Whiskey Row in Louisville: What to See and How to Plan It

Quick Facts

• Location: the 100 block of West Main Street (101 to 133 W. Main), downtown Louisville, between First and Second streets.
• National Register: listed June 4, 2010, as the Whiskey Row Historic District (NRIS 89000385).
• Architecture: commercial buildings from 1852 to 1905 in Chicago, Beaux Arts and Renaissance styles, with cast-iron storefronts.
• Distillery experiences on Main Street: Old Forester (119 W. Main), Evan Williams Bourbon Experience (528 W. Main), Michter's Fort Nelson (801 W. Main).
• Tours at every venue are ticketed. Book ahead, especially on fall and spring weekends.
• Age: guests must be 21 to consume alcohol; some experiences may require all attendees to be 21.
• Private tours: a custom tour can include Whiskey Row distilleries as stops, or start or end on Main Street.

What and where Whiskey Row is

The National Register district covers one block, 101 to 133 W. Main. The north side, from Hotel Distil at First and Main to Bearno's near Second and Main, holds the historic core and its cast-iron storefronts. The National Park Service record lists commerce and architecture as the district's areas of significance, with periods of significance from 1850 to 1924.

Distillery experiences on Main Street

Every venue below is ticketed. We book each one ahead for our guests, and independent visitors should do the same. Check current hours when you book, because they shift by season and private events.

Old Forester Distilling Co.

119 West Main Street, inside the historic district. Old Forester says it is "back where we started on historic Whiskey Row," and traces the brand to George Garvin Brown's founding in 1870. The Old Forester Tour runs from barreling to bottling, and the lineup adds tastings and George's Cocktail Classes. More on the Old Forester distillery on Main Street.

Evan Williams Bourbon Experience

528 West Main Street. The guided experience runs about 45 minutes to an hour and combines a historical tour, the artisanal still and a guided tasting. All ages can tour; the tasting is 21 and over.

Michter's Fort Nelson Distillery

801 West Main Street, across from the Louisville Slugger Museum and Bat Factory. Guided tours end with a tasting, and Michter's strongly recommends reserving online. See our Michter's Fort Nelson tour guide for more.

The Frazier History Museum and the welcome center

The Frazier History Museum sits at 829 West Main Street, at the west end of the Main Street bourbon stretch. Its first floor houses the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Welcome Center. The center opened in 2018, and guest services staff help with trip planning.

Nearby, just off Main Street

None of these four is inside the National Register district. Angel's Envy, Rabbit Hole and the Whiskey Thief tasting room sit within a few blocks of each other in and near NuLu, about a 15-minute walk east of Old Forester, and Kentucky Peerless is a short walk west of the Frazier.

Angel's Envy

500 East Main Street, which the brand places in Louisville's Bourbon District on Whiskey Row. The Signature Tour runs about an hour and ends with three whiskeys paired with chocolate. Guided tours cap at 12 guests. More in our Angel's Envy distillery tour guide.

Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co.

120 North 10th Street, just north of Main Street and a short walk west of the Frazier. Walk-ins welcome when space allows; we reserve ahead for groups. The distillery tour runs about an hour for up to 14 guests, and guests under 21 may join it with an adult.

Rabbit Hole Distillery

711 East Jefferson Street in NuLu, two blocks south of Main Street and east of Angel's Envy. Tours are by reservation only, capped at 8 guests, and run about an hour before a tasting at the Overlook lounge. See our Rabbit Hole distillery tour guide.

Whiskey Thief tasting room

610 Nanny Goat Strut in NuLu, the Louisville tasting room of the Frankfort farm distillery. Guests taste Whiskey Thief's single-barrel bourbons. It is a separate experience from Rickhouse Barrel Thieving at Bardstown Bourbon Company. See our Whiskey Thief guide.

How Whiskey Row fits a Kentucky bourbon trip

Whiskey Row works as a walkable half day on your own: two Main Street tours, the Frazier and lunch fill an afternoon without a car. It also fits the evening before or after a private day in the country. The big production campuses sit outside the city: Louisville to Bardstown is about 50 minutes, and Louisville to Frankfort is about 60, per our Kentucky distillery drive times.

A private day reaches them. Custom tours typically run three stops, and we can add or subtract on your planning call. Three stops inside one cluster leaves time to stand still at each one, so we usually keep the country portion in one area, such as the Bardstown distilleries or the Frankfort stops around Buffalo Trace. Our private bourbon tours from Louisville page lays out each cluster.

We are a custom tour company, so a private day can start and end anywhere, Whiskey Row included. Its distilleries can be stops, or the day can begin at a Main Street distillery and then head to Bardstown, or finish downtown before dinner. Pickup at downtown Louisville hotels is standard for our private tours, and we set the time once the itinerary is built.

Standard distillery experiences are included; premium and VIP add-ons are quoted on your planning call. See what a private bourbon tour costs for per-person rates by group size.

Practical notes for visiting Whiskey Row

Walking and parking. Old Forester at 119 W. Main and the Frazier at 829 W. Main sit on the same street, with Evan Williams and Michter's between them. If you drive, check each venue's parking guidance; Kentucky Peerless notes street parking nearby and says the lot across the street is not theirs. A downtown hotel puts most stops on foot. Our where to stay guide covers the neighborhoods.

Frequently asked questions

Plan your Whiskey Row and bourbon country days

Whiskey Row gives you a walkable downtown half day. A private tour adds Bardstown or Frankfort without the drive. Send us your dates, group size and the distilleries on your list. We reply the same day between 8 AM and 8 PM Eastern; messages after 8 PM are answered the next morning. Start with our custom tours page.