The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, sometimes informally referred to as "the Bourbon Trail", is a program sponsored by the Kentucky Distillers' Association (KDA) to promote the

Bourbon whiskey Bourbon whiskey (; also simply bourbon) is a Aging (food), barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn (maize). The name derives from the Kingdom of France, French House of Bourbon, although the precise source of inspiration is uncerta ...

industry in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. The KDA has registered the phrase "Kentucky Bourbon Trail" as a protected trademark.

History

The KDA launched the Kentucky Bourbon Trail program in 1999. At the time, it included seven of the eight distilleries in the region. In 2008, an eighth distillery, the Barton 1792 Distillery, joined the Trail program. However, the distillery was purchased by the

Sazerac Company Sazerac Company, Inc. is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by William ...

the following year, and Sazerac withdrew both the Barton 1792 Distillery and the Buffalo Trace Distillery from the KDA at the beginning of 2010. The two Sazerac distilleries continue to host public tours, and a Sazerac spokesperson stated they still feel they are "very much a part of the Bourbon Trail", but Sazerac wishes to promote its distilleries independent of the KDA. In August 2012, the Town Branch Distillery was added to the trail, bringing the number of distilleries back to seven. The

Heaven Hill Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. is a private family-owned and -operated American distillery, founded in 1935 and headquartered in Bardstown, Kentucky, that produces and markets the Heaven Hill brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey and a vari ...

Evan Williams distillery in

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

was added in May 2013, expanding the primary tour program to include eight destinations. In 2014, The Bulleit Experience at Stitzel-Weller Distillery joined the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, raising the number to nine destinations. In June 2018, Old Forester opened an urban distillery in downtown Louisville and became a member of the Bourbon Trail. O.Z. Tyler Distillery in Owensboro joined the same month. In July 2018, the KDA announced that Lux Row Distillers would be added to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. In October 2012, the KDA announced that it would expand the Kentucky Bourbon Trail program to include a new "Craft Tour" of seven artisan distilleries. 2012 had the highest-ever rate of completion for participation in the trail. In December 2013, the Craft Tour added Danville's Wilderness Trail Distillery, thereby expanding to eight destinations. Several other distilleries have been added and the Bowling Green branch of Corsair Artisan Distillery closed on August 30, 2018, bringing the current number to 13 destinations on the Craft Tour. The KDA opened an official welcome center for the Bourbon Trail in August 2018 at the Frazier History Museum in

downtown Louisville Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Kentucky, Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, ...

Trail stops

, there are 46 stops on the Bourbon Trail. There are 18 stops on the main Bourbon Trail, broken down into 4 "gateway cities": Bardstown Gateway, Lexington Gateway,

Gateway, and

Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky is an urban area in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky consisting of the southern part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The three main counties of the area are Boone County, Kentucky, Boone, Kent ...

Gateway. The 18 stops are: Louisville * Michter's Fort Nelson Distillery in Louisville * Evan Williams Bourbon Experience in Louisville * Old Forester Distilling Co. in Louisville * Angel's Envy Distillery in

* Rabbit Hole Distillery in Louisville * Bulleit Distilling Co. in Shelbyville * Bulleit Frontier Experience at the Stitzel–Weller Distillery in Louisville * Green River Distilling Co. in Owensboro, formerly known as O.Z. Tyler Distillery Bardstown *

Visitor Center in Bardstown * Lux Row Distillers in Bardstown * Bardstown Bourbon Company in Bardstown * Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto * Jim Beam American Stillhouse in Clermont Lexington * Wilderness Trail Distillery in Danville * Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg * Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg * Woodford Reserve Distillery near

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

* Town Branch Distillery in Lexington There are 28 stops on the Bourbon Trail "Craft Tour", broken down into 4 regions: Northern, Central, Western, and Bluegrass. The 28 stops are: Northern Craft Tour * New Riff Distillery in Newport * Pensive Distilling Co in Newport * Second Sight Spirits in

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

* Augusta Distillery in

Augusta, Kentucky Augusta is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Bracken County, Kentucky, Bracken County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is located upon the southern bank of the Ohio River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...

* Old Pogue Distillery in Maysville * Boone County Distilling Co. in Boone County * Neeley Family Distillery in

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

Central Craft Tour * Kentucky Artisan Distillery in Crestwood * Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company in Louisville * Copper & Kings in Louisville * Jeptha Creed Distillery in Shelbyville * Willett Distillery in Bardstown * Preservation Distillery in Bardstown * Log Still Distillery in

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

* Limestone Branch Distillery in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Western Craft Tour * Boundary Oak in Radcliff * The Bard Distillery in Graham * Casey Jones in

Hopkinsville Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2020 census was 31,180. History Early years The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 ...

* MB Roland Distillery, Pembroke (Christian County) * Dueling Grounds Distillery in Franklin Bluegrass Craft Tour * Whiskey Thief Distilling Co. in Frankfort * Castle & Key Distillery in Frankfort * Barrel House Distilling Co. in Lexington * RD1 Spirits in Lexington * Fresh Bourbon in Lexington * James E. Pepper in Lexington * Bluegrass Distillers in Lexington * Hartfield & Co. in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Other stops

The B-Line, an official partner of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, is another organization promoting distilleries, bars, and

restaurants A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in app ...

in the Bourbon Trail that are in the Northern Gateway area. * Revival Vintage Bottle Shop in Covington

References

External links

Kentucky Bourbon Trail
official website from the Kentucky Distillers' Association {{KYBourbonTrail Bourbon whiskey Tourism in Kentucky 1999 establishments in Kentucky Heritage trails Whisky trails

History

Trail stops

Other stops

See also

References

External links