Bourbon District

Bourbon, America’s native spirit, originated in Kentucky through the blending of early settlers’ distillation skills with the state’s geology and geography. Corn, the essential crop for bourbon, grows abundantly there, as do the white oak trees used for bourbon barrels, while hot summers, cold winters, and pure limestone-filtered water create ideal conditions for distilling and aging. Ninety-five percent of the world’s bourbon is produced in Kentucky, and one-third of that is made in Louisville, which has at least 12 active distilleries, while the state ages more than 5 million barrels each year and supports at least 60 coopers, including at least seven in the Louisville area. Barrels used to age Kentucky bourbon are made in Kentucky, and after they are emptied, they are used to age Scotch, Irish whisky, rum, and tequila. Louisville’s location on the Ohio River and the rise of the railroad made it a natural commerce hub and helped establish it as the capital of Kentucky’s bourbon industry. By 1900, the city’s Whiskey Row contained the world’s largest concentration of whiskey companies, with more than 100 whiskey-related businesses along a 10-block stretch of Main Street from Ninth Street to Brook Street, including distillery headquarters, barrel warehouses, whiskey rectifiers, equipment manufacturers, trade publishers, bottle label printers, and coopers. Prohibition in 1919 halted the legal production of bourbon, closing distilleries and disrupting the industry for a time, before Louisville later celebrated the revival of its spirits heritage.

Louisville, Kentucky · United States