The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide - The Official Kentucky Visitor's Guide 2026
Bourbon & Spirits
2026-02-06 05:35:26
Bourbon, bourbon everywhere, and so many to sip, swirl and savor. Not surprising in a state where there are more barrels of bourbon than people. What is unexpected? The endless variety of ways to experience bourbon: on tours and trails, at distilleries and with master distillers, in restaurants and bars, at museums and hotels. We not only walk the bourbon talk, we eat, sleep and study bourbon, too — and invite you to join us in this spirited endeavor.
THE APPRENTICE
RHYTHM RIVER DISTILLERY, Henderson
The setting: the banks of the Ohio River. The atmosphere: cheerful, nostalgic, light-hearted. The experience: guided and self-guided tastings, tours and tailored experiences, specialty cocktails and music. The place? Rhythm River Distillery, with a visitor center, cocktail bar, tasting room, theater and gift shop.
CONSTITUTION, Lexington
Stand before the bookshelves. Ring the bell. A hidden entrance swings open and you are transported back to the days of bootleggers and speakeasies. Constitution is not your granddad’s bar but a Prohibition Era-style lounge offering an elevated, personalized experience with carefully crafted cocktails.
THE LAST REFUGE, Louisville
It’s revival time at The Last Refuge, tucked inside a historical church and pouring signature cocktails featuring Heaven’s Door spirits and zero-proof mocktails like the St. Agrestis Phony Negroni. Munch on the Taste of Derby grazing board and the Unorthodox burger and enjoy soul-stirring live music on the patio.
WINE, WHISKEY & ALE TRAIL, Bullitt County
Free live music at Wight-Meyer Vineyard & Winery during the growing season. A guided flight tasting and history experience at Four Roses Distillery & Visitors Center. Take a journey of discovery — and distinctive sensory experiences — along Bullitt County’s Wine, Whiskey & Ale Trail.
TRAIL’S END TAVERN, Slade
Enjoy a bourbon flight at the self-proclaimed “friendliest tavern in the Red River Gorge area.” The Trail’s End Tavern at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, located near the Natural Bridge Sky Lift, offers well over 100 different bourbons on the menu.
FRAZIER HISTORY MUSEUM, Louisville
Among the bourbon adventures at the Frazier History Museum are a blind flight tasting, craft-your-own cocktail experiences and the Ready, Set, Go! Bourbon Experience, which includes first- and second-day museum admission and a 60-minute guided bourbon tasting in the rustic elegance of the Order of the Writ room.
THE B-LINE®, Northern Kentucky
Get set for a bourbon adventure on The B-Line®, Northern Kentucky’s self-guided bourbon tour comprising distilleries, bourbon bars and bourbon-centric restaurants. Discover speakeasies and vintage spirits in stunning settings, including historical buildings and spots overlooking the river and set amid a countryside backdrop.
THE RED BRICK INN, Cadiz
A 200-year-old treasure of timeless elegance is the setting for the exceptional epicurean experience offered during seasonal Distiller Dinners at The Red Brick Inn. The former steamboat stop turned charming bed-and-breakfast inn partners with area distilleries to present this peerless pairing.
THE AFICIONADO
THE TRAIL HOTEL, Bardstown
The world’s first and only bourbon-centric hotel is a bourbon lover’s wish granted. Among its many luxe amenities, The Trail Hotel has curated bourbon-themed suites, a restaurant flush with nostalgia and atmosphere, a speakeasy bar, a golf simulator lounge with a private bar and a team of Bourbon Butlers.
BULLEIT DISTILLING CO., Shelbyville
Sign up for the creative cocktailing happenings at Bulleit Distilling Co., with interactive classes to learn the fine art of custom crafting a smoked Old Fashioned, a summer-scented whiskey smash or a mint julep with herbs handpicked from the onsite greenhouse.
GENERAL GEORGE STILLHOUSE
Built on forested countryside on land that George Washington bought in 1798, the General George Stillhouse produces bourbon, gin, vodka and wine under Founding Fox, a label that pays tribute to the first president by recalling his nickname, Old Fox.
PAULEY HOLLOW, Forest Hills
At Pike County’s first legal distillery, Pauley Hollow, taste Fuel of the Feud moonshine, made with local spring water drawn from the Randall McCoy Well. (Yes! That Randall — of Hatfield and McCoy fame). Sip Robert’s Reserve, a smooth four-grain bourbon aged in Appalachian oak.
CLERMONT SUPPER CLUB, Clermont
Join master distillers Fred and Freddie Noe at The Kitchen Table restaurant and taste the latest James B. Beam Distilling Co. releases during the Clermont Supper Club experience, elevated dining featuring Beam-inspired fare paired with a selection of the distillery’s handcrafted cocktails and bourbon pours.
REVIVAL VINTAGE BOTTLE SHOP, Covington
Find a century of bourbon history, plus bourbon experts, a bourbon tasting menu and hard-to-find and rare bourbons and spirits at Revival Vintage Bottle Shop — the world’s first vintage spirit bar and bottle shop and premier destination on The B-Line®.
DUELING GROUNDS DISTILLERY, Franklin
The small, craft Dueling Grounds Distillery pairs guided tours and tasting experiences with stories of Kentucky’s dueling history (Sam Houston being the most famous to fight a duel here). Sip double-pot-distilled Linkumpinch Bourbon or custom cocktails with pub snacks and signature pizzas.
PRESERVATION, Bardstown
Tour Bardstown’s smallest distillery, the family-owned Preservation, which potdistills exceptional bourbons in micro batches, like Very Olde St. Nick, from its picturesque location in a former tobacco barn set amid rolling pastureland. Nelson County’s first and only 100% pot-distilled producer is also Kentucky’s first sustainability-focused distillery.
THE MASTER DISTILLER
OSCAR GETZ MUSEUM OF BOURBON HISTORY, Bardstown
Get bourbon’s backstory with a tour of the Oscar Getz Museum of Bourbon History, then enroll in a Master Series class at Bourbon Capital Academy at Spalding Hall. This deep dive into bourbon distilling is “taught” by the experts: Kentucky’s master distillers.
WILDERNESS TRAIL DISTILLERY, Danville
Be the scientist on the Bourbon Is a Solution tour at Wilderness Trail Distillery, a unique experience that puts you in the lab and at the microscope, testing a fermentation sample and working through quality-control steps en route to making bourbon. And of course, sampling too.
FARMER & FRENCHMAN WINERY & CAFÉ, Robards
Choose the Haute Cuisine Seasonal Four Course Chef Experience or the less formal menu featuring hearty Italian and European-inspired family recipes for a private and personalized dinner for up to 14 guests in the stunning Wine Cellar at Farmer & Frenchman Winery & Café.
KENTUCKY ARTISAN DISTILLERY CLUBHOUSE EXPERIENCE, Crestwood
A customized tasting glass, a list of the barrel picks and an array of barrels manned by distillers are what you’ll find on a “self-guided, self-discovery” tasting experience with five different bourbons available for sampling straight from the barrel at the Kentucky Artisan Distillery Clubhouse Experience.
HEAVEN HILL BOURBON EXPERIENCE, Bardstown
Forty-five minutes of pure bliss for your taste buds make up The Whiskey Connoisseur Tasting Experience at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience. Taste five bourbons and whiskeys from the distillery’s award-winning portfolio, followed by a self-guided tour of the Heaven Hill Gallery and 1935 Distillery Theater.
HARTFIELD & CO., Paris
Join the team at Hartfield & Co. for a “Day as a Distiller,” working in production, learning about the whiskey-making process and drinking some spirits on this one-of-a-kind adventure, which also includes a bottle of Hartfield & Co. bourbon, engraved barrel stave and branded T-shirt.
THE OLD POGUE EXPERIENCE, Maysville
Read up on the 1791 Whiskey Tax Act Rebellion in the Bourbon History Galleries at The Old Pogue Experience tasting room at the Kentucky Gateway Center. Then, savor an optional tasting of an original Kentucky bourbon — Old Pogue Master’s Select.
WOODFORD RESERVE, Versailles
On this Woodford Reserve exclusive, join Master Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris and/or Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall for a two-hour, behind-the-scenes VIP Master Distiller Tour Experience that features a Family of Brands tasting and includes a limited-edition bottle.
YOU’VE GOTTA SEE THIS!
BOURBON BOAT – THE OLD TAYLOR TOUR, Frankfort
“The nation’s only boat-based bourbon tour” and the Father of the Modern Bourbon Industry join forces for the four-hour Kentucky River Tours’ Bourbon Boat – The Old Taylor Tour, featuring a history tour on the Kentucky River, tour and tasting at Buffalo Trace Distillery and barbecue lunch.
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