Planning a trip to Bourbon country, and back down through Carolina

So I signed up years ago for the Makers Mark Ambassador program. I got the notification that the barrel is ready, and I've always wanted to tour the bourbon trail so this is a good excuse as any.

Also, we toured the Biltmore estate a few days after we got engaged, and just last week one of the wine glasses we bought there broke in the dishwasher.

This got me to thinking, we're not really taking an anniversary trip this year since our girl is in school and the boy will still be under a year old. Kind of hard to ask the grandparents to not only keep them for us, but take the girl to school and back every day. There's other reasons, but I won't go into those here.

So we're thinking early June making the trip. What are some good eats on the route from Birmingham to Loretto, and around Asheville, NC? Any out of the way places we should try? I don't mind a chain restaurant for a quick meal, but for dinner I'd like to explore a little more of the local places.

Any particular bourbon distilleries I should check out besides Makers Mark while we're in the area? I can't imagine that would take up a whole day, so I was thinking MM in the morning, somewhere else in the afternoon, and maybe a 3rd the next morning before driving over to Asheville that afternoon. We'd probably spend a whole day at Biltmore, and drive back home the next day, but will probably stop a place or two on the way home.

I know Bardstown is just a short drive north of Loretto. And Barton's is located there. And Four Roses is in Lawrenceburg, which is the one I was thinking about on the way out of town the next morning, and going through Lexington to get back to the interstate.