As sure as it is to evoke a distinct sense of romance, bourbon is a drink for the seasons. Especially so in Kentucky, which enjoys all four. Think winter nights by the fire. Spring at the races. Summertime, when the living is easy, filtering into an autumn that glows like a favored bottle. Pour yourself a taste and let the feeling seep in.
A state that can spot a winner, Kentucky is finding new ways to cozy up to bourbon — its signature creation — as a coveted asset that is uniquely its own. The wild success of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, now in its 26th year, is a testament to the the state’s increasing popularity as a global tourist destination.
“Bourbon is an incredible product that is in demand throughout the world,” said Gov. Andy Beshear. “And people love the Bourbon Trail.”
With its roots in the 1880s, the Kentucky Distillers Association is one of the nation’s oldest trade organizations. Its 1999 creation of the the Bourbon Trail, a roadmap to Kentucky’s most renowned and bucolic distilleries, has been a stroke of genius. Having steadily expanded to include more than 60 destinations, the Trail attracts in the neighborhood of 2 million guests each year. Included among them are well-heeled international travelers known to extend business stays for the bourbon experience. KDA is expanding its global outreach.
The chart-topping country music group Little Big Town performs on The Amp at Log Still in New Haven in Nelson County, Kentucky.
Photo courtesy of KDA
“There’s a tremendous enthusiasm for bourbon in the European Union countries, Canada, Japan and other parts of Asia,” said Jack Mazurak, KDA’s director of governmental and regulatory affairs. “And while we’re more than happy to supply them with bourbon, there’s a growing segment that wants to move beyond that and is willing to take the time and spend the money to come visit our distilleries.”
“Over the last two decades, every important economic measure of the distilling industry has risen to unprecedented levels”
— KDA’s 2024 economic impact report
It’s a phenomenon that dovetails nicely with the state’s New Kentucky Home campaign, Mazurak said..
“There’s a long history of people coming to Kentucky and falling in love with it,” he noted. “You only need to give them a good reason to visit, and that’s what the Bourbon Trail is. Once people experience Kentucky, a lot of them want to stay.”
Breaking Down the Boom
Through its advocacy, KDA has helped create space for the long-running “bourbon boom,” perhaps best measured by the surge of private investment to meet growing worldwide demand. From 2009 to 2024, according to KDA, the number of Kentucky distilleries multiplied by five. As of early 2025, state-licensed distilleries numbered 119, owned by 96 companies across dozens of Kentucky counties. Direct employment in the sector approaches 25,000. Annual economic impact is more than $9 billion.
“Over the last two decades,” trumpets KDA’s 2024 economic impact report, “every important economic measure of the distilling industry has risen to unprecedented levels — facilities, production volume, inventory, employment, payroll, investment, visitation and taxes generated.”
A $250 million investment by Atlanta-based Staghorn was one of Kentucky’s biggest of 2024. Staghorn’s Garrard County Distilling Company is geared toward producing up to 15,000 barrels of bourbon a year. It’s bringing 60 new jobs to Garrard County, which was legally “dry” until a 2023 referendum. (Perhaps not coincidentally, Garrard was home to Carrie Nation, the face of the national temperance movement that led to Prohibition in 1920. Her childhood cottage is recreated on distillery grounds.)
Among other new investments, Eastern Light Distilling is bringing contract bourbon to Morehead, a university town of 7,000 east of Lexington. The $144 million project will create 50 full-time jobs on a 230-acre campus that’s to include a distillery, rickhouse, bottling facility and event space.
The demand for bourbon is peaking all over the world.
Photo courtesy of KDA
Further cementing bourbon’s momentum, other recent investments include Jackson Purchase Distillery in Fulton County ($10 million/54 jobs); Henderson County Distilling Co. ($5 million/12 jobs); Maker’s Mark in Loretto ($19 million/21 jobs); and Owensboro’s Green River Distilling Co. ($29 million/10 jobs).
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail is an important part of a booming tourism economy in Kentucky.
Photo by Charity Hedges courtesy of Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development
A Tradition’s New Horizons
In Kentucky, bourbon has advanced beyond merely a source of imbibement into a catalyst for tailored hospitality. Log Still Distillery, a 360-degree bourbon oasis in historic Nelson County, could be considered Exhibit A.
Since opening in 2020 on 350 acres of former moonshining property, Log Still has evolved into an “all-encompassing immersive experience,” said proprietor Wally Dant, a legacy distiller. Now a full-service resort, Log Still has come to include not just a premium distillery and assorted tasting rooms but high-end lodging, farm-to-table restaurant, fishing pond, hiking trails and sleek conference center. Log Still’s outdoor “Amp” holds up to 2,300 concertgoers and has featured such musical luminaries as Dwight Yoakam, Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives, Elle King, Brothers Osborne and Martina McBride.
Distilleries are bringing in coveted chefs. The Kitchen Table restaurant at the iconic James B. Beam Distilling Company in Clermont opened in 2022 as part of a major campus expansion. Chef Brian Landry leans on local ingredients for his Kentucky Burgoo, a luscious stew of pork, beef, chicken and vegetables.
Projected to open in 2025 in downtown Louisville, Green River Distilling’s latest satellite tasting room is to feature a premium lounge and performance space, plus a hidden entrance that leads, conspiratorially, to a dimly lit speakeasy. Green River is owned by the venerable Bardstown Bourbon Company, which runs a popular tasting room and retail shop just steps away on Louisville’s “Whiskey Row.”
“Everything from restaurants to vintage bars, concert stages and event venues,” said KDA’s Mazurak, “is creating new lines of businesses for our distilleries. And for our guests, they’re providing more options to experience not just Kentucky bourbon, but the amazing beauty of our commonwealth.”
