The Sunday Whiskey Row Walking Tour

Situated on the corner of 8th and Main Street within the Hillerich & Bradsby campus — home of the iconic Louisville Slugger — Big Bat Bourbon brings an entirely different dimension to Whiskey Row: participation. As Louisville's only create-and-bottle-your-own bourbon experience, this stop puts guests in the blender's seat, working with six wood-finished bourbons to craft a recipe that's uniquely their own. It's a concept rooted in the 1800s tradition of Whiskey Row barrel blending, reimagined for today — and a fitting reminder that on this street, bourbon has always been as much about craft as it is about taste.

At 624 W. Main Street, Buzzard's Roost is one of the Row's best-kept secrets — and one of its most exciting. Founded in 2019 by Judy Hollis Jones and Jason Brauner, this woman-led company has made a name for itself through its innovative second-barrel aging technique and its intimate speakeasy-style tasting room. It's the kind of stop that rewards an early start: unhurried, personal, and full of the kind of character you won't find at a larger operation.

No stop on the morning tour carries more historical gravity than the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience at 528 W. Main Street. Evan Williams was Kentucky's first commercial distiller, and this artisanal distillery — operated by Heaven Hill — sits directly across from the site of his original 1783 operation on the Ohio River. It was also the first distillery to return to Whiskey Row after Prohibition, making it the spiritual anchor of everything this street represents. A fitting place to raise a glass and reflect on how it all began.