WHISKEY EDUCATION, COCKTAILS, CULINARY & MORE

Kick off the 2026 Kentucky Bourbon Festival in style with Bourbon in the Air — an exclusive Thursday evening celebration set against the backdrop of the Great Lawn.

This highly sought-after event offers a limited number of guests a first look at the festival grounds before they officially open, with early access to select distillery booths, live music, and a relaxed, open-air atmosphere.

Guests will enjoy:

• Catered hors d’oeuvres from local culinary partners
• Signature cocktails and neat pours from some of Kentucky’s top distilleries
• A chance to mingle with distillers and fellow bourbon lovers
• Live music to set the tone for an unforgettable weekend

Whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned festival-goer, Bourbon in the Air is the perfect way to raise a glass to what’s to come.

When New Riff Distillery began 12 years ago, its founders set out to make whiskies that respected tradition yet were innovative. Between its first bourbons and ryes, Bottled-In-Bonds both, and its one-of-a-kind Sour Mash Kentucky Single Malt Whiskey, New Riff has created many dozens of one-off releases highlighting forgotten heirloom grains, distilling tweaks and aging techniques. So, though you know of New Riff, you’ve likely not tasted many of the rarities we’ll share in this session. (Light bites included.)

David Danielson is asked frequently about how one should cook with bourbon, but he allows that simple answers aren’t always helpful. Cooks must become experienced at using it in food to learn how it behaves and how it impacts overall flavor. Come learn from Danielson—an owner of multiple restaurants who long was the corporate chef over Churchill Downs—in this special session focused on bourbon-cooking technique. Eat some of his globally inspired creations and enjoy a little bourbon with it all!

Many are inspired to write fiction and autobiographies, but Peggy Noe Stevens, Heather Wibbles and Jennifer Brian wrote books about their love of cocktails. “Bourbon Straight” book author Chuck Cowdery leads this entertaining discussion of craft, process and committed endurance to move a book from concept to printed words. Attendees will hear those authors’ stories, sample cocktails from each book and have a chance to buy each author’s works!

When Chris Williams took over Four Pegs restaurant and bar in Louisville, Ky., he upped its simple pub food to elevated barbecue-centric creations covering lunch, brunch and dinner. On Four Pegs’ bar is a broad range of American whiskies that play well with ingredients in Williams’ pantry and pair nicely with his dishes. Let Chris teach you how to experience what many call “the ideal pairing” of American whiskey and barbecue.

Longtime distiller, Lisa Wicker, has spent much of her career as a master taster and blender for multiple brands. What sounds to some like the world’s greatest job is, in reality, highly complicated and requires keen sensory and organizational skills. As director of distilling at Whiskey Thief Distillery, Wicker, with the assistance of her boss, Whiskey Thief founder, Walter Zausch, will lead you through a few exercises common to the work of a master taster—including sampling, of course!

In her work as a mixologist and whiskey presenter, Aften Locken has mastered the use of inexpensive spirits to create decadent and exciting cocktails that rival their premium peers. If you want to up your cocktail game without busting your liquor budget, join her to learn how and taste those drinks on the spot!

When Michter’s Andrea Wilson and Dan McKee put on a whiskey-centric brunch, they require fabulous food to go with the distillery’s legendary whiskies. Expect some rare Michter’s pours served alongside a traditional southern foods spread.

At Moonshine University in Louisville, Ky., distilling and sensory experts, Clay Smith and Jason Lawrence, train whiskey makers to recognize appealing and “off” aromas and flavors in order to improve their products. In this session, they’ll guide you to identify a wide range of whiskey attributes through nosing and tasting. If you want to boost your whiskey knowledge quickly, this is your class!

Long before Newman Miller became co-owner of Scout & Scholar Brewing Co. and Mr. Tubs Bar in Bardstown, he traveled widely across the U.S. and to foreign countries as a fine dining chef. His skill for blending flavors from a global palate and pairing them with whiskey is truly unique and always adventurous. Join Miller to sample foods into which bourbon is cooked and with which bourbon is paired to create an exciting and indelible taste experience.

Step beyond the bourbon renaissance and into a world where history lives in the glass. Join Jeremy Schell, retired entrepreneur, philanthropist, and co-host of The Bourbon Show podcast, for an exploration of rare vintage bourbons from the 1950s through the 1980s. Taken from his personal vault, each pour offers a glimpse into a bygone era of American whiskey. These old bottles are time capsules revealing flavors and craftsmanship many believe can’t be replicated. Through guided tasting and storytelling, Schell brings each spirit to life. A significant portion of proceeds from this tasting will benefit Pitt Academy in Louisville, supporting students with learning differences, including ADHD, Autism, Down Syndrome, and speech/language deficits.

Since Stu Plush cooks at Bardstown Bourbon Co., there’s no shortage of whiskies to incorporate into foods or pair with them. In this demo, Plush will introduce guests to a wide range of bourbon-and-food possibilities inspired by smoked foods and Korean and Appalachian cuisines. And, of course, he’ll pair them with BBC whiskies.

Everyone knows what a banana smells like, but can you detect that in a bourbon? What about white pepper, nutmeg or even bubble gum? Do you know which steps in whiskey making creates those surprising aromas? Let Peggy Noe Stevens guide you in this one-of-a-kind tasting and nosing experience. Back by popular demand, this 2025 sellout session will broaden your understanding of how food and whiskey flavors and aromas mimic and complement each other.

This pairing of what our five panelists confidently describe as, “food and whiskey from the better half of Kentucky,” was a quick-sellout in 2025. It returns this year with new bites from Thomasen’s Barbecue, and new whiskies from Ingram Distillery, Jackson Purchase Distillery, Silk Velvet Bourbon and Western Kentucky Distillery. Expect sweet and savory bites and paired with exceptional whiskies from up-and-coming Western Kentucky whiskey makers.

Few better ways to kick off an easy Sunday morning than with brunch, cocktails and whiskey pours. Join us when Ingram Distillery master taster Scott Beyer shares stories about this remarkable up-and-coming whiskey maker while you dine on perfectly paired southern fare.

Finding dusty bottles, sharing the liquids within them and telling brand stories about them is what Patrick Garrett does for a living. Join “Pops”— as he’s called by friends and clients—for a tasting of four whiskies older than most Kentucky Bourbon Festival attendees. Suffice it to say, you’ll not find these sippable treasures available for tasting at any distillery booth on our grounds.

Aften Locken takes a decidedly delicious but non-traditional approach to bourbon cocktails in this tasting of Kentucky tiki drinks. Her “Why not shake bourbon with pineapple, orgeat, mint and allspice dram?” approach will shift your thinking about drinking to what you’ve been missing and should be tasting more often. Leave your cocktail preconceptions at the door and walk in with an open mind and palate for this flavor-filled drink demo.

Winemakers and drinkers talk a lot about terroir, the French term describing the influence of place and weather have on ingredients’ final flavors. Seth De Bolt, director of the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits, and Heaven Hill master distiller Conor O’Driscoll believe the same attributes and more affect American whiskey similarly. Grain varietals and where they’re grown, the specific woods used for barrels to hold distillate, and where those filled barrels rest in rickhouses, all make unique impacts on the whiskies you love. Join them for some extended and purposeful sipping during this informative session.