Where to drink

SPIRITS RUN DEEP IN THE KENTUCKY CITY, WITH NO SHORTAGE OF PLACES TO WET YOUR WHISTLE, FROM OLD-SCHOOL SPEAKEASIES TO SLICK ROOFTOP BARS

BARN8 AT HERMITAGE FARM

Bourbon and horses are among Kentucky’s biggest draws, and you’ll find them both under one A-frame roof at this picturesque farm, 20 minutes by car from downtown Louisville. Visitors to the former racehorse stable can sip one of the farm-to-glass cocktails with ingredients such as hickory syrup foraged from the grounds. Round off the evening with a sunset tractor-drawn carriage ride through rolling pastures lined with white picket fences. hermitagefarm.com

HELL OR HIGH WATER

Those in the know book ahead for a table at this underground speakeasy. Recreating all the drama of the prohibition era, the bar only reveals clandestine details about how to gain entry once you’ve booked. Having snuck through the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it doorway, you’ll find chandeliers, bookcases and red-velvet booths with secret hatches, through which drinks appear. The hot-ticket table here is accessed by climbing through a wardrobe, Narniastyle, into a hidden drinking den with its own service bell to buzz for highball refills. hellorhighwaterbar.com

WATCH HILL PROPER

Boasting the largest collection of American whiskey in the world (a staggering library of more than a thousand bottles), Watch Hill Proper has put the Norton Commons neighbourhood on the map. Half the fun is watching the bar staff, known as ‘whiskey hustlers’, shimmying up the ladders to collect requested bottles. With a collection of rare decanters from the 1920s and overstuffed leather chesterfield sofas dotted throughout, this cosy hangout brings a charming, scholarly vibe to Louisville’s bar scene. watchhillproper.com

NORTH OF BOURBON

It doesn’t get more Louisville than sipping a cocktail made with Old Forester while sat inside a giant whiskey barrel. You can do just this at North Of Bourbon, a hip, family-run hangout in Germantown where creole food features on the menu and the backlit bar runs the gamut of Kentucky’s finest bourbons. Pull up a pew in one of the booths, made entirely from vintage barrel staves. The tables are created with reclaimed flooring from neighbouring distilleries. instagram.com/northofbourbonky

COPPER & KINGS

As one of the few rooftop bars in Louisville, this laid-back brunch spot offers ringside seats for the city’s industrial skyline, which is punctuated with church spires. Situated in the meatpacking district of Butchertown, all the spirits served here are created downstairs at the Copper & Kings distillery. It’s worth taking the factory tour just to witness the quirky ‘sonic ageing’ method, where loud music is blasted into the barrels to agitate the liquid. Punk is particularly effective, apparently. copperandkings.com