As I was packing for my trip to Louisville, Kentucky where I’d be covering the annual Bourbon Classic, described as “the holy trinity for experiencing the very best in the culinary, cocktails and Bourbon arts,” I explained the rigors of my schedule to my husband.

He did not feel sorry for me.

I’d be getting up super early after evenings packed with dinners and bourbon experiences I explained. Ticking off the number of events I was attending like tastings and seminars in making Kentucky hams, meeting bourbon makers, and learning about heritage corn varieties some of which date back to the time of Daniel Boone’s brother, Squire and had names like Bloody Butcher, Floriani Flint, and Hopi Blue. But hearing about all that bourbon and great Kentucky food, well it didn’t sound like work to him.

But a little sympathy here—it was four whole days. I was sure my clothes wouldn’t fit by the end.

Defining bourbon

Kentucky bourbon means just that—it must be distilled within the confines of the state and made with a mash that’s at least 51% corn. Part of what makes Kentucky bourbon such a standout is the limestone in the soil which filters out the iron, producing a sweet-tasting mineral water as well as the famed Kentucky Blue Grass that prize winning horses like to nibble on.

On the road

Participants in the Bourbon Classic can choose from a variety of experiences like attending the Understanding Cocktail Fundamentals and Bourbon Classic Cocktail & Culinary Competition where big name chefs and master bartenders’ partner in competition for “best cocktail” and “best small plate.” But it’s also important to explore the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and see bourbon making in real time. Which is why I’m driving on a two-lane black top through the hills and hollows of the Kentucky countryside. I’m still half asleep when I pull up into the parking lot at the Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky, wondering if the place is even open. After all, the sun is just rising.

What a surprise then to see that other groups were already lining up for tours. But then the trail, with its 46 stops, is a major tourist attraction. According to the Kentucky Distillers Association (KDA), which developed the trail in 1999, in 2023 over 2.5 million people from all 50 states, more than 25 countries and six continents hit the trail. Reservations are recommended.

In the rick house (where barrels filled with bourbon are aging), I watch as Fred Noe and his son Freddie, both direct descendants of founder Jacob Boehm (who Americanized his name to Jim Bean in the late 1700s after immigrating from Germany), roll out a charred oak barrel filled with bourbon. Taking the wooden mallet Fred handed me, I took a swing and on my second try, managed to pop open the plug so we could all take a sip. It was 10 a.m.

As we walked to the Cistern Room at Beam’s for tastes of their experimental bourbons, I mentioned to Fred that I had met his father Noe years before and had lunch at his house after touring the distillery. Yes, drinking bourbon in the morning was not anything new for me. I recalled the terrifying drive along hilly roads as Noe took his eyes off the road to tell us stories about life in the bourbon business. Fred nodded, agreeing that his father’s driving skills left something to be desired.

Lunch was at The Kitchen Porch, the distillery’s restaurant with menu options including such classic Kentucky fare—Hot Browns—those heart-stopping sandwiches piled high with thick slices of turkey, tomatoes, bacon, and cheese topped with a Mornay sauce, Kentucky Burgoo—a type of meat and bean stew that Daniel Boone loved, and fried catfish.

Leaving there, I decided to skip the gift shop because of the line and instead walked about snapping photos. It’s a beautiful campus, with historic brick buildings, their paint peeling and ivy working up the sides, pretty green spaces, and even a little creek running parallel to one of the walkways.

Urban bourbon

You don’t have to leave the city to see distillers in action. Louisville has created an Urban Bourbon Trail, many within walking distance. But first a little history.

At one time before Prohibition put thousands of people out of work and others into a life of crime selling bootlegged booze, there were eighty-nine distilleries along Louisville’s Main Street alone. Just a block from the Ohio River, bourbon barrels were loaded onto steamships and shipped as far away as New York and New Orleans. The Old Forester Distillery, the only distillery owned by the same family before Prohibition, was part of that early bourbon scene, having opened in the 1870s. Part of the tour involves learning about proofs, colors, tastes, and aromas. Plus, a little advice. Straight bourbon often burns at first. Take the hit because your taste buds adjust quickly.

Ever seen a barrel charred? That is part of the Old Forester tour as well.

Their tours are so popular that they book up three months in advance, so plan ahead.

Rockstar bourbon

In trendy NuLu, west of the downtown, Emmy-winning songwriter and musician Bob Dylan has repurposed an 1880 church into The Last Refuge, a bourbon destination with over 1200 bourbons, food, live entertainment, and some of Dylan’s artwork on the wall. A large patio is perfect during good weather and all times are fun in the moodily romantic rooms.

1920s and all that jazz

At Evan Williams Experience, I joined the crowd taking videos of the five-story fountain shaped like an Evan Williams bourbon bottle that I was constantly pouring an amber colored liquid into a glass. It is a showstopper, but I have a ticket to travel back in time.

Knocking on a back door in the back room of Evan Williams’s basement, I’m asked for a password. I guess wrong but that doesn’t matter, the door opens, and I step into a 1920s speakeasy manned by an actor playing Tom Bullock, a Black bartender so well known for his Mint Juleps and Old Fashions that he authored the first cocktail recipe book written by a Black.

Bullock (the actor) makes his signature Old Fashioned adding ice that he chipped off an ice block. Oh yeah, it’s the 1920s, no one has invented an automatic ice cube maker yet.

“I hope we don’t get raided like we did last week,” Bullock tells me sliding my drink across the bar and giving the door an anxious look.

“I hope not either,” I tell him. “This drink is too good to not finish.”

Checking the time, I see I can just squeeze in a visit at Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery before my seminar at the Kentucky International Convention Center on pairing chocolate and bourbon.

“You can’t miss the place,” the bartender playing Tom Bullock tells me, “There’s a 120-foot, 68,000-pound Big Bat hanging outside on the building across the street.”

Bottle your own

He’s talking about the sign for the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. But the Fort Nelson building is distinctive as well. It is an 1890 restored Richardsonian building with lots of architectural flourishes such as Romanesque Revival-style windows and cast-iron columns.

Fun fact, Louisville is second only to New York for the number of its cast iron facades, a popular 19th century feature.

“I could have just had the building demolished,” says Michter president Joseph J. Magliocco. “It would have been a lot cheaper.”

But that’s not the way Michter does things. He also resurrected the country’s oldest whisky company, which, founded in 1753, had closed its doors in 1989. In the 1990s, Magliocco bought the brand and turned it around, winning accolades from such greats as bourbon authority Fred Minnick who described it as “…quite simply the best bourbon I’ve had all year.”

The tour at Fort Nelson ended with me getting to fill my own bourbon bottle from one of the barrels and having my name inscribed upon it. Then it was off to the chocolate pairing.

And my husband doesn’t think this is work?

While you’re in Louisville: It's not a distillery but rather a grand old hotel, built in 1905 and favored by Al Capone whenever he came to town. Called the Seelbach, F. Scott Fitzgerald also visited and was said to have based his Jay Gatsby character on a famous bootlegger who stayed there.

There are no bourbon barrels aboard, but if you want to experience an authentic steamship ride, the Belle of Louisville takes visitors up and down the Ohio River.

For more information:
Kentucky Bourbon Classic
Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Louisville Tourism