Bourbon is more than simply a drink in Kentucky. It’s a way of life. More than 95% of the world’s bourbon is produced in the Bluegrass State, with distilleries located everywhere from the rolling hills around Bardstown to the banks of the Ohio River.
But for much of the last century, the state’s biggest city played no part in the bourbon tourism boom.
In 2007, Louisville had just two bourbon distilleries, and neither welcomed visitors. But as interest in America’s only native spirit has grown, that number has exploded.
Today, more than a dozen distilleries call Louisville home, and bourbon tourism is a major part of the Louisville experience. Walk down Whiskey Row, conveniently located in the heart of downtown, and you’ll find visitors from around the world lining up to taste rare releases, tour stillhouses and pick up a few souvenirs to bring home.
But Louisville’s bourbon culture extends far beyond the tasting room. From behind-the-scenes distillery experiences and historical producers to food walking tours and bourbon-infused wellness treatments, here are eight experiences every bourbon lover should add to their Derby City itinerary.
Dive Into Bourbon History
If you plan just one stop, make it the Frazier Kentucky History Museum. The official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail provides a thorough overview of bourbon’s development, as well as explaining its prominent place in Kentucky’s rich history and culture.
Bourbon’s origins are closely tied to Kentucky’s early settlers, who used the corn that grew abundantly in the region and learned to age it in charred American oak barrels. Dozens of museum exhibits trace the evolution of America’s native spirit from cheap frontier tipple to globally lauded drink, and enthusiasts can view hundreds of rare and historic bottles.
For a more hands-on experience, you can also learn more about the history of Louisville’s official cocktail, the Old Fashioned, and make one that’s designed to tickle your taste buds on the Craft Your Own Cocktail Experience.
Get a Taste of Tradition
To get a sense of how bourbon’s long legacy has influenced the product we drink today, it makes sense to visit one of the oldest operating distilleries. Founded by a pharmaceutical salesman in 1870, Old Forester is the only bourbon brand that has been continuously sold before, during and after Prohibition.
Unsurprisingly, the Whiskey Row distillery offers one of the most thorough overviews of bourbon production. The Old Forester Tour follows the distilling process from bubbling fermentation tanks to the towering copper still known as “Old Penny” and the all-important storage. Tours even take in a rare cooperage where barrels are made and charred before being filled with the precious liquid.
Each tour concludes with a guided tasting of four whiskies made from the same mash bill, illustrating how maturation and proof can dramatically alter flavour.
Fill Your Own Bottle
Once you’ve tried several different bourbons and figured out what you like, it’s time to get serious.
Buzzard’s Roost offers tastings, cocktails and education classes that take a deep dive into the science behind bourbon production and tasting. Step into the classroom and you can learn about the brand’s signature maturation process, which allows the bourbon to develop flavour in two separate barrels, as well as how toast and char levels affect the finished product.
Or head to the back room to see how that knowledge is applied. The Straight From The Barrel Experience takes you behind the scenes to sample whiskey directly from ageing barrels before choosing your favourite. Then, using a traditional copper whiskey thief, you can fill and hand label a bottle for the ultimate souvenir.
Sip on a Classic Cocktail
Louisville’s long history as an important river trading port has blessed the downtown area with an embarrassment of eye-catching architecture. One of the most striking buildings is Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery, a gorgeous brick and cast iron building in the Romanesque style that dates to 1890.
Guides on the distillery tours are more discreet than most. They jealously hold onto trade secrets and don’t release any of their mash bills, but the generous tastings include six different whiskies.
Head upstairs and you’ll find an even more memorable experience at The Bar at Fort Nelson.
This elegant cocktail bar has wonderful views over Whiskey Row and an even more impressive drinks list designed by cocktail historian David Wondrich. It’s worth reserving a seat, as the venue stays open later than most distillery bars, but once you arrive, the bartenders will happily guide you through a flight of hard-to-find pours, serve up a cocktail with a stamped ice cube or even measure out a shot of Michter’s Celebration Sour Mash Whiskey if you have a spare $1,400.
Taste Bourbon Beyond the Glass
After a few tastings, you can expect to feel the warmth in your chest known as a “Kentucky hug”. That’s usually a good time to explore another side of Louisville’s bourbon culture. Fortunately, bourbon is so deeply ingrained into the city’s identity that you can now find plenty of experiences that don’t involve drinking at all.
Located in the historic Butchertown district, Bourbon Barrel Foods’ slogan is “Eat Your Bourbon.”
Owner Matt Jamie is a former chef who has been brewing his own soy sauce for two decades, using locally grown soybeans that are fermented for a year and stirred by hand every day before being aged in old bourbon barrels for a month.
Broken staves go into a smoker to add flavour to spices and salts, and the product line includes everything from bourbon-smoked chilli powder and togarashi to caramels, cocktail cherries and bitters. You can taste the products on their own at the tour’s conclusion, but they’re best appreciated alongside a bento box packed with tuna, nori and a soft egg.
Explore Louisville’s Up-and-Coming Food Scene
Many visitors never make it beyond Whiskey Row, but head east and you’ll discover one of Louisville’s dining hotspots.
The pedestrian-friendly NuLu neighbourhood has several conveniently located hotels and makes a great base for exploration, but the best way to learn about the area’s rich history is with an expert guide.
Part tasting, part history lesson and part progressive dinner, NuLu Food Tours’ Beyond the Barrel walking tour brings the city’s rich history to life with tales of whiskey rebellions and bootleggers, stopping at some of the neighbourhood’s best venues along the way.
The exact itinerary varies seasonally, but guests will usually have the chance to sip exclusive barrel picks in a hidden tasting room and visit an underground speakeasy where Kentucky’s rich bourbon culture feels alive and well.
Because no visit to NuLu is complete without sampling the local restaurants, the tour guide also introduces guests to a range of forward-thinking pairings. These might include a barley-roasted Manhattan with black pepper and togarashi alongside modern Korean anju, or a modern take on a mint julep with a bourbon-smoked devilled egg and an Old Fashioned bread pudding.
Get a Kentucky Glow On
While none of the distilleries will let customers bathe in their product, at least not yet, one local operator offers the next best thing. If you need to unwind after your fill of barrel-strength pours, Bourbon & Blush offers a more restorative way to experience Louisville’s bourbon culture.
Tucked into a lovingly restored historic building, the salon offers a wellness experience centred around Kentucky’s signature spirit.
“The idea is to intoxicate your senses,” explains owner Melissa Jacobi, though she can also make you a mean Blush Bourbon cocktail if you’re not quite done drinking.
Experiences like the Bluegrass Bourbon Body Scrub feature an exfoliating bourbon-infused sugar scrub, while the Bourbon Bliss range incorporates Kentucky’s finest spirit into body lotion, body butter and a three-in-one cleanser, scrub and moisturiser.
If you’ve overindulged during your Louisville trip, you can even book an IV session to boost your hydration levels before heading back out to explore.
Venture Out Into Bourbon Country
While Louisville is bourbon’s undisputed urban hub, many of Kentucky’s most famous distilleries lie beyond the city limits. If you’d rather not navigate the winding backroads or worry about a designated driver, you’ll need someone else to take the wheel.
That’s where Mint Julep Tours comes in, ferrying visitors through the rolling bluegrass hills of the Kentucky countryside to the state’s most celebrated distilleries.
Because there are far too many to fit into a single day, different itineraries take in classic destinations like Buffalo Trace, Bulleit, Woodford Reserve and Maker’s Mark, while also making room for smaller family-owned distilleries.
Sunday’s Brunch & Bourbon Tour starts with a boozy brunch in NuLu before heading out to Kentucky Artisan Distillery, checking out the special release of the day at Buffalo Trace and picking up some Pappy Van Winkle-related merchandise at a boutique run by the Van Winkle company.
Where to Stay in Louisville, Kentucky
Tempo by Hilton is one of the iconic hotel company’s newest brands. We love the one over in New York City, and their property in Louisville is just as nice. It’s in Downtown NuLu, so you’re already close to all the action. For more information, check out our review of Tempo by Hilton Downtown NuLu.
