Photograph courtesy of Oxmoor Bourbon Company
You’re a regular at New Riff, stop at Angel’s Envy whenever you’re in Louisville, take vacations to the Maker’s Mark distillery, and now you’re looking for something new. Here are some fresh bourbon experiences to mix up your drinking travel.
RD1 Spirits (Lexington)
Late last year, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association added Lexington as a Gateway to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Part of the attraction is the Distillery District, home to both the James E. Pepper Distillery and Barrel House Distilling, as well as RD1’s tasting room. The last of those hopes to open its $4.8 million experimental distillery and tasting room at The Commons this year.
RD1 Spirits, 1170 Manchester St. Suite 190, Lexington, KY, (859) 407-2827
Oxmoor Bourbon Company (Louisvile)
Five generations of the Bullitt family called Oxmoor Farm home. The family’s ties to the bourbon industry are primarily through the law—William Marshall Bullitt even argued against the 18th Amendment in front of the Supreme Court. The Oxmoor Bourbon Company offers a tour of the farm that digs into that history as well as tastes of a bourbon that celebrates the family.
Oxmoor Bourbon Company, 720 Oxmoor Ave., Louisville, KY, (502) 426-2126
Mattingly 1845 (Frankfort)
In the bourbon biz, everything old is eventually new again. John Graves Mattingly started his first distillery in Louisville in 1845, and last year his descendant, Jeff Mattingly, opened J. Mattingly 1845 in Frankfort just down the road from Buffalo Trace. Here, you can make your own blend and come home with a truly personalized souvenir.
J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery, 20 Reilly Rd., Frankfort, KY, (859) 721-1854