The Bourbon Chronicles: Kentucky Artisan Distillery

Distillery visit Kentucky Artisan distillery (KAD)

We’re really thrilled to have this notable distillery, quite literally, in our backyard. The tour provides a fantastic history lesson about how bourbon evolved into what it came to be and is today. We’ll definitely recommend it to any of our friends and family that are in town.

Location

This is among the smaller distilleries. It’s 11 minutes up the road from us and roughly 22 minutes, 20 miles, from the Louisville metro.

The Jefferson bourbon is a truly unique due to the fact that their product is aged at sea in barrels. IMHO, as someone beginning to dip her toe into the bourbon waters, the Jefferson’s Ocean line is pure innovation.

Here’s my quick reference guide to this distillery:

Name	Tour Time	Tour Name	Cost	Address
KY Artisan Distillery	1 hour	distillery tour with tasting	$11.00	6230 Old Lagrange Rd Crestwood, KY 40014

Food

While there’s no food establishments available on site, it’s right down the road from another local gem, Hive and Barrel Meadery which is attached to 3rd Turn Brewing and Backside Grill. Alternatively, if you’re so inclined, I recommend booking an afternoon tour at KAD and following it with a visit to Watch Hill Proper to enjoy a bite and one of their craft cocktails sourced from the library of bourbon on hand.

Tour & Tasting highlights

This being one of the smaller operations, it’s still impressive. Plus, it’s just interesting to be able to tour large and small operations to see the differences in their production process and product. We were really impressed with our tour guide and how knowledgeable he was about the history of bourbon. There were probably about a dozen other folks on the tour with us which made for a fun, intimate experience.

I was really impressed with the Ocean bourbon. It’s aged at sea between 7-8 years. Each voyage is different than the last. It’s available for purchase in their gift shop but brace yourself, it retails for about $60+ USD.

Watch the IG Story on my profile.

A great resource website for planning your distillery tours is KY bourbon trail.

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What’s next on the Bourbon Chronicles bucket list? Castle & Key and Buffalo Trace. Stay tuned! Or check out other visits like this one to Bulleit and Wild Turkey.