The Basics Drinking Out

Embark on These 5 Distillery Train Excursions, No Chugging Required

Travel in style as you drink in the local countryside (and spirits).

By
Kelly Magyarics
Kelly Magyarics
Kelly Magyarics
Kelly Magyarics, DWS, is a wine, spirits, travel, food and lifestyle writer and wine educator.
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Updated 09/17/20
Tequila Herradura Express train in an agave field

Tequila Herradura Express

Tasting rooms can be such a bore. Why not take a different track to a leisurely day of sipping? These five liquor-fueled locomotive journeys come with a built-in designated driver and offer you a panoramic front-row seat to the raw material that goes into your favorite spirits, including bourbon, scotch, rum and tequila.

All aboard!

  • Bardstown Bourbon Train (Kentucky)

    my old kentucky dinner train bourbon experience. a red and grey striped engine of a train in the foreground and distillery buildings in the background

    My Old Kentucky Dinner Train

    Bardstown is the capital of Kentucky bourbon country, and this refurbished 1940s-era train provides the most comfortable way to see it. An experience provided by My Old Kentucky Dinner Train, the bourbon-focused outing features a two-and-a-half hour ride through the Central Kentucky countryside, complete with information about the surrounding distilleries you see through the windows. You will also enjoy a four-course meal and a master distiller-hosted bourbon tasting, so you can sample the local bounty. And when it’s over, you’ll take home a souvenir rocks glass to remember the occasion.

    Price: $100 for adults; private groups start at $99 per person.

  • Jose Cuervo Express (Mexico)

    Jose Cuervo Express Train. A woman and a man are holding flutes and the vistas of tequila country are visible out their train-seat window

    Mundo Cuervo

    Imagine sipping tequila and noshing on Mexican snacks while kicking back in a vintage train car watching the blue agave fields whir past. That’s what you’ll encounter on this excursion in Jalisco. Mundo Cuervo, the tourism and hospitality division of tequila brand Jose Cuervo, gives agave aficionados an experience they won’t forget. Guests can select from three different levels of luxury, including a rail car with an onboard bartender. You’ll visit La Rojeña, the oldest distillery in Latin America, in the town of Tequila. Guests will be immersed in Cuervo’s 250-year history and explore the town of Tequila and the nearby agave fields where the tequila-making process begins.

    Price: $111 to $147 for adults; $98 for children ages 6 to 7; children 5 years and under free without an assigned seat.

  • Scotch Malt Whisky Tour (Scotland)

    Scotch Malt Whisky Tour Train. the inside of a train car shows tufted dining chairs and dark-wood tables

    Belmond Royal Scotsman

    If you want to explore all that Scotland, and its whisky, have to offer, try the four-night Scotch Malt Whisky Tour aboard the Belmond Royal Scotsman luxury train. The immersive experience begins in Edinburgh, before departing for private tours of the Tomantin, Macallan and Tullibardine distilleries. You will also participate in a special tasting at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society headquarters. And while aboard the train, all your meals and drinks—including scotch, of course—are included.

    Price: Varies by package; itineraries start around $5,000 per person.

  • St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway (Barbados)

    St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway

    St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway

    Located on the island of Barbados at St. Nicholas Abbey is a restored Badger locomotive that had a previous life in the U.K.’s coal and steel industry. Today, it gives visitors a peek into the 400-acre property that dates back 350 years and includes the Great House, a rum-tasting area, a bottling plant, a steam mill and a distillery. The owner’s son Simon Warren was the genesis for the project, which opened in 2018. The tour runs about an hour and visits villages and sugar cane fields. Afterward, guests have the chance to tour the Great House and taste the rums, which are a collaboration with master distiller Richard Seale of R.L. Seale and Barbados’ Foursquare rum distillery.

    Price: $30 for adults; $15 for children ages 3 to 17; $45 for ride plus tour and tasting.

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  • Tequila Herradura Express (Mexico)

    Tequila Herradura Express Train. A bar with a napkin dispenser featurin gthe Herradura horseshoe logo

    Tequila Herradura Express

    Roll through Jalisco on your way to Amatitián, where Herradura has been making tequila since 1870. Booking seats in the premium car is a relaxing option, with snacks and drinks on board, a distillery tour and tasting, and lunch with entertainment provided by a mariachi band and folkloric ballet. Upgrade to the adults-only express club car, and you’ll be treated to a lounge experience with music, games and entertainment along with a server and bartender bringing you sips and apps. At the distillery, you’ll join an exclusive tour and a three-course authentic gourmet lunch with VIP seating and entertainment. For the ultimate in luxe, the express first-class car boasts spacious leather seating, flat-screen televisions and private bar service with Herradura cocktails and light snacks. At the hacienda, first-class visitors learn about the tequila process by way of a private guide before the upgraded lunch and entertainment.

    Price: $176 to 200 for adults; $73 for children ages 4 to 12 on express club car, $135 on express first-class car; $105 for teenagers on express club car, $135 on express first-class car.