Welcome to the Whiskey Row Walking Tour
Experience the History of Bourbon
Welcome to the Whiskey Row Walking Tour, located in downtown Louisville on the beautiful and historic Main Street. Our city is known for its welcoming Southern hospitality, unique restaurant scene, live music entertainment, the Kentucky Derby—and yes, Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey!
Whether you’re visiting Louisville for a few days or have lived here for years, this tour is for you! If your time is limited but you’re still looking for a one-of-a-kind Bourbon experience, this tour offers everything you need to learn about the history, distilling, and craftsmanship behind our world-famous Bourbon Whiskey.
Want to see all Whiskey Row has to Offer? We have you covered.
The Whiskey Row Walking Tour includes multiple stops at different Bourbon distilleries along Whiskey Row. Depending on the day of the week we will stop at three of the following four distilleries, Barrels and Billets, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Buzzard’s Roost and Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. You’ll get the chance to sample some well-known bourbons, which have been prepared specially for you. As we walk down Historic Main Street, your tour guide will share a history of Bourbon Whiskey production in Louisville, including Whiskey Row’s historic past and the famous cast iron storefronts lining our path, which date back to the 1800s. You’ll also learn what it takes to transform whiskey into Bourbon and hear about famous distillers—like Julian “Pappy” Van Winkle Sr. and Evan Williams along with others who made this great city a major whiskey producer and river transportation hub across the U.S.
This tour concludes in the heart of Whiskey Row at 1st and Main Street. Here you will discover a wonderful selection of restaurants and bars to patronize and sample some of the great Kentucky bourbons you have learned about on your tour.
wHISKEY rOW wALKING Tour Times
Tour season begins in March and runs through the end of October and are available Thursday through Saturday at 11:00 AM EST sharp and on Sundays at 1:00 PM. Tours depart at the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Welcome Center, located at 829 West Main Street inside the Frazier Kentucky History Museum. Tours are restricted to those 21 and over.
The tour lasts two hours. Please be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate outdoor attire.
Service Animals are permitted and all distillery buildings and sidewalks are ADA compliant and accessible.
WHISKEY ROW WALKING TOUR SCHEDULE
11:00 A.M. EST
Thursday-Saturday
1:00 P.M. EST
Sunday
829 WEST MAIN STREET
Frazier History Museum Welcome Center
Bourbon & Chocolate Tour
If you are a bourbon and chocolate lover, this tour is definitely for you. There is nothing better than pairing bourbon and chocolate together! The tour includes three stops at Art Eatables, Buzzard's Roost, and the Bristol Bar and Grille, where you will sample bourbon and chocolate together.
Art Eatables founder Kelly Ramsey is the world's first bourbon-certified chocolatier and maker of the Small-batch Bourbon Truffle™, which focuses on the accent in the character of the bourbons she uses. Sampling bourbon and chocolate together will pull out hidden notes you might not have noticed. This tour delivers a taste experience like no other by paying attention to the chocolate and the bourbon. The tour includes three bourbon pairings with three chocolates.
Opened in April 2023, Buzzard's Roost Distillery is one of the new bourbon distillery attractions to Whiskey Row. On this stop, you will enjoy two whiskey tastings that are paired with two of their signature chocolates that were made with the whiskey you will be sampling. The tastings include their Double Gold winning Char #1 Rye Whiskey and their Platinum winning Char #1 Bourbon awarded at the prestigious 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. For a whiskey spirits competition, this is a significant accomplishment and achievement!
The last stop on the tour will be a local Louisville favorite with a rich history, the Bristol Bar and Grille. "The Bristol," as known by locals, was started in 1977 and is still owned by its founder today, Doug Gossmann. Here, we will finish with a bourbon along with a slice of the legendary Kentucky Derby-Pie®. You will learn the history of the bourbon and pie you taste and why it has become a tradition with the Kentucky Derby®.
The tour starts inside the Frazier History Museum at the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Welcome Center, located at 829 West Main Street, at 3:00 P.M. EST and is available Thursday through Saturday lasting 1 hour and a half. Please be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes and weather-appropriate outdoor attire. The tour season begins in March and runs through the end of October.
Book a Bourbon Tasting Event
If you are in need of a Professional Bourbon Tasting Guide for your Conference, Convention, Group meeting or local gathering I am your person. With so many bourbons to choose from it is important to know its history and have knowledge of how the bourbon you are sampling is made. Let me lead your group through a tasting that includes picking out its aroma, flavor, and finish. Also I will share with your group how Bourbon is made including its long rich history in Kentucky and the famous historic named distillers known for their legendary whiskey’s too. I believe in having fun while tasting bourbon, so a few good stories and laughs while sharing my knowledge of Bourbon’s history will be included as well. Please call me at (855) 769 9255 to discuss the many options on how I can make your visit to or local event in Louisville a taste to remember.
About Your Guide
Meet Drew, your Whiskey Row tour guide. As a native and lifelong Louisvillian, Drew has been happily taking tourists, travelers, and native Louisvillians alike to visit famous Bourbon distilleries, Thoroughbred horse farms, and historic city sites for 15 years. As a Professional Tour Guide, he takes pride in offering tours that are not only fun and entertaining but also informative and historically accurate.
Prior to being a guide, Drew worked at the City of Louisville’s Economic Development Department for 22 years and was directly involved in development projects that have had an impact on Louisville.
Walking Tour Parking
Paid parking is available on Main Street using street meters or at the nearby ground lots and parking garages. A paid parking lot is also available behind the Frazier Kentucky History Museum, located at 9th and Washington Streets. Please look for the parking booth attendant for assistance.
Walk, Sip, Learn
The cost of the tour is $89 per person which includes all tastings.
Sorry, no refunds after a tour is booked.
Tours are restricted to those 21 and over.
Reservations highly recommended and can only be made online. Walk-ups are welcome if a tour is not sold out that day. Online reservations close one hour before the tour departs.
Together let us Walk, Sip and Learn!