Last week, we stopped in to do a Michter’s Distillery Tour at the Fort Nelson Distillery on Main Street. This distillery is located on museum row, across from the Louisville Slugger Museum and shares a city block with the Frazier, another great bourbon destination. This freshly-restored building dates back to the 1800’s, and this restoration project goes hand-in-hand with their recently-restored brand.
The building sits on a property that dates back to the Revolutionary War, which is a perfect fit, being that the brand itself does the same. Well, the brand Michter’s does not date back that far, but a product line they do own, Shenks, has ties to the American Revolution. The tour itself doesn’t spend a ton of time on these aspects, but you can find some information on the Michter’s Website if you want to nerd out on this (like I do!). It could be that our tour guide was more interested in production, more so than history, which totally happens.
The Michter’s Fort Nelson Distillery is currently home to their own product line, which includes rye, bourbon, American whiskey, and sour mash whiskey. There are small batch versions of each, as well as premium toasted finished or barrel strength options of most. If you’re lucky, you can catch some of these premium offerings in gift shop, which also includes a 10 year rye and bourbon, as well as Bomberger’s and Shenk’s
Back to our tour guide and speaking on production, this is a very “talking-heavy” tour. You don’t walk around a ton, which is good for older guests and makes the tour super accessible to anyone who’d want to visit. There are a handful of exhibits and informative pieces, but this tour does focus a lot on production and what Michter’s does differently in their production process. This is a smaller demonstrative operation, with most whiskey for the brand being produced at another Louisville location.
Outside of the production area, you can find a nice gift-shop, as well as an elevator that takes you to an upstairs bar. Up there, you can get cocktails, whiskey pours, and even coffee! At least once a day, the gift shop offers one of their premium products, so if you’re there at the right time, you might just be lucky enough to get a bottle or bundle!
Now, our absolute favorite part about Michter’s is the whiskey, and the tour does a great job of explaining how they got to such a fine product, and what makes it special. We will put a stamp on it, Michter’s absolutely makes some of the best whiskeys in the world. We’re huge fans!
We plan on coming into Michter’s some more this year, definitely to spend some time at the bar and to see what’s new. And of course, we would love to take you there as well!
** Please note, Unfiltered Kentucky Tours is not paid to advertise any distillery or experience on our website. We simply enjoy bourbon, and try to visit each distillery every year to see what’s new. We will always ask first, but may join you on your tour if we haven’t been to one in a while, or if one of our drivers hasn’t been. Personally, we nerd out a crazy number of things during these tours. but, we keep these reviews vague, in case you were wondering.. We want you to be able to see these beautiful operations and ask questions for yourself! Cheers*
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