The Bourbon Chronicles: Kentucky Artisan Distillery

Distillery visit Kentucky Artisan distillery (KAD)

We’re really thrilled to have this notable distillery just about in our backyard. Our guide provided a fantastic history lesson about how bourbon evolved into what it came to be and is today. Its affordable price and convenient location means we’ll definitely recommend it to any of our friends and family that may be 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 most well-known bourbon produced at Kentucky Artisan Distillery (KAD) is Jefferson’s Reserve — named after one of our nation’s most innovative inventors. Fittingly, given the experimental nature of their master distiller. Their Jefferson’s Ocean line for example, is 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 literally right down the road from local gems, Hive and Barrel Meadery, 3rd Turn Brewing and Backside Grill, which all share the same property. Alternatively, if you’re so inclined, I recommend booking an afternoon tour at KAD and following it with a visit to nearby Watch Hill Proper to enjoy a bite and one of their craft cocktails sourced from the library of over 1800 bourbons on hand.

Tour & Tasting highlights

The history lesson mentioned above was what set our tour experience apart. Most other distillery tours focus mainly on their individual legacy and process. Since KAD is so small, they spent a good deal of time talking about how bourbon came to be — and why particularly in Kentucky; we were surprised not to hear the limestone filtered water among any of those factors.

I was really impressed with the Ocean bourbon. It’s aged at sea between 7-8 months, and each voyage is different from the last. It’s available for purchase in their gift shop but brace yourself, it retails for about $60+ USD. While their products are very good, they don’t really have anything that sells for under $45/bottle.

Final Rating

4 out of 5 Ice Cubes: While it’s one of the smaller operations (the lack of any on-site food is an automatic deduction), KAD is 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.

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.