Nearest Green Distillery
Day 2: Final Stop
Our trip to Nearest Green Distillery was about a three-hour drive from Louisville. Unlike the other distilleries, Nearest Green Distillery is the only distillery in the surrounding area. We literally just came upon it. With over 400 acres, it is unassuming and very welcoming.
The grounds used to be a horse-trading market and they’ve kept that spirit alive with the design and repurposed some of the buildings. More on this later. But let me say the attention to detail is second to none.
With the benefit of hindsight, I can say this is a destination. An experience. Let me explain. We arrived a lot earlier than our ticket time, a few hours earlier in fact. Thankfully, they had a wonderful restaurant – Chuck’s Barrel House BBQ. We each were intrigued by the brisket grilled cheese on Texas toast. It was delicious. Two weeks later and my sister is still dreaming of that sandwich. First win – they had food! Distilleries would do well to offer some type of nibble or full meals Trust me, it doesn’t take away from the bourbon tasting, at all.
Rick Room
Thankfully they were able to take us on an earlier tour, so after lunch we were ready and so were they. We assembled at the Welcome Center where we were given a history of the location and Nearest Green. Our tour guide, Xavier, grew up near the area and was delightful, adding personal anecdotes about the area. Behind the Welcome Center is a Speakeasy and we learned a bit more about prohibition times, women’s suffrage and saw a video about Uncle Nearest with the awesome Jeffrey Wright narrating. A video may sound odd as part of the tour; but it worked. The remainder of the tour consisted of a few outbuildings. Unlike our other tours, we didn’t get up close and personal with the mash but at this point in our trip, I didn’t need that. I also had to remember that up until recently, I believe Uncle Nearest sourced their bourbon as theirs was aging – so there likely wasn’t much to see. There are several development projects in the works, so their mash and fermentation processes may be in the new buildings. Their goal is to make it “Malt Disney” with events for families and bourbon enthusiasts alike.
We ended our tour in the tasting house. It was originally the horse cool down room. Picture a round building that is airy, exposed beams with a bar in the middle of the room and seats surrounding the bar. It is large, yet intimate and beautiful. The perfect end to the tour. Details.
After the tour we stopped by the store to look at swag. It was fantastic. The variety of merchandise was by far the best. Front and center you know it is a Black owned brand – with merch stating I am Black History. Women consumers weren’t an afterthought but a fair amount of merchandise for us. There was also merchandise geared toward military personnel. Of course there was whiskey available for purchase as well. The building is large, airy and more exposed wooden beams. Again, the details of the staging, the building, everything was wonderful.
We ended our day at Humble Baron, their restaurant with a 518 foot long bar. Humble Baron has the world’s longest bar as it wraps around the room – beautiful. There is also live music. It’s a whole vibe. We HAD to order a cocktail, Old Fashioneds – of course - with monogrammed ice cubes. Details.
I will definitely be back.
Cheers,
~Kimberly Elise
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