Off the trail: A look at Louisville’s buzzing bar scene
Fuelled by visitors to the Bourbon Trail, Louisville’s cocktail scene is growing, with options extending beyond traditional serves.
*This feature was originally published in the September issue of The Spirits Business magazine.
Tourism is booming in the Bluegrass State, with the Kentucky Distillers’ Association reporting that the Kentucky Bourbon Trail saw 2.7 million visitors in 2024, an all-time high.
As a result, downtown Louisville has undergone a transformation in recent years, with more brand homes opening, and a greater number of cocktail bars catering to a wide array of palates.
Louisville, and its drinking scene, look markedly different than they did five to 10 years ago.
“It was very much what people still think of it as, which is Bourbon everywhere,” Jeff Knott, owner of cocktail bar Tartan House, says. “You’d be lucky 10 years ago to get a moderately made, pre-batched Old Fashioned on a distillery tour.”
Tartan House opened in 2023, and is illustrative of this new phase of Louisville’s cocktail bars. With nods to Scotch whisky, it sits in a residential house, the interior decorated like a living room, giving it a homely, welcoming feel. The drinks menu balances creativity and approachability.
“Louisville was craving something to push a little bit beyond where everybody was,” Knott says. “If it wasn’t us, it would have been somebody else. But in a different way.”
In Louisville, it is impossible to separate local drinking culture from the Bourbon business. To understand the evolution of the city’s cocktail scene, it is helpful to look at the brands themselves, namely Michter’s, which opened The Bar at Fort Nelson in 2019. It started to come up with the concept for the space as early as 2011.
“We drew inspiration from great bars around the country and around the world, rather than distillery bars because, frankly, there weren’t examples domestically that we could point to,” says Matt Magliocco, executive vice-president at Michter’s. “The idea with Fort Nelson was how do we develop a bar that would have crossover appeal?”
Magliocco credits bartenders for building up Michter’s to the brand it is today. The Bar at Fort Nelson gives back to the local trade community by hosting the Fort Nelson Fellows programme, through which visiting bartenders and hospitality professionals can give masterclasses on an area they are passionate about.
“We frequently have guests who come in from other distillery bars to attend the presentations, and we love that,” he says. “Louisville has given the brand so much, and to that extent, we will do anything that is fun and positive for the Louisville bar community.”
By placing hospitality and flavour first, Michter’s has set a new standard for the distillery cocktail bar. So, when Green River Distilling opened its downtown Louisville tasting room in June of 2025, the cocktail programme had to be well-conceived.
“People will come for the brand name, but they’ll stay for the cocktails,” said Jon Cecil. Cecil was born and raised in Louisville, and is the senior manager of the city’s visitor experiences for Lofted Spirits, which owns Green River. “Being able to find great bartenders and people who understand flavour was a huge part of the pre-opening process for us,” he says.
An influx of bartending talent has also contributed to the now buzzing Louisville cocktail scene. Knott is from New Orleans, and came to Louisville to help a friend set up the bar at the Willett Distillery.
When he relocated to open Tartan House, Lindsay Matteson came with him. Matteson had tended bar in New York and Seattle, and was dating Knott long distance before also setting up shop in Louisville, where she is the general manager at Hell or High Water, a speakeasy-style bar that opened in 2018.
“Louisville honestly wasn’t on my radar, but it ended up being a really good fit for me,” Matteson says, noting that her role at Hell or High Water was simply fine-tuning the menu, and offering the expertise that she gained at previous venues like New York’s Pouring Ribbons and Amor y Amargo, passing that on to her all-female, mostly young bar staff.
“I’m seeing a lot more talent, passion and interest from the bartenders here to talk about nerdy cocktail stuff, and learn and grow. I don’t see a lot of pretension in the city. I see a lot of humble bartenders excited to keep learning, growing, and elevating.”
It is common for guests who have been hitting the Bourbon Trail to enter one of these bars and feel relieved they can order something other than whiskey. It is also common for large groups to visit, with some less enthusiastic about Bourbon than others. The cocktail scene has grown to meet these demands, to offer options to thirsty tourists and obsessive locals alike.
Out of the spotlight
Yet Louisville bars fail to make ‘best of’ lists or become shortlisted for industry awards.
“In any city in the world where there is a good, proud, competitive bar scene, that city feels underrepresented,” Magliocco says. While that can be true, both Knott and Matteson feel the city gets overlooked for more popular cocktail destinations that perhaps carry greater caché.
Still, with Tartan House recently celebrating its two-year anniversary, there is a sense that a dent is being made.
“It’s not about the award recognition, but if we are consistent and keep doing what we’re doing, and keep creating great experiences for people who might come for a bachelor or bachelorette party, or the Bourbon Trail, or just passing through, who expect to be able to get good Bourbon – which they’re going to be able to – if they come to one of our bars, they’re also going to get amazing hospitality, and fantastic cocktails that might have nothing to do with Bourbon or whiskey in general,” Knott says.
“Just keep setting up new experiences and keep changing people’s opinions on what the area is all about. I think whatever comes after that is going to be great.”
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