Kentucky Bourbon Festival
Saturday, September 14, 2024 from 12:00pm to 06:00pm
Kentucky Bourbon Festival
114 North 5th Street
Schedule Of Events:
12:30pm - 2:00pm - Saturday Bourbon Opener, featuring Bardstown Bourbon Co
Bardstown Bourbon Company New Product Preview. Be amongst the first to explore new and diverse offerings from Bardstown Bourbon Company’s award-winning portfolio. You will be greeted with a welcome cocktail prior to your journey with Dan Callaway, VP of Product Development, where he will lead you in a guided new product and food pairing experience.
Cost: $95.00
Location: KPFF Great Tent
12:30pm - 1:30pm - Cocktails: Make em Pop
Making a great cocktail is about more than taste; it includes visual aspects, garnishes, aromas and even names. In this session, Heather Wibbles, Cocktail Contessa and managing director of Bourbon Women, will guide you through a hands-on class in utilizing all your senses to make irresistible cocktails at home. We supply all the guidance, gear and ingredients, and you get to stir, shake and sip your creations.
Cost: $85.00
Location: Brindiamo Penthouse
12:30pm - 1:00pm - The Bourbon:30 Talk Show - (Always) Under Construction: New Kentucky Distilleries
As American whiskey continues its creep into international markets, new producers continue entering the space to make more of it to sell abroad. Listen in as veteran distillery operators John Hargrove (The Whiskey House), Caleb Kilburn (Eastern Light Distilling) and Denny Potter (Potter Jane Distilling) share progress updates on their brands’ state-of-the-art production plants set to open in 2024 and 25.
Cost: Free
Location: Evergreen Main Stage
1:30pm - 2:00pm - The Bourbon:30 Talk Show - Explain Premium Pricing-Please
Consumers often wonder why whiskey prices are so different from store to store. Some blame distilleries, others retailers, and others still, distributors. Listen in as our panel of experts, including Mark Irwin (Bardstown Bourbon Co.) and Mike Fisk (Evergreen Liquors), discuss why pricing is so varied and what forces drive those prices.
Cost: Free
Location: Evergreen Main Stage
2:00pm - 3:00pm - Whiskey Blending: Precision + Balance = Perfection
The counters and shelves in Brett Connors’ lab at Castle & Key Distillery are covered by hundreds of micro-samples from an array of barrels he’ll use to batch bourbon, rye, gin and vodka at the historic Old Taylor distilling site. Join Connors for a hands-on blending course in which you try your hand at creating a distinctive blend.
Cost: $85
Location: Brindiamo Penthouse
2:30pm - 3:00pm - The Bourbon:30 Talk Show - Battling For Attention: Struggles Of Small Brands
One of the biggest weapons large distilleries have in their marketing quiver is big budgets. As smaller whiskey makers like Royce Neely (Neeley Family Distillery), Amine Karaoud (Old Louisville Distilling Co.) and Stephen Beam (Limestone Branch Distillery) will tell you, it’s hard to get noticed in a marketplace dominated by bigger brands.
Cost: Free
Location: Evergreen Main Stage
3:30pm - 4:30pm - Deconstructing Bourbon: Four Roses Small Batch Select
When master distiller Brent Elliott created Four Roses Bourbon’s Small Batch Select, he built it with bourbons using its F and V yeast strains. That unique combination elevated herbal and delicate fruit notes in a way no Four Roses bourbon had before. Join him to learn and taste the elements required to make up this delicious blend, and then try your hand at matching his result.
Cost: $85.00
Location: Brindiamo Penthouse
3:30pm - 4:00pm - The Bourbon:30 Talk Show - Master Distillers Panel: Proof, There It Is
The popularity of cask strength American whiskeys shows no signs of waning. But does higher proof guarantee a better drinking experience? Let our panel of experts including Conor O'Driscoll (Heaven Hill Distilleries), Brian Sprance (New Riff Distilling) and Lisa Roper Wicker talk about how and why proof is chosen specifically for each expression of whiskey.
Cost: Free
Location: Evergreen Main Stage
4:00pm - 5:30pm - Saturday Bourbon Engagement, featuring Heaven Hill
Heaven Hill Distillery is proud to produce more Bottled-in-Bond whiskeys than any other American Whiskey distiller. Join Heaven Hill Distillery’s National Brand Ambassador, Bernie Lubbers, as he walks through the history of Bottled-in-Bond, including why it was important then and why it’s still relevant and important today. Then, join him for a tasting of Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond, Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond and a new expression of Bottled-in-Bond sold exclusively in Kentucky.
Cost: $95.00
Location: KPFF Great Tent
4:30pm - 5:00pm - The Bourbon:30 Talk Show - Bourbon's Booming, Could It Bust
As demand for American whiskey soars, every distillery making them is working 24/7. Could this mega-production mode result in a whiskey glut, or will drinkers across the globe move it to their glasses? Distillery owners David Mandell (The Whiskey House), Marci Palatella (Preservation Distillery) and Joe Magliocco (Michter’s Distillery) will share their perspectives on the industry’s gamble on growth.
Cost: Free
Location: Evergreen Main Stage
5:00pm - 6:00pm - A Tasting of Woodford Reserve Distillery Series and Master’s Collection Bourbons with Chris Morris
Few Kentucky distilleries have as rich a history as Brown-Forman, and the story of one of its most popular bourbons, Woodford Reserve, is as deep and rich as the whiskey itself. Join master distiller Chris Morris on a walk through the brand’s history while tasting four rare releases from Woodford’s Distillery Series and Master’s Collection.
Cost: $250.00
Location: Brindiamo Penthouse
7:00pm - 10:00pm - Kentucky Bourbon Festival Icons Dinner
Join us for an extraordinary evening as guests of seventh and eighth generation master distillers, Fred and Freddie Noe, at Fred and Sandy Noe’s home on Bardstown's storied Distillers Row. There, you will meet legendary icons of Kentucky bourbon making such as Steve Nally (master distiller, Bardstown Bourbon Company), Bill Samuels, Jr. (chairman emeritus, Maker's Mark Distillery), Baker Beam (former master distiller, James B. Beam Distillery), and Royce Neely (master distiller and owner, Neeley Family Distillery).
Guests will enjoy an open bar for whiskey pours and cocktails from each participating distillery, followed by a catered dinner prepared by The Kitchen Table, the amazing, modern-southern restaurant at the James B. Beam Distillery.
The evening also includes an exclusive round table tasting featuring whiskies from each brand, and opportunities to meet these bourbon icons from the Bluegrass State.
Ticketholders will meet at the KYBF festival grounds at 6:30 pm and be provided directions to Fred Noe's house, just a few blocks away.
Cost: $500.00
Location: Fred Noe's House
