Angel's Envy Distillery Tours
A tour guide's tips, reviews, FAQs, and more!
Angel's Envy Distillery and Tour Information
If you’ve looked into visiting the Louisville Bourbon Trail, odds are you have seen the Angel’s Envy tour pop up on lists of places to visit. We recently toured the distillery with our team and have taken a ton of guests here. And we absolutely love the place! We have decided this is the working’est (no that isn’t a word) distillery in Downtown Louisville and there are a lot of reasons why we love it. Here are our reasons why the Angel’s Envy tour should be at the top of your Louisville bourbon tour list!
What we love!
Approachable Whiskey & Something Different
While every distillery nowadays has some kind of “finished” bourbon expression, Angel’s Envy was the first to produce a finished bourbon at scale. As many Angel’s Envy drinkers will already know, their bourbon is finished in port wine barrels, which imparts some fruitier notes while maintaining its characteristic bourbon profile. The rye is finished in rum barrels. The results are very approachable whiskeys that bourbon and non-bourbon drinkers alike will love. You’ll learn all about the process of barrel finishing on the Angel’s Envy tour!
A Made-Up Word!
The Working’est Distillery in Downtown
While Angel’s Envy does not have the largest footprint of the Louisville distilleries, it certainly has the biggest distillery operation that you can tour at. To clarify, the other “big name” Downtown distilleries are mostly small example distilleries that serve as a visitors center to their larger operations. All of the company’s bourbon is distilled on the equipment you’ll see on an Angel’s Envy Bourbon Tour. Which means you’ll get to see nearly the entire process of producing an international bourbon without having to leave downtown.
Great Cocktails and Pours
​The Bar and Gift Shop
The 2nd floor bar is a great compliment to the Angel’s Envy tour and tasting. If there is something you didn’t get to try, or if cocktails are more your speed, you can try it following your experience. Or just pop in without a tour! The seasonal cocktails here are fantastic. And we love the cold-weather cocktails that were available at the time of writing.
A Story of Innovation
The Founder’s Story
The Angel’s Envy story is one of the best stories of innovation on the bourbon trail. Everything from the decision to produce a port-finished bourbon, to the bottle and presentation, were rather innovative for their time. The distillery itself is in a historic downtown building and was founded by a father and son team, Lincoln and Wes Henderson. Lincoln has since passed on and Wes is involved in another project, but the contributions of this father and son duo earned them both spots in the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. You will learn more about each of the above items on the Angel's Envy Distillery Tour.
Angel's Envy Tour FAQs & Additional Info
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What will I see on an Angel’s Envy Distillery Tour?
As we mentioned above, you will see a full operation for making bourbon on the Angel’s Envy tour. So, big tanks, fermenters, stills. All the equipment you can think of without giving everything away. Unlike some of the smaller replica distillery tours, this is a full-scale working distillery where thousands of bottles of bourbon a day can be processed.
Can I visit Castle & Key without a tour?
Of course! You are able to walk the grounds here, grab a cocktail, eat at the food trucks (seasonal-only), visit the gift shop, etc. In fact, this is one of our favorite places to stop without a tour! Of course, if you want to go inside the distillery or see production, you will need to book a Castle & Key Tour.
What are some of the tour options?
There are 3 main options when it comes to Angel’s Envy tours that happen on any given day. The main flagship tour is their “Signature Tour,” while there is an elevated version with more tasting samples called the “Private Select Tour.” Finally, there is a “Bottle Your Own Single Barrel” offering where you can do just that. In addition, there are some speciality tastings, cocktail classes, and more which can be found on their website for select dates.
How far in advance should I book an Angel’s Envy tour?
As with most distilleries, if you want to book an Angel’s Envy tour, you should book it as early as you can. While AE has a fairly large capacity and runs frequent tours, the chances that your group can get on a desired time slot are a lot lower the closer it is to your travel date. Tours go online 2-3 months in advance! As always, if you want to add Angel’s Envy to a full day bourbon tour with transportation, please reach out to us!
What other distilleries are near Angel’s Envy?
Angel’s Envy is in downtown Louisville, so it is near all of the big name downtown distilleries, as well as the craft ones! It is quite close to the Whiskey Thief downtown tasting room and Copper and Kings, two favorites of ours! Further downtown heading West, you will find Old Forester, Michter’s, Peerless, and several other distilleries and tasting rooms.
Angel's Envy Distillery
Mon: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tues, Weds: 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Thurs - Sat: 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sun: 12:30 PM - 6:00 PM
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Location
500 E MAIN ST
LOUISVILLE, KY
40202