Distilling Company is among the over 200 distilleries operating in New York State. 'Distilleries are a powerful engine for economic development, agriculture and tourism in New York,' explained William Crowley, executive deputy commissioner for the New York State Liquor Authority. They source local ingredients from New York farmers and create local supply chains supporting the state's agricultural industry. They also provide employment opportunities. 'From a tourism standpoint, craft distilleries have become destinations in their own right,' added Crowley. "These businesses are not just making spirits—they're strengthening communities, preserving rural economies, and enriching the state's culinary and cultural identity.' Many New York distilleries, including Second Act Spirits in Amsterdam, have tasting rooms. With the NY Distillery Trails app, users can search for distilleries and their products and locations and build a custom itinerary or click on pre-set routes. 'New York's distilleries are spread so far and wide, so a consumer can go in and use our can go in and select a region they're looking to go visit,' said Facquet. The Empire State also has designated wine and beer trails, so the NY Distillery Trails app provides a similar self-guided trail to follow along. 'You can go and pick and choose what's right for you,' said Facquet. Learn more about New York distilleries via the free NY Distillery Trails app. Download the app for iOS here or Google Play here.
Travel Daily News
19-05-2025
- Travel Daily News
Discover the best of travel with these two sites
Start exploring today and plan your next unforgettable journey with the best resources in the industry. Planning your next adventure and not sure where to start? Whether you're on the hunt for a cozy vacation rental, a whiskey-filled getaway, eco-friendly travel options, or culinary escapades, these four websites are your ultimate travel companions. We've curated the best platforms for diverse travelers—whether you want to unwind, explore unique destinations, or experience the world's finest flavors. Let's dive into these fantastic resources that will turn your trip into something unforgettable. OfWhiskeyAndWords – For Whiskey Lovers and Adventurers For those who are just as passionate about whiskey as they are about traveling, OfWhiskeyAndWords is a treasure trove of whiskey adventures around the world. This travel blog combines in-depth whiskey reviews with personal travel stories, giving readers a unique perspective on whiskey tastings, distillery tours, and global whiskey events. Whiskey-focused itineraries: Travel suggestions centered around whiskey distilleries and tasting experiences Travel suggestions centered around whiskey distilleries and tasting experiences Expert reviews: Honest opinions on whiskey and travel products , from rare finds to well-known favorites Honest opinions on whiskey and travel products , from rare finds to well-known favorites Perfect for whiskey enthusiasts: Explore destinations where whiskey is an integral part of the culture If you enjoy exploring new places with a whiskey in hand, this website is packed with inspiration for your next journey. EatWanderExplore – For Foodies and Adventurers For travelers who find joy in discovering new flavors, EatWanderExplore offers a blend of travel and food inspiration. From street food guides to full culinary itineraries, this blog provides detailed insights into the best food destinations across the globe. Whether you're dining at Michelin-starred restaurants or indulging in street food, this site will satisfy your wanderlust and appetite. Food-focused travel: Detailed guides to local food scenes, restaurants, and food festivals Detailed guides to local food scenes, restaurants, and food festivals Personal travel stories: Real-life food adventures shared by the blog's contributors Real-life food adventures shared by the blog's contributors For culinary travelers: Perfect for food lovers seeking unique dining experiences while traveling If you're a food enthusiast who loves traveling, this site will provide all the culinary inspiration you need for your next trip. Conclusion No matter what kind of traveler you are—whether you're searching for a cozy rental, an unforgettable whiskey tour, an eco-conscious getaway, or a food-filled adventure—these four websites have something special to offer. Start exploring today and plan your next unforgettable journey with the best resources in the industry. Photo by Anna on Unsplash
Irish Times
18-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Is Irish whiskey on the rocks?
The boom appeared to be very much back for the Irish whiskey business. In the aftermath of the pandemic, consumer demand went through the roof, prompting an explosion in new distilleries – suddenly supply chased demand. 'We were guilty of – hubris is a great word – but of getting caught up in the euphoria that took place in '23,' the founder of Great Northern Distillery John Teeling said recently. 'We expanded our production up to 20 million litres a year – that was about 1.25 million to 1.5 million bottles a week. That's a lot of whiskey . . . and we made plans to double it. We did all kinds of crazy things.' They certainly weren't the only ones in the Irish whiskey industry to get caught up in the euphoria of booming post-Covid demand. The surge in the number of distillers is impressive, from just four in 2010 to somewhere north of 50 today – even Ibec's Irish Whiskey Association couldn't give an exact number when asked this week. READ MORE The big problem for the small-scale producers who flooded into the market during the pandemic is timing. Whiskey isn't gin. You can't found a brand and start selling a month later. Those that came into existence during the pandemic would be reaching the end of the three-year period in which their product is mandated to sit in wooden barrels, often expensively imported oak, to qualify as Irish whiskey. This lead time, with rising electricity prices and interest rates, is expensive. [ Irish whiskey is undergoing a market correction, a temporary blip, a 'little pause' Opens in new window ] In theory, that previously-clear distilled alcohol has now become liquid gold, perfect to erase the debt required to fund its production. In reality it is now hard to shift and expensive to store – leaving debts mounting. The result is small distilleries that will be forced to take a hit on already-thin profit margins, hundreds of staff unsure of their future and a long-awaited pay-off, when it comes, that will struggle to refill the coffers. Ireland's whiskey industry is in trouble, it might not be on the rocks just yet, but it is veering dangerously close. While nobody could doubt the spirit of producers, the viability of more than 50 distilleries is less certain.
