We arrived 15 mins late after driving from Ankeny. Our fault, we could have cut into our tardiness if we weren't stuck behind two grain trucks on a single lane road for 45 minutes. First time here so we took the first entrance, parked and made our way in from the back parking lot. We were immediately greeted by the lady behind the counter who remarked that we had parked in the employee lot. Oh well, nothing can be done about it now. How about some signage? We then paid with little to no conversation except to be told for the second time we were 15 minutes late. To say the welcome was cold and matter of fact (we were late) would be kind. The experience was saved by the tour guide who welcomed us like we were her lost children and made us feel right at home. After the tour I asked to speak with a manager and was told he was off. When I asked for the name it was not fourth coming, instead I got lectured on the company policy. Too bad, this visit was on my bucket list. Oh well, I guess I'm back to chasing Buffalo Trace. read more

Really fun experience if you have the chance to join a tour! Super informative and great facilities. You get to try a bit of whiskey at the end, too. Worth the trip out here! read more

Beautiful facilities, friendly staff. Tour was very informative and entertaining. The tour guide was knowledgeable of the history of the business and the town. Great displays. The tasting bar is stunning and was an enjoyable experience. I highly recommend the two hour tour experience. Cost is $10/person, which gets you a discount of merchandise or whiskey! read more

Templeton Rye Whiskey's booth at last Summer's Iowa State Fair featured little cards explaining why none of their product was to be found anywhere within the Hawkeye State. The new batch was coming out in November and the previous run had pretty much been sold out. I confirmed that, as store after store shelf was empty and all I could do is put my name on a waiting list or 2. The new batch came out late last year, and my parents sent me news articles about the buyers rush, including marked up resales on ebay. Not since my college days when I drove to Kansas City (KS) for Coors Beer have I participated in similar cult buying behaviour. And who knows, maybe my bottle of Templeton Rye has been available the whole time online at Binny's Beverage Depot out of Chicago. It's also probable that there's better rye whiskey right now on the shelf at my local liquor store. On Friday January 14th at 9 AM, the call finally came. One of the Ames Hy-Vee stores had my single bottle allotment ready. And within the hour, my 80 something parents picked it up, but only after being happily "carded"! I'll be back in Iowa this summer to visit the folks, stay at the Lake, visit friends and family in the Twin Cities, and retrieve my bottle of Templeton Rye Whiskey (provided that Dad hasn't opened it up). Unfortunately, that bottle is spoken for as a favour to a good friend of my Boss. So maybe you'll see me wandering around the State looking for my own stash on some obscure shelf. Or you might see me on some small town street corner flashing a "Will Work for Templeton Rye Whiskey" sign. read more

What a great little stop! Super friendly people and great history section of the Templeton. A must stop if you're driving through!

This review is for a tour on a Thursday at 11:30 while passing through Iowa on a road trip. You make a reservation for a tour at their website: http://www.templetonrye.com/distillery/ The Hospitality Manager, Chase, confirmed our reservation via email within 24 hours. Tours are $10, but we are retired military so the tours are free! Only one other person joined us and Chase took us on the tour. The tour has three parts: museum, distillery and tasting. The museum is both history of Templeton Rye and Templeton, Iowa. They don't skimp on the bootlegging connection. It's a reasonably interesting slice of Prohibition history in the Midwest. Serious tourers may find this portion a wee bit long. You can visit the museum without paying for the tour. The distillery is utterly fascinating. The place was in full swing when we toured. If you understand a bit about distilling, this will be a great experience. If you don't know much about the process, I would imagine it can seem like a whole lot of stainless steel and noise. At the end of the tour, you'll sign a barrel that goes on display. On to tasking. Given Iowa's rather, shall we say, unique liquor laws, you can only taste their special reserve. In other words, you cannot taste the usual 4- or 6-year Templeton Rye you buy in stores. That said, the special reserve is great. Plus, the tasting room has Templeton Iowa's first fire truck? And, wouldn't you know it, as soon as you're done tasting the special reserve, you exit through the gift shop where it's available with a discount from your tour! read more

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Family vacation to Iowa to see family (were from Dallas, Texas) thought this would be a cool thing to do with the family. Learned a lot about the history of making whiskey and what they had to do back during the older days. It's also pretty cool to watch them bottling up the whiskey as we were going through the tour. read more

Cool building and a great little stop over. I love Templeton Rye and we finally took the time to stop after the many trips to Carroll to see family. The museum they have setup is very interesting. As much as I wanted to the tour, 90 minutes was just a bit much for me... So on to the tasting... what? Only one thing to taste? Hmmm ok yes is delicious but when I visit a distillery, I expect more than just one. However, I will continue to purchase Templeton Rye because it's just good. They did have a great gift shop and found some unique items to purchase some of the kids. read more

THE GOOD STUFF. Plain and simple. Labor Day weekend we were in Iowa so we drove out of the way to check out the new distillery. Tours are $10, and you get a $5 coupon off of merchandise (there is a minimum spend). The gift shop has a lot of t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, hats, glassware and other TR trinkets. The tour started with a short video narrated by co-founder Keith Kerkhoff. The guide gave a brief history of bootlegging and even showed us the original still that TR was made in. On to the pretty new building...This is a very impressive facility. A couple of additional TR staff joined the tour to talk about the equipment and talk about the process. It was cool to see the mash through the glass. The bottling was not operating at the time but we got to see a short video and on the way out we signed a barrel. Back into the visitor center we were led into a room similar to what the barrel warehouse storage would look/smell like and from there onto the bar! We received two shots of TR. Our guide also described how to enjoy it best. You also have an opportunity to purchase the Special Reserve, which we did, of course! read more

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I've purchased a bottle or two of Templeton Rye over the last couple years and was impressed with it. Tasty stuff. The label and description and website all give the consumer the impression that it is distilled in Templeton, Iowa....heck, they even call it their 'distillery' on the webpage and voice mail (I called to ask before Googling more). Turns out Templeton is simply a *brand* not a distillery. I was disappointed to read the recent spate of articles (on the Daily Beast and others) pointing out that Templeton Rye is actually made in Indiana at a large former Seagram's distillery that makes a ton of other whiskey products for other brands. I don't have a problem with people sourcing their juice elsewhere, and Templeton does apparently age (a bit?) and then bottle their rye in Iowa, but I feel like the victim of a marketing ploy. Not cool, and I don't plan on ever buying another bottle of Templeton. Next time, other bottle of Angel's Envy. Also super tasty, also made at the same giant distillery.....but at least they don't offer up a fake 'local' backstory. read more

Yesterday, June 14, 2014 we toured the Templeton Rye Whiskey location in Templeton Iowa. First and foremost if you find yourself here it was simply and specifically only to do tour. There is literally nothing but hundreds of thousands of farm acres around. Templeton only has a population of about 300 and it's 30 miles north of I-80 in the middle of Iowa. Now, on to the Tour review. It's hard to believe that this business is a multi million dollar business. The owner, the grandson of the original prohibition era distillery actually gives the tour and is in every definition just a simple good ol boy country farmer. He tells story after story like he was sitting on a front porch swing. Very, very interesting stories. The place is tiny but in my opinion every bit worth the five dollar charge. Plus they are very liberal with allowing tastings! A fun and good time for all adults. read more