There were quite a number of things that I learned on our most recent trip to Louisville, KY. The first as any realtor would tell you is just how important location is. We stayed at the Embassy Suites on the corner of 4th Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
If I were to go back, I probably wouldn't stay in the same location. Instead, I would head about four blocks north towards the Ohio River and stay in a hotel on Main Street or what many people refer to as "Whiskey Row".
There are no less than five distilleries located right on Main Street and I would guess for that reason alone, Whiskey Row was born.
After my wife and I left the Louisville Slugger Museum, we took a stroll down Whiskey Row and found ourselves eating at a place called Merle's Whiskey Kitchen.
Our first stop out of the Louisville Slugger factory was Michter's, one because it is right across the street, and two because it is one of my favorite bourbon's. The location they have down on Whiskey Row is pretty cool and it is in a very interesting building to boot!
I believe this location is called their Fort Nelson location and while they offer tours, 
As we stopped in each of these locations my wife and I saw several groups or couples wander in asking if they could take a tour only to be told everything was sold out.
Believe it or not, the only thing I bought at Michter's was a T-Shirt. If you ever get a chance, check out some of the offerings from Michter's. At right around $40 per bottle USD, their entry level whiskey, bourbon, and rye are really good. I haven't tried their sour mash, and they have some more aged bottles that are way out of my price range!
Moving along from Michter's, we came across this red limo that was adorned in what looked to be thousands(?), millions(?) of little rhinestones. It was pretty impressive, so I had to take a picture. It looks like it has been sitting there for a while though because the windshield was covered with dust.
The next stop on our walk was the Evan William Experience. It's interesting because many of these places are just tucked into the store fronts like any other store on main street. You might have a bakery or coffee shop, then a clothing store, and then boom! Tasting room/distillery.
As you can see from the sign above, Evan Williams is one of the oldest and most established distilleries in this area.
An interesting thing to note is that over the years, many of these distilleries and bourbons/whiskeys have been consolidated under a few major brands. Heaven Hill and Beam-Suntory are two of those. Even though a large conglomeration owns it all, each individual offering maintains its unique identity.
For example, Beam-Suntory owns: Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Old Grand-Dad,Basil Hayden, Knob Creek, and a whole bunch of other spirits.
Likewise, Heaven Hill owns: Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, Larceny, etc. Sazerac is another large company that owns a number of offerings including: Buffalo Trace, Weller, Eagle Rare, Blanton's, etc.
Needless to say, it's interesting how all of them are so interwoven.
Our stop to the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience was relatively short.
That's where I took this interesting shot. Then I ran back upstairs and up yet another set of stairs to their gift shop.
The only thing I picked up at the Evan Williams store was a bottle of Master Distiller Blend for my friend who is turning 50 this year. It is a special bottle you can only get from the store here, so I thought it would be something unique I could get him for the big 5 - 0. His birthday isn't until May, but I am excited to see his reaction when I give him the bottle.
Looking back, they have some more offerings that I wish I had picked up, but I guess I will have to save that for another trip.
From Evan Williams we walked about a quarter mile back down to Merle's Whiskey Kitchen. This was by far one of the coolest places we ate at in Louisville. They had hands down the best food we ate while we were on this vacation.
It looks a little dumpy from the outside, but that just hides the magic that is taking place inside.
As I said, if we were ever to come back to Louisville, we would likely stay at a hotel that is down in this area of the city. With live music every night on the weekend, this is a place that I could see myself spending a lot of time at.
I had read glowing reviews about their queso online, and since
The good news is, they didn't use the big block of Velveeta as their base. My wife can't stand Velveeta and she knows right away if it was used in a queso. I'm a little less picky, but I do appreciate a made from scratch queso.
The drinks on the other hand were outstanding. I got a classic Old Fashioned that you see in the first photo and
Next time I guess....
There were so many things that sounded good on their menu, but ultimately, we both got the tacos. I had read before visiting about their award winning green chili pork taco. It was fantastic! I got the flat iron steak taco in the first photo and the green chili pork in the second. The green chili jam that they used was amazing and the pork was cooked perfectly. It was my hands down favorite and I could have eaten five of them. The steak one was good as well, but not as good as the pork one.
They were just that good.
I can't recommend Merle's enough. I can only imagine how packed this place gets on a Friday or Saturday night. I could probably spend a full week eating through their menu.
After finishing up our lunch, we stepped across the street to the Old Forester Distillery. Old Forester is produced by the Brown-Forman corporation and it has the distinction of being the first bottled bourbon. It has been on the market continuously for longer than any other bourbon (according to the Internet).
Old Forester is definitely a distillery I wouldn't mind spending more time in. The seven story copper still alone is worth spending some time taking in. I got a single shot of it here and I have to say it doesn't come close to capturing how impressive it is.
I didn't buy anything at the Old Forester store because they didn't have the special bottle I was looking for. Likewise, the one T-Shirt they had that I really liked wasn't available in my size. That's what I get for being a fatty!
If we do ever come back to Louisville, the fact that we would be staying down in this area should make a return trip to Old Forester pretty easy!
If you ever find yourself visiting Louisville, definitely carve out a day or two to spend down on main street visiting all the awesome places Whiskey Row has to offer!
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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or