Writer’s Note:  Last month in Part I, we covered distilleries in and around the Lexington, Kentucky area. This month, we are covering distilleries in and around Louisville. Next month, as we conclude the series, we will cover distilleries in the Bardstown area.

The drive to Louisville is approximately five and a half hours from Avon. However, you can stop in Newport, Kentucky, just over the state line from Cincinnati, which is about a three-and-a-half-hour drive. If you choose to stop and break up your drive, make sure you check out New Riff Distilling, which opened in 2014. The back of their bottle states, “A New Riff On An Old Tradition,” and that tradition is sour-mash Kentucky whiskey-making. 

New Riff’s core Bourbon expression is a genuinely high-rye, full-bodied whiskey offering savory, spicy character. Building upon America’s 1897 Bottled in Bond Act—already the highest quality standard for aged spirits in the world—New Riff’s whiskeys are bottled in bond without chill filtration.

New Riff sits directly over a limestone-rich aquifer that supplies the distillery with water. It’s an outstanding water source for whiskey-making, but also a huge source of green energy savings.

Drive right on into downtown Louisville and discover Angel’s Envy, which opened its doors in 2016, and offers a range of experiences, including a bottle your own experience, cocktail classes that put you behind their distillery bar, and a guided, insider’s tour of their fully operational urban Main Street distillery on Louisville’s Whiskey Row.

Angel’s Envy features a collection of whiskies finished in secondary barrels for an incomparably delicious experience. With innovation at the heart of everything they do, Angel’s Envy continues to craft bold, unique finished whiskeys across their Signature Series, Cask Strength releases, and Cellar Collection. 

Angel’s Envy was the first whiskey brand to launch exclusively with bourbon and rye finished in secondary barrels, as well as the first full-production Bourbon distillery to open in downtown Louisville.

Jim Beam is the world's best-selling bourbon, crafted by eight generations of family distillers since 1795. Fred Noe, Jim Beam's seventh-generation Master Distiller, and Freddie Noe, Jim Beam's eighth-generation Master Distiller, have stayed true to the family recipe that's been passed down through generations. In addition to the Jim Beam bourbons, the distillery also produces numerous other iconic bourbon brands, including Knob Creek, Basil Hayden, Bookers, Legent, and Bakers.  

On a recent Bourbon trail trip, my husband and I did the full distillery tour, and I even joined Rich in tasting a few along the way.  The highlight of the tour was the ability to bottle our own bottle of Knob Creek, including Rich sealing it with his thumbprint. I highly recommend the approximately one-and-a-half-hour tour -- especially if you are a newbie to bourbon–– but even if you are an experienced bourbon taster, you will enjoy the experience.

The James B. Beam Distilling Co. is the producer of nearly half of the world’s Bourbon, including the #1 selling Jim Beam®—all crafted by eight generations of Beam family distillers dating back to 1795.