The B-Line’s seven Northern Kentucky craft bourbon distilleries were just added to the world-famous Kentucky Bourbon Trail as part of KBT’s 25th Anniversary celebration.
This is a boon for these small, NKY distilleries, which previously were a part of the Trail’s ancillary Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour but were not included on the larger, full Bourbon Trail.
Now stops on the Trail, the local small businesses will be part of a tourism enterprise that saw 2.5 million visitors across Kentucky’s distilleries just last year.
The seven NKY craft bourbon distilleries are:
· Augusta Distillery (Augusta)
· Boone County Distilling Company (Independence)
· Neely Family Distillery (Sparta)
· New Riff Distilling (Newport)
· Old Pogue Distillery (Maysville)
· Pensive Distilling Co. (Newport)
· Second Sight Spirits (Ludlow)
“The Kentucky Bourbon Trail has provided millions of visitors with their first sip of our world-famous hospitality and given them a gateway to explore the rich heritage of our Commonwealth,” said Julie Kirkpatrick, President & CEO of meetNKY, Northern Kentucky’s visitors and tourism bureau. “Northern Kentucky is proud to serve as a one of the unique access points to the Kentucky Bourbon experience, offering visitors our unique blend of historic charm and modern attractions that sets the stage for an unforgettable journey.”
The Kentucky Distillers’ Association created the Kentucky Bourbon Trail pilgrimage in 1999 to educate visitors on the art and science behind making America’s only native spirit. It was America’s first spirits tour and has since welcomed more than 18 million visitors from all 50 states and dozens of countries.
“We knew we had something special, but we never could have dreamed it would evolve from a simple industrial tour of distilleries into an international bucket list experience filled with rare and behind-the-scenes adventures,” said Eric Gregory, president of Kentucky Distillers’ Association.
Following rapid growth and innovation by distillers, the KDA created the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour in 2012 to showcase smaller distilleries. Its 28 craft distilleries will now join the 18 members of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour, forming one statewide Bourbon Trail experience. Seven of those craft distillers are in NKY.
“All Kentucky distilleries – big and small have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into their tourism experiences, resulting in record-breaking economic development, jobs, tax dollars, restaurants, hotels, and more that build off of Bourbon’s popularity,” said Gregory. “It’s a lucrative path for Bourbon to give back to local communities.”
