Schedule:

12:30pm - 1:00pm: Bourbon:30 - Whiskey Prices: Going Up or Down and Why?

Whiskey Prices: Going Up or Down and Why? Owen Powell, founder, NEAT Bourbon Bar, Mike Fisk, chief sales officer, Cox's Spirit Shoppes, Tommy Craggs, founder, Watch Hill Proper. Moderated by Patrick Garrett.

Cost: Free

Location: Evergreen Main Stage 

1:00pm - 1:45pm: Let Me Finish: Innovation Through Oak and Blending 

Using wood varieties to create new whiskey tasting experiences has become incredibly popular. Distillers and blenders now use everything from new charred oak to ex-wine, cider and tequila casks to non-oak wood species like apple and maple, to create signature aromas and tastes. Angel’s Envy Master Distiller Owen Martin and RD1 Spirits R&D Master Distiller Jarrad Gollihue are leading innovators in this flavor-driven approach. Join us and listen when they discuss how they choose those woods to create such unique results and, of course, taste several of those creations.

With Owen Martin, Angel’s Envy; Dr Jarrad Gollihue; RD1 Spirits

Cost: $85 

Location: Premium Event Tent 

1:00pm - 2:30pm: A Taste of Western Kentucky: Whiskey, Barbecue and Dessert

Western Kentucky foods and spirits don’t always get the press attention given the same bites and drinks coming from Central Kentucky. Long story short, the press and its readers are missing out. Proving that point is the aim of this one-of-a-kind tasting that blends foods from the legendary Thomasen's BBQ in Henderson, with pours of four whiskies from Western Kentucky Distilling Co. in nearby Beaver Dam. This sweet and savory mashup includes smoked mutton and Hemingway Rye; barbecue “chip” with WKY Distillery 7-year bourbon; barbecued beans and Silk Velvet Single Barrel Bourbon #9; and banana pudding with Silk Velvet Single Barrel Bourbon #1. Thomason’s Kevin Gibson and Western Kentucky Distilling Co. master distiller Jacob Call will co-lead the pairing.

With Jacob Call, Western Kentucky Distilling Co., Zach Hargis. Silk Velvet Bourbon, and Kevin Gibson, Thomason's Barbecue

Cost: $150 

Location: Premium Event Tent 

1:30pm - 2:00pm: Bourbon:30 - Single Barrels: Are they Still a Novelty?

Single Barrels: Are they Still a Novelty? With Sylvia Hans, Private Barrel Selection Specialist at Heaven Hill, John Wadell, head blender Kentucky Peerless Distilling, Creola Dickerson, Head Single Barrel Ambassador, New Riff Distilling. Moderated by TBA

Cost: Free

Location: Evergreen Main Stage 

1:45pm - 2:30pm: Riff it Good! Trendy Twists on Timeless Cocktails 

Historic cocktail standards are great—until you crave something else. In this cocktail session, bartender S.C. Baker shows her skills in creating variations on timeless tippler themes. You’ve had whiskey sours before, but have you had one with orange curacao, cinnamon and lime juice? What about the Tom Bullock classic, the Fizzy Izzy? Baker’s gets a tropical twist with pineapple and lemon juices plus Amontillado sherry. Her riff on the Scofflaw leans on sweet vermouth and scratch-made grenadine to soften its traditional drying profile.

With S.C. Baker, Epiphany

Cost: $85 

Location: Premium Event Tent 

2:30pm - 3:15pm: How to Hunt for Special Whiskies in 2025 

Whiskey hunting has changed since it took off in the early 2000s. Listen in as these successful "modern hunters" find bottles new and old, allocated and seemingly inaccessible in 2025. In this session, Owen Powell, founder, NEAT Bourbon Bar, Louisville, Ky., and Josh Howes, founder, Watch Hill Proper, Prospect, Ky., will share how they've grown both dusty and modern collections through careful searching, research and wise buying. Also during this session, they'll share some precious whiskey pours from their own collections.

With Owen Powell, NEAT Bourbon Bar, Louisville, Ky., and Josh Howes, Watch Hill Proper, Prospect, Ky.

Cost: $85 
 
Location: Premium Event Tent 

2:30pm - 3:00pm: Bourbon:30 - Reviewers Panel: How We Rate Whiskies

Reviewers Panel: How We Rate Whiskies. Patrick "Pops" Garrett, owner, BourbonBanter.com, Ryan Cecil, founder Bourbon Pursuit, Chad Perkins and Sara Ahlgrim, founders, It's Bourbon Night. Moderator Steve Coomes.

Cost: Free

Location: Evergreen Main Stage

3:15pm - 4:00pm: A Cross-Cultural Fusion of Bourbon and Food 

In this innovative food and whiskey pairing, Hotel Bourre Bonne chef Nokee Bucayu draws on her family’s Filipino heritage to combine a trio of small bites: fried chicken adobo slider (with garlic pepper bay leaf aioli and achara [pickled papaya salad]) with Bardstown Bourbon Co. Origin Series Bourbon; crispy pork belly sisig (lacy quail egg, thai chili, and garlic calamansi aioli) paired with Bardstown Bourbon Co. Origin Series Rye; and caramelized pineapple brazo de Mercedes Pavlova (vanilla custard, crunchy meringue, caramelized pineapple and coconut milk crunchies) with Hotel Bourre Bonne Bourbon’s house bourbon.

With Chef Nokee Bucayu, Hotel Bourre Bonne

Cost: $85 

Location: Premium Event Tent 

3:15pm - 4:45pm: A Celebration of Women Leaders in Kentucky Bourbon 

For the past two decades, women have taken on increasingly higher-level roles in Kentucky whiskey making from masters of distilling, aging and blending to presidents, CEOs and start-up entrepreneurs. The Kentucky Bourbon Festival wants to celebrate these high achievers’ accompaniments at this mix-and-mingle and storytelling event for women only. Attendees will get the chance to meet this year’s six honorees — Melissa Rift, master taster, Old Forester Distillery; Marci Palatella, founder, Preservation Distillery + Farm; Mollie Lewis, president, New Riff Distilling; Beth Buckner, lead blender, Maker’s Mark Distillery; Alex Castle, master distiller, Augusta Distillery; and Judy Hollis Jones, founder, CEO, Buzzard’s Roost Whiskies — hear their stories, get their autographs and selfies with them, and enjoy a range of light bites, a bourbon spritz bar and a goodie-filled takeaway bag that includes a copy of the book about Mary Dowling, “Mother of Bourbon: The Greatest American Whiskey Story Never Told,” by Rabbit Hole Distillery founder, Kaveh Zamanian.

With Melissa Rift, Old Forester Distillery, Marci Palatella. Preservation Distillery + Farm, Mollie Lewis, New Riff Distilling, Beth Buckner, Maker’s Mark Distillery, Alex Castle, Augusta Distillery, and Judy Hollis Jones, Buzzard’s Roost Whiskies

Cost: 150 

Location: Premium Event Tent 

3:30pm - 4:00pm: Bourbon:30 - What's the Future of Cask Finishing?

What's the Future of Cask Finishing? With Owen Martin, master distiller, Angel's Envy, Jarrad Gollihue, research and development master distiller, RD1 Spirits, Jessica Ann Zimlich, global sales & specialty barrel procurement, Zak Cooperage. Moderated by Patrick Garrett.

Cost: Free

Location: Evergreen Main Stage

4:00pm - 4:45pm: Taste, Reject Approve: How Master Tasters Choose What’s Bottled

Whether approving single barrels or thousand-barrel batches, master tasters work to ensure every liquid meets a brand's quality standards. When all goes well, those liquids head to bottling. When they don’t, tasters must demonstrate their talent in fixing those problems or, unfortunately, rejecting a barrel or batch altogether. Ever wondered how all that happens, how many times tasters must taste to get things right, and whether being a master taster of whiskies is (as some believe) the best job in the world? Let our panel of experts — Old Forester Master Taster Melissa Rift, Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co. Head Taster John Wadell, and The Spirits Group Master Blender and Co-Founder Ashley Barnes — give you the inside scoop on how nothing but the best whiskies get their approval. And during this session, they’ll share some pours of their own great whiskies that always make the cut.

With Melissa Rift, Old Forester; John Wadell, Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co., and Ashley Barnes, The Spirits Group

Cost: $85 

Location: Premium Event Tent 

4:30pm - 5:30pm: Bourbon:30 - The Wilderness Trail Story

The Wilderness Trail Story. With Patrick Heist and Shane Baker, founders, Wilderness Trail Distillery. Moderated by Steve Coomes.

Cost: Free

Location: Evergreen Main Stage

4:45pm - 5:30pm: Less Proof, Still Thrilling: Low ABV Cocktails

Spirit-forward cocktails are delicious, but as skilled bartenders like Angel’s Envy brand ambassador Titus Teague regularly demonstrate, lower-proof versions can still be great. In this lineup, he’ll stir up a Manhattatini, a reverse cocktail blending bourbon, vermouth and verjus whose ingredient proportions are flipped to lower the alcohol punch. The second will be Saints and Shandies, which combines Angel's Envy Rye paired with a beer from Bardstown’s Scout & Scholar Brewing then finished with nuanced flavor of a yuzu lime soda, toasted coconut and a touch of lime juice. The third is Angel's on the Frond, a spin on the classic sherry cobbler featuring Angel’s Envy Triple Oak, Amontillado sherry, pineapple syrup and a splash of lemon.

With Titus Teague, Brand Home Ambassador, Angel's Envy

Cost: $85 

Location: Premium Event Tent 

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