Pursuit Spirits Distillery — Local services in Louisville

I have been a Bourbon Pursuit podcast listener for over 2 years. The round table discussions and TWIB podcasts I have found very informing and insightful in my bourbon journey. I tried their Bourbon and Rye releases and knew instantly these guys have a good thing going on. But I must admit, visiting their location, tasking the barrel pics, and bottling with the whisky thief, I found extremely special. As I drove to Pursuit United on April 11th to my 330pm tasting (with much anticipation), I found it quite hard to determine where the entrance was. As I circled the warehouse (block), I noticed the door was on the right side of the building as you enter the gated parking lot. There was a big truck blocking the front door and the only sign for entrance… well, was on the door. Make a note… signage can be better…LOL. Once in the bottling shop area, we saw 6 different barrels that would be part of the tasting. The overview of the company (Kenny and Ryan history) was excellent and finally answered some of my questions about the source of their product and its flavor profiles and how these dudes got here. I listened patiently as the presenter covered the different barrels we would be sampling. Finally, I tasted some exceptional good blends and I found it very hard to determine which one I wanted to bottle. They were all so good!!! Since my wife was doing the sampling with me, I was able to I choose from two of the barrels to take home. As advertised, the whisky thief bottling was straight from the barrel. Overall, we found it very different from all the other bourbon stops we have made. Pursuit United is an excellent product and the visit there was the most unique experience of my bourbon journey…. And I have been to almost every distillery in Kentucky. Folks, if you’re a bourbon enthusiast …. this is a must do! Kenny and Ryan are up and coming rock stars!!!

We had the opportunity to briefly meet Kenny as we were leaving. I wanted to stay longer and throw lots of questions at him, but I was determined to make Old Forester before they closed to get some OF 117 that was just released and posted on Facebook. Mission accomplished as we walked in as they were closing the doors. Kenny, my wife and I are the ones from Alabama that are patiently waiting for y’all to add us to your states for distribution. I will most definitely be ready to sign-up as an ambassador when that day comes.

Thank you, Pursuit Spirits team, for an exceptional bourbon experience. I will be back next time I hit the bourbon trail!!

Randy and Shelly...

I visited the distillery back on 7/11 of this past year while in town for my daughter’s basketball tournament. I was able to do the whole shebang tour. It was amazing, and to my surprise I had a one on one experience and got to meet so many staff members who were so friendly and took time out of their busy day to talk to this New Yorkers who’s fairly new to the bourbon scene. One of the co-owners, Kenny, actually came over to me and introduced himself and we spoke briefly about our backgrounds and how he got into the industry. I thought that was so cool to see that an owner of a company would take time to spend a few minutes with a complete stranger and make them feel so welcome into their establishment. He was a real class act. I really appreciated their hospitality and the knowledge they shared about both their establishment and the industry as a whole. I was afforded the opportunity to sample many of their products and actually fill my own bottle of bourbon based on the flavor profile I liked best. It was a pretty great experience getting to thieve the bourbon straight from the barrel into my own private bottle and then getting to name the bottle, cork and put the label on it. I now have my own special bottle that I named after my daughter’s basketball team and her jersey number. I plan to gift it to her down the road after a special occasion (and when she’s of legal drinking age) to commentate a special week we had in Kentucky this year with her basketball recruitment, Another great part to my experience was that I was able to pick up a few allocated bottles that they only sell at the distillery. I got my hands on two Derby Towns and a single barrel select episode 076. I am looking forward to returning next year and visiting their new establishment on Whiskey Row which they were very close to opening while I was visiting.. The entire staff was young, enthusiastic and just overall a real class act. I am hoping they do wonderful things in the industry going forward and I will be a loyal customer going forward! Thank you for such and amazing experience. Chris...

I had been on several traditional distillery tours, so I was looking for something a little different when I saw the description of the whole shebang tour. I was really interested in the barrel picking aspect and was hoping that maybe I’d learn some secrets about this process, but there was no distillery here. No rickhouses. Was this unassuming warehouse legit? Oh yes! Yes it was! I have a completely different perspective on what Pursuit Spirits is doing. Joe (our tour guide) was very knowledgeable and despite me constantly peppering him with questions, he always managed to get the presentation back on track. I got to taste the Pursuit United bourbon and rye. Both were much better than I expected! I got to pick my personal favorite whiskey from six bourbon blends and two rye blends, pull it directly from the barrel and into the bottle, cap the bottle, and label it. Joe was very patient, able to answer all of our questions, while simultaneously walking us through the process and explaining every detail to us. This tour is not traditional, but very cool and I really enjoyed it. Some of my learnings? That whiskey thief doesn’t hold the whiskey nearly as tightly as I’d expected, so you’ve gotta move fast. The different barrels really changed the taste of the whiskey more than I thought they would (and in a fairly short amount of time). This blending thing absolutely illustrates that the whole is greater than the sum...