Sweet amber dreams: 7 places in Kentucky to eat, drink and sleep bourbon
Bourbon lovers can never get enough of Kentucky’s signature beverage. Not only do they want to drink it, but also eat and now, sleep it.
Restaurants have made bourbon an essential part of cooking and it appears that bourbon also makes for a good night’s sleep.
At these seven places bourbon is as essential as high thread-count sheets.
Old Talbott Tavern, Bardstown
107 W. Stephen Foster Ave., Bardstown; 502-348-3494; talbotttavern.com
The bar at this six-room historic inn on Bardstown’s Courthouse Square is the granddaddy of all bourbon bars. The rustic tavern has been satisfying thirsty customers since 1779, the year the inn opened as the oldest stagecoach stop west of the Allegheny Mountains. Yep, that makes this the oldest bourbon bar in the world.
Their inventory includes more than 300 bourbons, but many visitors opt for the bar’s signature cocktail, the Sidecar Named Desire. This concoction made up of Woodford Reserve Bourbon, house made strawberry simple syrup, lemon juice, apple cider and Cointreau and garnished with raw sugar around the rim of a martini glass won Cocktail of the Year at the 2014 Kentucky Bourbon Festival.
By all means, indulge, but don’t overindulge as did one of the bar’s most famous customers.
Outlaw Jesse James was a bourbon lover, and following a night of heavy drinking, he stumbled upstairs to his room. Seeing painted birds on a wall mural, he mistook them for real birds and got off a round of shots before realizing his error. The bullet holes still remain in the wall.
The Samuels House
160 S St. Gregory Church Road, Samuels, Ky.; (502) 906-2076; thesamuelshouse.com
Who knows more about bourbon than the Samuels family? Visitors to Maker’s Mark Distillery in Loretto learn their contribution to the industry, but guests who check into The Samuels House get a more up close and personal bourbon experience.
The Federal-style house dates from 1820 when it was built by John Samuels whose father Robert made whiskey for George Washington’s troops during the Revolutionary War.
The house was the site of the surrender of the last armed guerilla group following the Civil War. That group, which included future outlaw Frank James, surrendered to Sheriff T. W. Samuels – yes, a family member.
For history of a different kind, the house contains the Samuels family’s personal memorabilia, including the deep fryer used by Margie Samuels to perfect the signature red wax seals on Maker’s Mark bottles.
Today, the Samuels House operates as a three-bedroom bed & breakfast for the true bourbon aficionado. Rooms are luxurious with two of them having fireplaces and vintage wardrobes. There’s a stocked chef’s kitchen, dining room with a 200-year-old original mural, a stone patio with a fire pit, and a parlor with a custom crafted bar displaying more than 50 bottles of whiskey produced by the Samuels family (sorry, no drinking, only looking.)
However, drinking is encouraged during a private talk and sipping with Bill Samuels, Jr., or a bourbon dinner with chef Newman Miller (both add-ons).
This is the ultimate insider’s bourbon experience.
Hermitage Farm, Goshen
10500 US-42, Goshen; (502) 398-9289; hermitagefarm.com
Spend the night in a five-bedroom mansion on a farm owned by Brown-Forman heiress Laura Lee Brown and her husband Steve Wilson.
Guests must rent out the entire house, and they have a choice of several bourbon-related activities as add-ons: a build-your-own old Fashioned class with one of the farm’s bourbon stewards; a single barrel pick upon arrival, and if you time your visit right, one of the quarterly distillers’ dinners.
One thing guests can enjoy any time is a meal at Barn 8 Restaurant, a unique experience combining the commonwealth’s two signature industries – bourbon and horses.
Have dinner Wednesday through Saturday or Sunday brunch, and reserve one of the three stalls once occupied by a famous Thoroughbred (I dined in the stall of Isolde, dam of 1953 Kentucky Derby winner Dark Star.)
Enjoy a house old-fashioned or Cowgirl Coffee (Rittenhouse rye, spiced coconut cream and walnut syrup) with your meal, and then have a nightcap in the cozy bar which Wilson has stocked with 160 bourbons and 32 ryes.
Afterwards, retreat to your accommodations surrounded by stately pin oaks and lush green farm land, and decorated with a mix of antique furnishings and contemporary art from Brown’s & Wilson’s 21c Museum Hotel collections.
Chateau Bourbon, Prospect
10630 Meeting St., Prospect; 502-290-6553; chateaubourbon.com
This inn offers “comfort with a splash of bourbon.” For starters, your accommodation will be in one of four suites - Reserve, Single Barrel, Angel’s Share and Stillhouse (how can you have anything but pleasant dreams?)
The three-course breakfasts also incorporate the Chateau’s namesake beverage – bourbon granola, anyone? And that’s just for starters.
Missy Hillock, who owns the Chateau Bourbon with her husband, John, is an executive bourbon steward, and is happy to give her guests a bourbon tutorial in everything from the distilling process to sharing cocktail recipes.
She’s also happy to have them drink their bourbon and eat it too at the evening “Sip and Sweets” Happy Hour. Bourbon cocktails using fresh herbs, fruit or house made syrups are paired with delectable treats such as bourbon toffee truffles in Ghirardelli chocolate.
Add-ons include a bottle of bottled in bond bourbon and two cigars to enjoy on the balcony or patio, and a craft bourbon flight (four pours from some of Kentucky’s finest craft distilleries.)
Bourbon Manor, Bardstown
714 N. 3rd St.; 502-512-0122; bourbonmanor.com
Only in the “Bourbon Capital of the World,” would you find as bourbon-centric a property as Bourbon Manor. Innkeepers Tyler Horton and Todd Allen believe that when they opened it in 2013, it was the first bourbon-themed bed and breakfast in the country.
Fashioned from two pre-Civil War plantation homes – an 1810 Federal-style and an 1820 Greek Revival antebellum mansion – it was occupied, at separate times, by both Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg and by Union troops en route to the Battle of Perryville.
In neither of the above was there time for bourbon drinking, but that’s not the case for today’s visitors where the emphasis is all on bourbon.
The 10 spirit-themed guest rooms are all named after cocktails featured nightly in the bourbon bar. So, whether you prefer a Mint Julep, Manhattan or Scarlet Starlet (either the room or the drink, it’s yours.)
The bar is currently set up inside the lobby of the main house, but in spring of 2023, they plan to re-open the Bunghole Bar (destroyed by a fire) in its original location in the barn.
In addition to a gourmet breakfast, the inn also offers three bourbon tours (self-driving, local excursion shuttle or private transportation and driver) which include two distilleries, Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History, a box of Rebecca Ruth bourbon balls and two cocktails in the Manor’s bar.
The property has been lauded by the New York Times as “a stylish place to stay while touring the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.”
Charred Oaks Inn, Versailles
341 Lexington St.; Versailles; 859-513-6156; charredoaksinn.com
This peaceful inn in its park-like setting is a slight anomaly among bourbon-themed inns. It doesn’t have a liquor license, so you won’t be able to belly up to the bar for your nightly bourbon.
You can, however, bring your own favorite bourbon and make use of the inn’s wet bar with all the necessary utensils for creating a cocktail to enjoy in the living room, on the terrace or in the privacy of your room.
Don’t worry, you will get your bourbon intake in the bountiful breakfast where dishes such as bourbon hoecakes, Woodford Pudding and Race Day Pie are on the menu.
The Galt House, Louisville
140 N. Fourth St., Louisville; 502-589-5200; galthouse.com
One might not think of this historic property as being bourbon-themed, but it certainly is bourbon-centric. A visitor can drink bourbon here to his/her heart’s content.
Start off with a signature drink in the Jockey Silks Lounge – maybe a Bluegrass Rose (Four Roses bourbon, blueberry puree, triple sec and lemon juice) or, if you’re really brave, a Kentucky Iced Tea (Evan Williams bourbon, Rittenhouse rye, Carpano Antica vermouth, peach schnapps, peach puree, Goslings Ginger beer and lime).
The Jockey Silks’ list of 150 bourbons is exceeded by the newly re-opened Down One Bourbon Bar with its inventory of 200 bourbons.
This sophisticated New York-style eatery has a subterranean speakeasy feel and elevated American pub grub which pairs well with one of the hand-crafted cocktails. To honor the Derby, have a Mint Julep, or if you prefer the fillies, an Oaks Lily.
To further emphasize bourbon at The Galt House, the rooftop restaurant, Swizzle, offers a monthly bourbon dinner (the next will be a Wild Turkey Dinner on Nov. 10), and beginning in November, it will host dinners where America’s most celebrated chefs will present dishes featuring bourbon.
Kicking it off will be Dallas-based celebrity chef Kent Rathbun. His dishes will remain on Swizzle’s menu until February when chef Noah Sandoval of Chicago’s 2-Michelin star restaurant Oriole takes the helm.
Thanks to The Galt House, guests can have their bourbon and eat it too.