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…

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.

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.

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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.

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…