Alcohol Tourism
Helping underscore this transformation is the opening of five new bourbon tasting rooms in 2025.
“ From Whiskey Row to NuLu and Paristown Pointe, distillers are choosing Louisville because visitors want immersive, walkable experiences that connect bourbon to history, food, music and neighborhood culture,” Yates says.“ Spaces like Pursuit Spirits’ live podcast studio, WhistlePig’ s Vault inside a restored 1911 bank building, and Green River’ s downtown speakeasy-style tasting room highlight how creative and diverse bourbon tourism has become.”
This concept of Louisville as an all-inclusive, walking experience for whiskey fans is helped by the many new restaurants, bars, and hotels that have opened up in recent years.
“ Growth is being supported by broader downtown investment,” Yates says.“ The opening of Hotel Bourré Bonne adds another high-quality lodging option in the heart of the bourbon district, making it easier for visitors to stay downtown, explore on foot and extend their time— and their spending— in Louisville.”
“ Today, Louisville believes it is the only truly walkable whiskey destination in the world, with multiple distilleries, tasting rooms, bars, restaurants and hotels clustered in a compact, urban setting,” she adds.“ Bourbon here isn’ t a standalone attraction— it’ s woven
Louisville has embraced whiskey tourism throughout the city.
Pursuit Spirits represents a modern take on whiskey tourism, offering numerous forms of authentic experiences for visitors.
into the fabric of the city. As new distilleries, hospitality projects and neighborhoods continue to evolve together, bourbon tourism remains a powerful driver of visitation and a point of pride for the entire community.”
Yates believes the city saw 600,000 bourbon visits in 2025, besting 2024’ s total of 573,116.
PURSUIT SPIRITS
As Yates explained, what brings whiskey fans to Louisville, and Kentucky in general, are authentic, immersive experiences. For instance, Pursuit Spirits in 2025 opened a tasting room and podcast studio on Whiskey Row.
This growing brand began as a podcast, Bourbon Pursuit, which became the most popular show of its genre, before branching into spirits. Today, the company reflects modern whiskey enthusiasm and tourism.
Last August, their Whiskey Row location opened with 7,500 square feet across two floors. The first floor is meant for tasting and business, with multiple rooms where visitors can fill their own bottles and sample potential barrel picks from Pursuit. The floor below is a cocktail lounge called Trial + Error.
“ It doesn’ t have our branding, which was done intentionally,” says Pursuit Spirits co-founder Kenny Coleman.“ This is a basement speakeasy. It needed its own personality. We have the largest bar owned by a distillery on Whiskey Row.”
The idea is to encourage visitors along their spirits journeys at their own pace and preference. It’ s ideal for attracting customers of all levels of whiskey knowledge. Beside the bar is a glassed-in podcast booth, where fans of Bourbon Pursuit can watch Coleman and his colleagues at work. Altogether, it’ s a welcoming, immersive, authentic experience.
“ Our space is built for people on their whiskey journeys from zero to 1,000,” Coleman says.“ At the same time, we’ re not going to be the typical experience. We’ re focused on hosting the consumer who has already had all the big distillery tours, and wants to know what’ s the next thing. And that’ s discovery.”
“ At our bar, we want you to go discover what you like in whiskey,” he adds.“ We have flights available. We have single barrels. We try to provide education without the feeling of stress.”
As for tourism,“ We’ re still seeing very strong numbers,” Coleman says.“ It should make up around 15 % to 20 % of revenue for most places. For us, that will be closer to 40 %.”
“ There’ s strength in numbers in Louisville tourism,” he adds.“ You can see what they’ re doing to promote the city. There’ s more events now. More attractions and conferences.”
For instance,“ Ace Hardware held a conference here at the end of February. We got a spinoff from it. Weber Grill, Big Green Egg, and Meat Church all reached out to do onsite activities here.”
It’ s no surprise that Pursuit Spirits has had success at their Whiskey Row location, given the unique blend of podcast and bar.
“ The podcast has been a great driver of growth,” Coleman says.“ We invite people to meet and greets at the bar. It’ s a great opportunity for fans and brand engagement.”
In fact, he notes,“ I had one customer tell me that his dad had driven him here because they were listeners of the podcast. It’ s an organic driver of growth and connection.”
30 Beverage Wholesaler • Summer 2026 www. beveragewholesaler. com