We decided to take a trip to visit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail because my friend Andy was going to be having his first child and we wanted to have a trip to celebrate the occasion.
There are four of us who went so we all decided to figure out our schedules and plot out the best path through the distilleries we wanted to visit.
Since Andy lives in San Francisco and our friend Claudio lives in Washington DC, while Chuck and I live in Pittsburgh, we decided to make the first day of the trip start in Cincinnati, Ohio to visit the New Riff Distillery which is one of our all-time favorite bourbons.
Chuck, Andy, and I arrived the first day and Claudio met up with us the next day so we spent the day exploring the city and enjoying our Air Bnb.
Day 1 of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail – Cincinnati Ohio
We loved the spot we found in Cincinnati and it was within walking distance of a lot of restaurants and bars.
We settled into our place and then headed out to find some food.
The first place we stopped was a pizza shop named Taglio.
When we got there, we saw that they had a “Honey Pizza”. Curious and always a fan of new pizza styles, we decided to order that.
What we quickly discovered is that they actually warmed honey and drizzled it over the pepperoni pizza and it added a spectacular sweetness to the spice of the pepperoni.
It was quite delicious and I will most certainly be returned there next time I’m in Cincinnati.
We then went back to our Air BnB and decided to relax, drink some whiskey, and play some retro video games on our Retro Pi.
We then stopped at two bars. The first was called Japp’s.
We got a few cocktails there and they were pretty good.
We then stopped at Mecca which was a dive bar with some local and craft beers, but not much of a selection from a cocktail or whiskey standpoint.
We didn’t stay there long and decided to head back to the Air BnB and cap the night off with a final whiskey.
When we arrived back though, the weather was a bit rainy and then it turned super foggy which was a pretty spectacular view from our Air BnB balcony. I had been playing a lot of Elden Ring before the trip and it totally reminded me of finding a church in that game.
Day 2 of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
New Riff Distillery Tour
The next morning, we decided to head over to New Riff Distillery tour go on a tour and sample some of their whiskeys.
When we arrived, we were greeted by Grover who was the tour guide I met on my first trip to Cincinnati the prior year.
Surprisingly, he remembered who I was and gave us a very warm welcome.
New Riff has quickly become one of our favorite bourbon distilleries, especially their single-barrel offerings.
They have a few options: a single barrel bourbon, single barrel rye, and a balboa rye bottle that is all rye mash bill.
I believe they have released two more bottles so I am looking forward to trying those when I visit next.
Grover showed us the distillery and walked us through all the processes involved in making their whiskey.
It’s an excellent tour if you ever have the chance to go and their whiskey is starting to be sold across the US a bit more so I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of time before they are available in every state.
What Makes New Riff Distillery Special?
Every time we visit New Riff, we always have such an incredible experience and you can tell that they are really working on making a whiskey that is worthy of their name – A New Riff on an Old Tradition.
Also, when my friend Andy went to the bathroom, I noticed that they had engraved bottles of whiskey and you could also get custom-engraved bottles.
I told Grover that we wanted to purchase the “It’s a Boy” engraved bottle since our entire trip was to celebrate my good friend Andy having his first child in a couple of months.
Grover smiled and said, “Yes, hold on one minute.”
He grabbed a bottle and left.
A few minutes later, he arrived back with a bottle of New Riff Bourbon to gift to my friend Andy.
When he presented it to us, he told us that he went around the distillery and had the bottle signed by the entire distillery team!
That’s the kind of difference I’ve always felt when I’ve visited New Riff Distillery.
Andy said he is going to save this bottle until his son Nolan is older and share it with him on his 21st birthday.
Such a great memory we will all have now and in 20 years!
Party Source – One of the Largest Liquor Stores in the Country
Right on the same lot as New Riff is one of the biggest liquor stores in the country called Party Source.
Originally, the owner of New Riff owned Party Source.
There is a rule that you cannot make your own whiskey as well as own a liquor store, so he was forced to sell Party Source.
He came up with the idea to sell the store to the employees and now it is a 100% employee-owned and run company.
It is one of the best liquor stores I have ever been to and it is always a treat to find whiskeys I will never be able to find in Pennsylvania.
Mita’s Tapas Restaurant – Downtown Cincinnati
Every time I go to Cincinnati, I make sure to make it to Mita’s Tapas Restaurant in Downtown Cincinnati.
The food is always delicious and they have excellent wine and cocktails.
We ordered a few cocktails, and a couple of appetizers and decided to split the Paella which was delicious.
The restaurant changes its menu every 6 weeks so it’s always fun to explore what new options they will have every time you visit.
Day 3 of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Bardstown, Air BnB, Bars, and Nightlife
We decided to get an old rustic Air BnB named the Bardstown Coppersmith Cottage.
From the Air BnB description:
“This home is very special as you will find in the photos. It was originally built in c1780 and was the coppersmith’s shop. Today, it is listed on the National Historic Registry.”
Once we got settled in, we decided to visit The Old Talbott Tavern where we learned about how Bardstown was the bourbon capital of the world throughout the 1700-the 1800s.
It was built in 1779 and has been called the oldest western stagecoach stop in America.
It is said that in 1792, Daniel Boone was subpoenaed to give his deposition at the Stone Tavern on the court square.
William Samuels and Leslie Samuels who were Master Distillers of Maker’s Mark were good friends with the Talbotts and valued customers.
Also, the brother of Jim Beam, J.D. Beam purchased the establishment in 1916.
It is fascinating to hear the history of Bardstown and all the people and notable figures that have enjoyed drinks at the location – from stories of Jesse James and his brother having shootouts to Daniel Boone’s Shotgun on the wall – it’s a really fun place to visit.
The Talbott Tavern also had an electrical and caught fire in 1998 which partially destroyed some of the murals and historical pieces on the walls.
There are old Murals with bullet holes in them that were supposedly a shootout with the Jesse James brothers.
The murals are still on the walls and depict a lot of interesting scenes of the times.
Volsteadt Bar and Lounge
The next spot that we visited was the Volsteadt Bar and Lounge.
It was a very nice bar with a good selection of whiskey that we cannot find in Pennsylvania.
We decided to try some whiskeys that are Kentucky only here and really enjoyed some of them.
The whiskeys that we tried were: Belle Meade Madeira Bourbon, Saint Cloud Kentucky Bourbon, Kentucky Par, and Barrel Seagrass.
Once we got back to our place, we decided to try my friend’s Mount Gay XO Rum that he bought at the Party Source. It really capped out the nice and is such an amazing Rum.
We also recorded a funny whiskey review skit where Chuck presented a Booker’s bourbon batch and sipped on the whiskey from his favorite flask next to the coppersmith’s fireplace.
Maybe we’ll one day release this video to the public if we ever get a YouTube channel going.
Bardstown Distillery Tour
The next day we headed to Bardstown Distillery for our whiskey tasting.
Bardstown had an incredibly nice facility and was quite fancy compared to many of the tours I’ve been on.
The tasting room was pretty amazing and they had so many extremely rare whiskeys that you could get a taste of (if you could afford it).
We tasted three presentations of Bardstown Bourbon:
Bardstown Fusion Series 7
Bardstown American Highway Reserve
Bardstown Triple Blended Stave Finish Which was then finished 3 weeks in different oaks and reblended
Day 4 of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Prohibition Craft Spirits
We decided to visit Prohibition Craft Spirits for a history tour and whiskey tasting.
It was a nice place to tour through the history of whiskey and distilleries in the area over the last 100+ years.
Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and helped us learn about the art of crafting whiskey all the way back to the moonshining days and the crazy things people used to cook up during prohibition.
We then did a tasting where we got to try Nulu Straight Bourbon, Nulu Single Barrel Select Bourbon, Nulu Agave, Baxters Bourbon Barrel Aged Rum, Highland Gin, and Phoenix Hill Vodka.
All of the offerings were quite good.
My favorite was the Nulu Single Barrel Select because it had a ton of rich caramel flavors and a wonderful oily and buttery mouthfeel that I really enjoyed.
I ended up purchasing a bottle of the Single Barrel Select as a souvenir and it is excellent every time I try it and remember this trip.
Doc Crow’s Restaurant and Whiskey Bar (Over 2000 Bottles)
Doc Crow’s is one of my favorite places to visit every time I come to Louisville.
They have over 2,000 bottles of whiskey to taste.
The bottles are displayed on shelves the entire way around the bar and you can pick any one of them and get a pour.
They have pretty much every whiskey you could think of and is one of the only places you can find some of the whiskeys that are extremely difficult to find.
We tried the following whiskeys: Peerless Bourbon, Balvenie 14 Year of Peat, Ardbeg Drum, Highland Park Magnus, and Elijah Craig Toasted.
On the other half of Doc Crow’s, they also have excellent barbeque food and a full food menu.
If you’re ever in Louisville, Kentucky this is a must-visit bar.
Michter’s Distillery and Bar At Fort Nelson
The last place we visited for the day was Michter’s Distillery and the Michter’s Bar at Fort Nelson.
Unfortunately, the distillery tours were all over since it was later at night, so we decided to just visit the Bar.
I didn’t really know what to expect since we had to make a reservation and space was said to be limited, but they made sure to hook us up and get us in when I called.
As we walked in, the place was very fancy and had an excellent vibe to it.
We started out with a Michter’s tasting of four whiskies: Michter’s US 1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Michters US 1 Toasted Barrel Finished Bourbon, Michter’s 10 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon, and Bomberger’s Declaration Kentucky Straight Bourbon.
I’ve always been a fan of Michter’s so I really enjoyed each of these tastings. What I really enjoyed is that the whiskeys they had available to taste were their higher-tier offerings.
It’s extremely difficult for me to get the Michter’s Toasted Barrel, Michter’s 10, and I’ve never even seen a bottle of Bomberger’s available anywhere near me in Pennsylvania.
The tasting was definitely worth the money, especially since the entire flight was only $35 total.
Michter’s Bar at Fort Nelson Cocktails
The highlight of the night was the cocktails at Micher’s Bar at Fort Nelson.
I was immediately impressed by the presentation, but the cocktail tasted spectacular as well.
Since this cocktail was so good, I decided to go cocktails for the rest of the night and I’m glad I did.
The next cocktail I got was South Point Cocktail.
I took a sip and immediately told my friends to try it.
As they each tried it, they one by one immediately ordered one for themselves.
After a few more sips, we all determined that this cocktail was the absolute best cocktail we’d ever had in our entire lives.
I still think about this cocktail all the time and wish I could have one more often.
After I got home from the trip, I tried ordering the ingredients included in this cocktail and managed to find them all except for the pistachio which I will be attempting to re-create at some point.
The hard ingredient to find was Faretti Biscotti which after a little research I learned that it is a liqueur made in northern Italy where biscotti cookies are still baked in rustic brick ovens. The liqueur carries this biscotti flavor and is absolutely delicious.
If you ever make it to Louisville, Doc Crow’s and Michter’s are highly recommended.
Michter’s Bar at Fort Nelson was a perfect closing place for our Kentucky Bourbon Trail – April 2022 trip.
I’m looking forward to my next trip to Kentucky and hopefully, I can revisit it with my friends another time soon!
Kentucky Bourbon Trail – Whiskey and Liqueur Pickups
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