Nashville is known for its many nearby distilleries (and country music and amazing food and bachelorette parties, of course). Appropriately, tourist to-do lists typically always include Nashville distillery tours. So when my sister [in-law], Emily and brother [in-law],Dan, announced they were coming to visit us for the first time since we’ve lived in Nashville, we were all itching to do the infamous Bourbon Trail.

We had extravagant plans of traveling from one distillery to the next. However, life got in the way, Jimmy had to work, blah blah blah… so we ended up having about ¾ of a day to fit in all of our whiskey tasting and distillery touring. We chose 2 local favorites: Jack Daniel’s and Cascade Hollow (formerly George Dickel). And our expectations were certainly met.

Keep reading for the full experience plus tour info for your own Nashville distillery tour planning.

1. Cascade Hollow Distilling Co.

We began our Nashville distillery tours day with a beautiful country drive to Cascade Hollow Distilling Co. This old school distillery is located about 1 hour and 15 minutes from downtown Nashville, in a holler in Tullahoma, TN (I’m not 100% sure what a holler is, but this distillery is definitely in one and it’s amazing). We signed up for the classic “Cascade Hollow Distillery Tour,” which is the less expensive of 2 different tour options.

Our tour guide, Tori, was literally born for this job. As Emily stated, “Tori was everything.” She made the tour so informative and fun, and her sweet demeanor and southern accent just made it so much more authentic. Tori said a few times that Cascade Hollow Distilling Co. is “kind of large for a small distillery, and kind of small for a large distillery.” Which is so accurate.

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We walked from the visitor’s center over a very short bridge covering a pretty, picturesque creek, and across the road ending at the distillery buildings. We got to see (and smell) the mash and the rest of the distillation process. The tour is about an hour long, and culminates in a tasting of 4 of their signatures:

• George Dickel No. 1 (like an elevated version of moonshine)
• George Dickel No. 12
• George Dickel Barrel Select
• George Dickel Tabasco Barrel Finish (So unique but surprisingly tasty, you can definitely smell and taste the spiciness of the Tabasco. We bought a mini bottle to cook with.)

You can also choose the more expensive of the 2 offered tours (Cascade Hollow Heritage Tour) and sample the above whiskeys plus 2 additional special edition samples, and you’ll get a take-home glass.

It’s worth noting that the master distiller is a female, a girl boss in a very heavily male dominated industry. And apparently the distillery has thrived under her leadership. A trailblazer in her own right.

In the end, this Nashville distillery tour was informative, authentic, fun and totally worth your time whether you’re a whiskey connoisseur or just looking for a good time. (Do I need to remind you it’s in a holler? Did you even go to Tennessee if you didn’t spend time in a holler??)

Cascade Hollow Distilling Co. Tour Info

• Tour options (pricing per person):
  • Distillery tour: $14, 4 tastings
  • Heritage tour: $34, 6 tastings + a take-home glass
• Tour times: varies seasonally, check their website here
• Distance from downtown Nashville: 1 hour 15 minutes

Much Needed Lunch Break

Before distillery tour #2 we stopped for lunch and chose the classically southern and authentically Nashville staple, barbecue. We ended up at Barrelhouse BBQ, and y’all this place was legit. A short walk from Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Barrelhouse BBQ was everything you’d hope to find in a true, small town barbecue joint. Permanent marker writing covered the walls with statements like “Jen and John 2012 forever together.” Kind of a throwback to the “[insert name] was here” pen marks on our high school bathroom stalls.

Each table had a permanent marker laying out so you could mark their walls with your own memories. As for the goods, between the 4 of us we had ribs, pulled pork, brisket, coleslaw, baked beans, potato salad, and seasoned rice. Delicious.

2. Jack Daniel’s Distillery

2nd on our Nashville distillery tours list was Jack Daniel’s. According to The Spirits Business, Jack Daniel’s is the “world’s best selling whisky brand.” So it’s kind of a big deal. “Whisky” is intentionally spelled without the “e” here, it’s considered the original form of the word and is apparently making a comeback. This global dynastic distillery is located in a tiny, quaint southern town named Lynchburg, TN.

Jimmy and I actually toured Jack Daniel’s once before in the fall, which was so pretty with all of the fall colors and changing leaves. 

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Jack Daniel’s has to operate on a much larger scale than Cascade Hollow, so it was neat to go from one to the other in the same day. The layout of the tour was similar, in that it began with some history and then a walk through the grounds and distilling buildings. Everything was just bigger.

You can feel the history of Jack Daniel’s in the character of the buildings and old red brick structures. They still make 100% of their whiskey right on the property, and use the water from the spring also located on the property (like the farm-to-table version of whiskey). This is pretty impressive considering the empire that Jack Daniels is.

The original building that served as the office of Mr. Jack Daniel himself is still there (see pic below), and you walk through it on the tour and see the old wood stove and original safe that housed the money and important documents. Interestingly, we learned Mr. Jack got frustrated one day because he couldn’t open his safe. So he kicked it, injured his toe and then developed an infection. He actually eventually passed away from sepsis, all stemming from kicking this safe!

We signed up for the Angel’s Share tour, so it concluded with a sampling of 5 of their higher end distillates. This included a few single barrel options plus a take-home glass.

Jack Daniel’s is a must for Nashville first-timers, whiskey lovers and amateurs alike. If you are really wanting to sample some special edition distillates, the Angel’s Share tour is worth the extra fee. If you’re just in it for the experience, the Flight of Jack Daniel’s tour may be the best option.

Both Jack Daniel’s and Cascade Hollow sell their excess mash (the fermenting corn/grain that eventually is turned into alcohol) to local farmers to feed pigs and other livestock. Apparently animals, farmers, and distillers all win in this partnership, and distilleries all over the US will do the same thing. I thought this was such a neat way to practice sustainability and also promote local businesses and community. Way to go, y’all.

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Jack Daniel’s Distillery Tour Info

• Tour options (pricing per person): 
  • Dry County: $14, no tastings
  • Flight of Jack Distillery: $25, 5 tastings (link)
  • The Angel’s Share: $30, 5 samplings of more select whiskeys
  • The Taste of Lynchburg: $125, 5 samplings of select whiskeys + lunch at Miss Mary Bobo’s Boarding House Restaurant + a “special gift” to take home
• Tour Times: varies by day and tour type, click here for details
• Distance from downtown Nashville: 1 hour 20 minutes

Although I would rather sip a gin and club soda, and Emily would prefer a sparkling grape juice, we all had a blast spending the day together and enjoying some much needed quality time. Princess Diana once said, “family is the most important thing in the world.” And Princess Diana was never wrong.

 All in all, we definitely recommend adding these 2 local favorites to your Nashville distillery tours list.

Cheers!

* photo credit to my brother in law, Dr. Dan.