Bourbon District

Bourbon District. . , Bourbon - America's native spirit - was born in Kentucky, created by mixing early settlers' distillation skills with the state's natural geology and geography., Corn - the essential crop for bourbon - grows abundant here, as do the white oak trees, the only wood allowed for bourbon barrel making. The hot summers and cold winters provide ideal climate conditions for aging and Kentucky's vast waterways provide the pure, ever-flowing limestone-filtered water for distillers across the state., Ninety-five percent of the world's bourbon is produced in Kentucky - one third of that is made right here in Louisville. , Louisville is home to at least 12 active distilleries and the state ages more than 5 million barrels every year-outnumbering its population., There are no less than 60 coopers (barrel-makers and stave companies supporting the booming spirits industry - the Louisville area is home to at least seven. Barrels used to age Kentucky bourbon are made in Kentucky. When a barrel is empty, it is used to age Scotch, Irish whisky, rum, and tequila. There's a little bit of Kentucky in every spirit you drink!, Louisville's location on the Ohio River and the emergence of the railroad elevated the city as a natural commerce hub, helping make it the capital of Kentucky's bourbon empire. , By 1900, the city's "Whiskey Row" was home to the largest concentration of whiskey companies, not just in the United States, but in the world. More than 100 whiskey-related businesses had an address along a 10-block stretch of Main Street - from Ninth Street to Brook Street., Distillery headquarters, barrel warehouses, whiskey rectifiers, equipment manufacturers, trade publishers, bottle label printers, and coopers all found a home on the famous Whiskey Row., But with Prohibition's passage in 1919, the legal production of bourbon halted. Once-booming distilleries shuttered, suppliers dried up, and the industry was no more...for a time., Today, Louisville celebrates the rebirth of our spirits heritage and proudly welcomes you to the Bourbon District to explore the sites, stories, and tastes of our rich distilling history.