Urban Bourbon Trail - Louisville, KY

Urban Bourbon Trail

Collect your passport at a visitors center (4th and Jefferson), a bar on the trail or download the app (Louisville's Urban Bourbon) and stamp your way along the Urban Bourbon Trail  sampling some of Kentucky's finest Bourbon, Mint Juleps and local spirits at some of the worlds best bourbon bars. I'm not a bourbon drinker but the stamp collecting experience brought me to many unique, extravagant, and special locations within Louisville.  As of this writing I've visited 19 of the 35 locations and definitely enjoyed some more than others however each had its own personality and offered its own experience.  This was a great way to explore Louisville and visit a unique location you probably wouldn't have stopped by.  Many of the locations were only for a quick drink, others were for dinner. The pricing ranged from a few dollars at most locations to nearly twenty at a couple upscale bars.

Until prohibition in the 1920's, a section of Main Street was known as “Whiskey Row” where up to 50 distilleries were active and producing bourbon on a daily basis.The local bars and restaurants embrace the trail carrying anywhere from 50 to 200 different bourbon whiskey's on the shelves behind each bar. Search for the official drink of the Kentucky Derby, the Mint Julep is available at many of the stops. The establishments on the Urban Bourbon Trail vary from historic hotel properties to cosmopolitan “scenes” where urban trend-setters are making retro drinks such as the Old-Fashioned and Manhattan in vogue again. Five are in downtown hotels, four have been internationally recognized and all are serving up bourbon-inspired dining. All offer bourbon flights, special bourbon cocktails and all have at least 50 different bourbon labels on the bar with trained staff that can explain the nuances and tasting notes in the varied offerings.

  After visiting 9 of the 35 locations you've become an official resident and earned yourself a T-Shirt.

Color Code:
Green = Restaurants and bars I've visited.
Blue = Restaurants and bars I also have a dining review on the Louisville main page and map.
Red = Restaurants I have yet to visit.

Individual Stops on the Urban Bourbon Trail
Asiatique	Bar at BLU	Bistro 301
Bourbon Raw	Bourbons Bistro	Bristol Bar & Grille -Downtown
Bristol Bar & Grille -Highlands	Brown Hotel Lobby Bar	Buck's
Charr'd	Derby Cafe	Dish on Market
Doc Crow's	Down One Bourbon Bar	Harvest
Haymarket Whiskey bar	Jockey Silks	Lilly's
Manny & Merle	Marketplace Restaurant	Momma's Mustard, pickles & BBQ
North End Cafe	O'Shea's Downtown	Old Seelbach Bar
Proof On Main	Ramsi's Cafe	Rye
Seviche	Sidebar at Whiskey Row	Sway
The Silver Dollar	Troll Pub	Varanese
Vincenzo's	Volare

Color Code:
Green = Restaurants and bars I've visited.
Blue = Restaurants and bars I also have a dining review on the Louisville main page and map.
Red = Restaurants and bars I have yet to visit.

Map of the locations on the Urban Bourbon Trail