Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Louisville for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Louisville for grown-ups.
Doc Crow's on West Main in Louisville pours from a 2,700-bourbon library on Whiskey Row, the city's deepest bourbon list paired with smoked brisket and a raw bar.
Signature drink: Kentucky bourbon flights
Food: Smoked brisket, raw oysters
Tip: Walk-in for the bar. The Whiskey Wednesday flight runs four pours for $24.
Down One Bourbon Bar in the basement of the Galt House Hotel pours over 100 bourbons and Kentucky cocktails, the city's largest hotel-attached bourbon room on West Main.
Signature drink: Old Fashioned, bourbon flights
Food: Smoked brisket sliders, BBQ plates
Tip: Walk-in for the bar. The Old Fashioned class runs Saturday afternoons; book through the hotel.
Old Forester Distilling on West Main runs Louisville's first-bottled bourbon tour from the brand's original Whiskey Row warehouse, a $45 million distillery and bar reopened in 2018.
Signature drink: Old Forester bourbon flights
Food: Tasting plates
Tip: Tours run on the hour; book online. The barrel-tasting program is the highlight.
Michter's Fort Nelson on West Main runs a working distillery and bar inside an 1890 Whiskey Row building, the brand's Louisville home with The Bar at Fort Nelson cocktail program.
Signature drink: Michter's bourbon flights, classic cocktails
Food: Cocktail bar bites
Tip: Tours bookable online. The Bar at Fort Nelson takes walk-ins after 17:00.
Angel's Envy on East Main in Louisville runs distillery tours with a tasting bar called The Finishing Room, the brand's downtown home pouring port-finished bourbon flights.
Signature drink: Angel's Envy port-finished bourbon
Food: Tasting plates
Tip: Tours run every 15 minutes; book online. The Finishing Room takes walk-ins for tastings.
Evan Williams Bourbon Experience on West Main was the first distillery to open on Whiskey Row, an artisanal facility and tasting bar inside Louisville's downtown bourbon district.
Signature drink: Evan Williams bourbon flights
Food: Tasting plates
Tip: Tours daily; last tour begins one hour before close. Book online for weekends.
Rabbit Hole Distillery on East Jefferson Street in Louisville cooks craft bourbon and rye out of a NuLu modern facility, the boutique distillery with a five-story atrium tour route.
Signature drink: Rabbit Hole craft bourbon and rye
Food: Tasting bites
Tip: Tours by reservation. The rooftop bar runs walk-in service in warm months.
Kentucky Peerless on North 10th Street in Louisville distills rye and bourbon downtown, the small-batch operation with a tasting bar and grain-to-glass tour just west of Whiskey Row.
Signature drink: Kentucky Peerless rye and bourbon
Food: Tasting plates
Tip: Tours bookable online; the tasting bar takes walk-ins in the afternoon.
Stitzel-Weller in Shively reopened a 1935 Derby-day-built distillery as the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience, the historic Louisville bourbon cathedral five miles south of downtown.
Signature drink: Bulleit Frontier Whiskey flights
Food: Tasting plates
Tip: Tours daily by reservation. The Garden and Gun Club is the lounge for tasting flights.
Holy Grale on Bardstown Road in Louisville pours a 30-tap Belgian and German beer list from a restored 1905 Highlands church, the city's deepest European beer program.
Signature drink: Belgian and German imports
Food: Gastropub plates
Tip: Walk-in for the bar; the Gralehaus next door runs separately. Best Krieks in the city.
Proof on Main's bar in the 21c Museum Hotel pours one of Kentucky's deepest bourbon flights paired with bison burgers and snacks, a Whiskey Row walk-in standby.
Signature drink: Bourbon flights, classic cocktails
Food: Bison burger, snack menu
Tip: Walk-in for the bar; the dining room takes OpenTable bookings.
Lobby Bar at the Brown Hotel in Louisville pours mint juleps and bourbon flights inside the lobby where the Hot Brown sandwich was invented in 1926, the city's hotel-bar classic.
Signature drink: Mint Julep, bourbon flights
Food: Hot Brown and small plates
Tip: Walk-in. The bar serves the Hot Brown in the evening alongside the bourbon list.