Old Forester Distillery

About Old Forester Distillery

The Old Forester Distillery sits on Whiskey Row in downtown Louisville, Kentucky inside the same building it once called home in the early 1900. The distillery is a culmination of a nearly 150-year legacy that began in 1870 when George Garvin Brown, a young pharmaceutical sales rep, changed the spirits industry forever when he sealed whisky in a glass bottle. He signed his name – as a guarantee of consistency and quality, declaring “there is nothing better in the market.”

Visitors to the distillery will follow the bourbon making process in an immersive experience that leads them from fermentation and distillation, to the on-site cooperage where handcrafted barrels will be raised and fired, then aged in an on-site maturation warehouse before bottling and shipment across the globe.

Distillery Tour Follows Whisky’s Journey from Grain to Glass

The tour experience at Old Forester begins with a primer on bourbon history and the role played by both Old Forester and its hometown of Louisville. From there, guests follow the whiskey’s journey through the distillery.

Four 4,500 gallon tanks guide guests to a glass elevator, where they ascend through a light-filled atrium in full view of the 44-foot-tall copper column still, designed and constructed by Vendome Copper & Brass Works in Louisville, bringing the distillation process to life.

Guests then make their way to the cooperage. Brown-Forman is the only major spirits company to craft its own new barrels, and the process is seamlessly integrated into the new downtown distillery. Tour guests will look on as coopers hand raise each barrel and will feel the heat as they witness the charring of a barrel. In full view, barrels are tested and filled before making their way to the aging warehouse.

Down a charred, wood-lined hallway, guests are guided through the colors, flavors, and aromas that whisky takes on during its time in a barrel. Unique to Old Forester Distilling Co., guests enter the on-site, three-story warehouse from the highest rack, offering a bird’s eye view. A catwalk leads guests down through the warehouse, where roughly 900 barrels will age.

Distillery Tours – Please visit our website to learn more about our exciting tour options and book your Old Forester Distillery experience today.

Get Your Hands on a Handcrafted Cocktail – Stop into George’s Bar and enjoy expertly made cocktails and mocktails. Or sign up for a cocktail class and learn to make your own. Tastings and bourbon flights are also available. Learn more here.

Be One of The First to Know. Sign up for the Old Forester newsletter and keep up with our new whiskies and special events.

Visit the Old Forester Distillery website here.

Call 502-779-2222

Email OFDretail@b-f.com