Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co

🥃 Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co. – Small Batch, Big Character ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ If you're looking for craft bourbon at its purest, then Kentucky Peerless in downtown Louisville is an absolute must-visit. This distillery may not have centuries of continuous operation, but what it does have is history reborn with heart. The family legacy dates back to the 1880s, and today the great-grandson of the original founder continues that vision in a way that blends tradition and innovation beautifully. Everything happens under one roof – milling, mashing, fermenting, distilling, aging, bottling – all done in small batches, with extreme attention to detail. The tour is incredibly well presented, guiding you through not just the process, but also the story behind the name. You can feel the pride and purpose in every corner of the building. We had our tasting right inside the distillery bar, which is cozy and classy. The gift shop is also worth a look – well-curated, with premium bottles and unique merchandise. What sets Peerless apart? Their bourbon and rye whiskeys are all non-chill filtered and bottled at barrel proof – meaning you taste them exactly as they come out of the barrel, with no watering down, no filtering. The result? Rich, bold, aromatic whiskeys that are full of depth and character. Yes, the price is higher – but so is the quality. Whether you're a seasoned bourbon enthusiast or just beginning your journey, Peerless delivers an experience and a product that feel truly handcrafted – because they are.

Best overall experience on our Trip! We only did the tasting experience, but got plenty of information about Peerless and their process. The guided tasting from Martin was top notch! His enthusiasm and passion for his job was authentic and created a great interactive experience for us. They had the best overall tasting line up out of all our stops (self-proclaimed Rye Guy). Also the surprise bonus pour was stellar! Big shout to to Rye, the resident mouser

I took a tour at Kentucky Peerless and thought it was pretty good. It’s not a huge operation, but it’s growing and making good stuff. The old building and history of the brand was pretty interesting, and I enjoyed seeing how their process works. I can get pretty warm in the working areas, so please be prepared for that. The tasting session allowed us to try several of their whiskeys with tasting notes to compare to, and it is really good stuff. Don’t miss this distillery if you’re doing the bourbon trail.

Fantastic tasting and private tour!! This distillery is a one of a kind! Building and the history of this family owned business is amazing… and the Bourbon is incredible!! Highly recommend! Will definitely return when back in town!!

Bourbon factory in whiskey row downtown Louisville, tours and tastings available, went in late afternoon so no more tours were available, there were tastings still though, a lot of items in store , met the owner who was very nice , a lot of history, glad I stopped by, thank you.

Great distillery tour right in Louisville! Highly recommend checking out Kentucky Peerless next time you’re looking for a distillery. Our tour guide Kelsey was great! Awesome learning the history of this family owned and operated distillery that happens to make some pretty good bourbon.

We didn’t know much about Peerless before today and had only tasted their bourbon once. Ken was our tour guide and he did an excellent job of giving us the fascinating history of this distillery! He was very engaging and knowledgeable. The tasting was fun and Ken took his time going through each product that we were sampling. The bourbon was delicious! Overall we enjoyed our entire tour and tasting experience. Highly recommend this tour!

What can I say….this is my 4th review left after my latest visit…that’s right (Yelp, Trip Advisor, and FB too it was that great of a visit). Who leaves 4 different reviews for 1 visit. Must have been great!! Do yourself a favor and visit Kentucky Peerless as soon as possible. Great story, great staff, the greatest bourbon!! I highly, highly recommend. The best Bourbon stop in Kentucky bar none.

This is Kentucky Distillery #50. They are a small distillery operating on the went end of Whiskey Row. Do yourself a favor, and go visit them. The owner of the company was there, and was talking with people about the business. Our distillery guide was very helpful - a $15 per person fee pays for access to 11 different whiskeys to try out, so if you are with a friend, you can order one each and share to get 4 in your tasting. We got the history of the company, and the chance to taste 4 whiskeys, including the one that won the 2024 Award for Best Whiskey last year amongst 500 other whiskeys. The distillery doesn't run on weekends, so if you want that tour, plan to visit Monday through Friday. The parking lot across the street is NOT owned by the distillery so don't park there. This is an easy walk from most of the downtown hotels. The ambiance is gift shop - tons of stuff branded available to buy, and all of their small run whiskeys, bourbons and ryes. Sadly, their cat passed away recently. Hopefully, another one wriggles into their lives soon.

Amazing experience in the heart of Louisville. This should be your first or last stop on any trip. Bourbon is amazing, the tour was great, and our guide Martin was the best. We got a bonus pour straight from the barrel, which was a fun surprise. Wish I could bring more home. Would bring home the single barrels that are only available there. Check prices for more common bottles because may be slightly more expensive than you can get at home.

I did a tour and tasting of the Peerless distillery. The tour guide was very informative and gave great insight into the history of Peerless as well as the Bourbon making process. The tasting offered several varieties that can only been purchased in the store.

This was our first time visiting this spot and we had such a nice time :) we walked over after we visited the Frazier History Museum. You can cut through the parking lots. We did the tastings with Ben. They have 11 different bourbons to try. I was a little disappointed that we could only try 2 of them (I thought for sure it would be 3). I would also be fine if we got to try 5 of them but in the smaller thimble-size tasting cups. Still, we had a fun time talking to Ben and some of the other patrons. The gift store was cool to walk through. We will have to come back and do the tour or another class soon.

The Peerless tour was a highlight for this trip of whiskey adventures. They take the time to show you all the steps in their distillation process, have a great setting for tastings, and offer some unique takes on whiskey and aging that you don't find often. The bonus on top was getting to spend a few minutes speaking with Corky and getting to take a photo with him. Family ownership and a passion for what they do made it even more special.

It's rare for a fairly young company to have such a rich history! Peerless is such a gem that's definitely worth checking out especially considering how it's able to stand up against much larger companies in Bourbon district. Ken was so good at telling the distillery's story while also being such a kind and knowledgeable host during the tasting. Please go check out Peerless as it truly merits its name!

My wife and I were lucky enough to get in on the tasting just before it started. They offer a tasting every half hour on the hour and it's free for military service members. This was a bonus surprise. The tasting includes two spirits of choice so my wife and I each chose two different spirits so we were able to taste four. We enjoyed them all. I would like to return to do the tour and tasting to learn more about the company. That is also free for military service members.

Kentucky Peerless is right in the heart of downtown Louisville - easy to find. They are a small batch distiller whose founder started the business in the late 1800's. Our tour guide was David and he was excellent. During the tour, you learn all about the founder and his family, and the unique situation they were in when they shutdown during prohibition. Lucky us...as we entered, a gentleman was leaving but stopped to greet us, thank us for visiting, and ask us where we were coming from. Turns out, it was the great great grandson of the founder - Corky Taylor (4th generation). The distillery is much like so many others along the Bourbon Trail...rustic, clean, and welcoming. Their retired mouse cat, Rye, can be found in the shop walking around, working the register, or napping in an open hiding place (I eventually had to ask because I couldn't find her at first). I highly recommend this distillery - they have a unique taste due to their special process and are the first distillery to follow Kosher Law.

Some friends, my husband, and I are in Louisville this week and my friend reserved us a tasting at Peerless. The company has a pretty fascinating history and our your guide was great at walking us through it. We saw where they make their bourbon, and the tour concluded with a tasting of four of their bourbons (and ryes). My husband bought a few for us and Corky (who's great-grandfather founded the company) was there to sign them. We also bought some pins for me and moonshine pickles, which look tasty. Overall I'd recommend this place and the tour, which ran about 1h15m long.

We went for a bourbon tasting and had a great experience. The building is very cool and industrial but warm and inviting. We tried four bourbons and then got to pick a bonus fifth tasting. I think Alex was the one leading the tasting and he was very knowledgeable. There's also a welcoming cat named Rye, very cute.

The tour was completely fine, but nothing really stood out. The same information you'll find elsewhere. Bourbon was okay, but not as smooth as I was hoping. Overall, an enjoyable experience but probably skippable for most.

Wonderful distillery downtown. They offer several different variations of their bourbon and ryes. The staff is absolutely great. Hopefully you'll get to meet the owner, Corky. As anyone about his father working with General Patton.

Kentucky Peerless was our first tasting during our Louisville weekend. We learned after the fact that Peerless is the strongest/most intense tasting out of the main ones so we started out big and things were a little more laid back (lower ABV) from there on out. The facility is really pretty, we did not do the full tour, just the tasting so we only saw the gift shop and tasting room plus a little bit of the distillery that we could see from the front. Our guide was really cool, very down to earth and spoke confidently. I didn't really know much about KP prior to our tasting so it was fun to learn about the distillery. They've got a really neat history and some great stories so I definitely recommend making sure to hit it up while you're in town!

Awesome Experience !! The Peerless Team took great care of my group of 16. We had a Tour and Tasting and were surprised to have "Corky" come tell us some great historical stories. David took us thru a great tasting experience. When in Louisville, a must visit.

A great stop on the Bourbon Trail! The tasting can be quite extensive so plan ahead! The tour and historical information is thorough and fun! It's a beautiful spot in a central location

This was such a fantastic tour -- kid friendly and a personalized tour. This is one of Louisville's smaller distilleries. I wasn't sure what to expect, but enjoyed just how unique and small they kept the tours. We did the behind-the-scenes tour, which ended with a tasting in their classy tasting room. During the tour, we even got a chance to taste bourbon straight from the bottle, which was such a unique experience. The bourbon here is delicious, and was one of my favorites that I had in Louisville, a city with no shortage of bourbon spots. I recommend booking early, especially since they keep their tours small.

For the love of God update your Yelp page. We traveled and planned what a Waste of time !!!!!!

We scheduled a tasting at Peerless. While the space itself is beautiful, this was my least favorite whiskey. I love their branding, the merch, the bottle shop, and the tasting room are so aesthetically pleasing. I didn't realize all their products are barrel (high) proof. There's definitely such a thing as too much alcohol. At some point all the flavor is just blown away by the burn of the alcohol. For me, that was most of this selection. I would need to make cocktails with any of these and for the price point I want something I can enjoy straight. The only one I would drink again is the absinthe (purple label) barrel aged rye. If high proof is your thing, make this a stop while in town!

Great tour and great products. Chase was our awesome tour guide. Fourth generation owner, Corky Taylor, great grandson of founder Henry Kraver, stopped by to say hello on our tour and tell some stories! Awesome! Then we went to the tast8ng room to try some great products. They inly make 2700 barrels per year, which is about what Jim Beam makes in a day.

Family owned and operated by Corky, 4th and his son, Carson, 5th generation relatives of the original owner with history dating back to 1889. It is located in downtown Louisville just one block away from the Kentucky Bourbon Trail welcome center at Frazier museum. Their behind-the-scenes tours go over how their Bourbon and Rye are crafted from grain to bottle. They strictly use sweet mash. Friendly and knowledgeable staff with great gift shop.

After coming in and checking out the place we really loved it however, we weren't able to get a tour and the tastings were not available as well. With that being said, they had just released a new batch of bourbon and the owner was there and he told the staff to go ahead and give us atasting was awesome not only did we get to meet the owner but we also got to do a tasting when it wasn't scheduled so it's really cool experience

Went here today for a tasting (no tour) and was very impressed! Not only were the four offerings great, the facilitator for our tasting was very engaging. Highly recommended!

Peerless was the second of our tours on our recent trip to Louisville. The tour was informative and the distillery itself was much more of a working distillery than a showplace experience. The tour guide was personable and informative as we viewed the production areas, but when we got to the tasting I found him to be controlling and condescending. Unlike some other tours where the glasses are filled and ready, the guide walked around the room and filled the glasses. We were among the first pours. I picked up my cup to take in the aroma while the pours were finished--and the guide snapped at me, "Don't drink it yet!" OK, I get it. You want to talk about the product and be in control of the room. But I'm the customer and even if it offends you, if I want to slurp it down, I can do it. However what offended me the most was the immediate assumption that I was going to drink it while I just intended to sniff the aroma. Nose, taste, finish. The bourbon itself was decent, but exploiting the laws of supply and demand I think it is over priced at retail and given the guide's slight at the tasting I'll probably be focusing on other brands. Even small things matter.

I love this distillery.....from the family and their story to the quality of the bourbon which is second to none I highly, highly recommend this distillery as a must stop in Louisville. I just recently attended the pre-release for the Toasted Rye and had a simply amazing time tasting bourbons and rye whiskey that had not yet been released. An amazing time with amazing folks representing the distillery!! Cant recommend this place enough.

We opted for the tasting only and had a great time with both the bourbon and the history of the distillery. We all enjoyed the whiskey we tasted a couple of our rye drinkers were really impressed with the rye. Overall a great experience and well worth a visit by folks on the bourbon trail.

We didn't know anything about Peerless before our visit. Ken was our tour guide and he did an wonderful job of describing the distillery's history and their process for producing their bourbons. He kept the tour lively as he answered all our questions with good humor and showed that he was very knowledgeable and funny! The tasting was excellent as all the samples were delicious and different. Ken patiently went took through each product that we sampled. They were all delicious! We enjoyed the entire experience and Highly recommend taking this tour!

Good tour, great folks. Corky popped up and shared some 'whiskey ' stories. Nice place. Small and friendly Distillery. We spent over a grand. Beautiful products.

Such a cool looking place both inside and out. The team is extremely friendly, and they have a sweet cat hanging out. We were only able to do the tasting and enjoyed the bourbons and ryes offered. Pours were pretty miniscule and barely enough to get a great idea of the product. Bonus taste of the Absinthe Finished Rye was an absolute treat. At $134 a bottle, I couldn't justify a purchase, but hopefully, they can find a way to bring it to a more paletable price point. The was a Gregg Allman book on the bar and when I asked about it, I was told there is a connection to one of the Peerless guys, I think Corky, that is mentioned in the book. Fun. This is a great visit and worth your time.

My husband & I visited Peerless with a group yesterday morning. On our arrival staff quickly greeted us & offered free bottled water. John was our tour guide & he was very informative. While in the history room Corky Taylor popped his head in & personally told his families story. I could have stayed & listened to Corky talk all day! At the end of our tour we did the tasting. I liked that everything we tried was available for purchase in the gift shop that day. The tasting glasses were unique... a rolled bottom so they won't tip over. I did learn something unique about their products that they are all certified Kosher. Peerless offers tours & tastings. The tasting only space is very nice & unique way to try the product without doing the classic tour. Thank you Corky, John & the entire Peerless staff for a great morning! Will definitely recommend to others & be back with out of town guests.

A group of us visited Peerless and had a great tour and tasting. Such a great vibe among all the staff and the passion for creating a great bourbon. We were blessed with a surprise meeting with the CEO, and his friendly, down-to-earth manner reinforced our great experience. The company is a wonderful story and the desire to maintain a small, high-quality distillery is a testament to outstanding business philosophy. Best wishes for continued success!

Loved the history and stories told during the tour! You might get to meet the owner and see his son the CEO, we did, and they were really nice. The owner wanted to know where everyone in the tour was from and may of had a story to go with where you were from. Our tour guide was very well versed. The tastings were great as well! They have complementary water and they gave my mom crackers because she needed them before tasting, which was really nice. The ambiance was good too! I definitely would recommend this place!

Big bourbon drinker, big fan of peerless. Did the walk in tour which let us sample 2 of their single barrels. Our guide was Mr. Bill. He was so knowledgeable about the whole peerless story, had a great bourbon a plate, explained what each bottle had in detail, and on top of that Mr Corkey the chairman of peerless greeted us and was able to tell his awesome story of how peerless became to be. The difference between this small Kraft distiller and the big boys is that they really take the time out of their day and explain to you in person thier view on bourbon and how it should be. They are in it for the love of bourbon. What other distillery chairman just walks in on your tour and wants to know about each person. Could have talked to him for hours. Overall great place to visit and we even picked up their Single barrel rye. Love peerless!!!

In addition to touring Stitzel-Weller, Woodford Reserve, and Jeptha Creed distilleries with Mint Julep Experiences, we also visited a couple of other distilleries, the first one being Kentucky Peerless Distilling. It was a typical distillery tour, however as our host was giving us the background of the distillery, Corky Taylor, one of the owners (and the great-grandson of Henry Kraver, the original owner of Peerless in the 1800s), walked in, and entertained us with stories as we were enjoying our samples. Whether or not that was their routine ("Oh look, the owner just happened to walk by, what a special treat!") or it really was an unexpected encounter, it was cool meeting the owner, who seemed like a regular, down-to-earth guy. We had five samples: small batch bourbon; Alpine summer; small batch rye; single barrel rye; and "limoncello", a whiskey with lemon notes. I quite enjoyed the small batch bourbon and purchased a small bottle. We were also allowed to keep our tasting glass as part of the tour and tasting package. Other things of note: there are three cats residing at Peerless named Rye, Char, and Bruce (named after Batman). Unfortunately I didn't see the cats while at the distillery. [Yelp collections: Louisville, KY 2021; Wine Time!]

Got here on Saturday morning a few minutes before they opened. When we got inside we were warmly greeted by staff and the 'boss' (the distillery cat). We were told tours and tastings were sold out for the day and that they were actually booked weeks on advance! One of the staff numbers did Wakasa Rale and teach us about the history of the distillery. It was very nice of him and extremely informative. There is no bar on property so we didn't get a drink. This distillery has a large main floor with a variety of merchandise for sale. Parking is free across the street and kind of a pita parking lot. Again, everyone was very nice and if you're in Louisville it's definitely worth checking out!

We visited this time with my son and DIL for a tasting and so happy that Ken was still here. Such a nice guy and very informative. I loved hearing about the history of the distillery. Peerless does a great job hiring because everyone is so nice. The tasting includes a small batch bourbon and rye and a single barrel bourbon and rye with a bonus double batch choice. We enjoyed the single barrels so much we left with four of them as you can't find them anywhere but here. Definite recommend and look forward to visiting again. Thanks Ken (and the lovely lady at the reception desk) for being so accommodating with our wee one.

DSP-KY-50 is amazing and produces top notch barrel proof ryes and bourbon. An awesome display of gifts in a small area, that offers tours and walk in tastings. Great quality, great staff and great tours.

Another great location you don't want to miss in Louisville. The tour and tastings are affordable and a great experience. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable.

We went there do a tour today. The tour guide was good. They have great products, but they are $$$$. The only complaint, is my spouse called 3 times about the tour and no one returned her call a week later. When she asked why no one called her back. They couldn't really give a response.

We stopped at Peerless for a distillery tour. It was our first stop on our bourbon visit and it did not disappoint. We started out in the gift shop and moved into a museum like setup. The tour guide was awesome. The owner of the distillery came down and chatted with the group which was really cool. We went through their history and process. They showed us the fermentation, still, and barrels. The tour ended with a nice tasting. Hey had 4 options which were all very much enjoyed. Overall, it was a great tour and first visit. We really enjoyed our time here.

Not even a hello when we walked in. Cashier looked bored and had no one in line. Then went and sat with his back to the people in the shop. We walked around for a bit, weren't acknowledged once. The only positive thing was the distillery cat. Go down to Evan Williams. They seem to really enjoy having customers.

First visit to Ky Peerless. Beautiful historic building slightly off downtown Louisville. We had about 10-12 people in our group. Our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly, and answered all of our questions. Gave a thorough overview of the process and lots of history of the Brand. We concluded in the tasting room where we tasted (4) wonderful and expensive Ky Peerless bourbons. Definitely worth the small fee and highly recommend. We even got to keep our tasting glasses as a souvenir...

Having lived in KY for 12 years, I have to say that this is the best distillery tour I've had in a while! Chase was a great tour guide and was articulate and professional while also bringing the KY hospitality to the forefront. No complaints!

Enjoy a couple of hours doing the behind-the-scenes distillery tour with a few colleagues along with the complete whiskey tasting. It was a nice day - educational. Old fashioned place, and the staff was great to be around and very personable - shared many stories. Not much to see but it was a good day to get out to do and learn something new. Thanks for showing us so much kindness!

About a 20min walk from our Downtown hotel. Peerless was a fun little distillery compared to the heavy hitters we had visited. It is a nice break from seeing the huge worldwide distillers. Our tasting had only 8 people so the experience was very personable. The host was a very fun, honest & knowledgeable guide. Nothing I hate more than someone trying to get one over on the customer. He honestly told us where to get the best price on every day Peerless products while letting us know which bottles were only available at the distillery. The Double Oak bourbon was our favorite as a group.

Loved the tasting! Our guide told us the rich history of the family that owns it. We were lucky enough to meet Corky and hear stories from the man himself. I love that his dad was General Patton's aide! The double oak bourbon and rye are delicious, but the high rye bourbon was my favorite. A must see, when you're in Louisville!

Thankfully we were able to walk in last Friday and get in on a tasting. We had a knowledgeable guide to lead us in our tastings. We were able to chose after the first taste which ones from a selection we would like to try. Absinthe barrel rye turned out to be my favorite..delicate notes of anise. The Peerless name has a rich history and retaining their original Kentucky distilled plant number of 50 is commendable. Planning on a pre booked reservation for a tour next time I visit.

We do a lot of distillery tours when we travel and this is the best we have had in a long while. The tour guide was super knowledgeable and open to answering a lot of questions. I learned a lot and really enjoyed it. The tastings were great and I felt like the tour gave you a real inside perspective (ie like getting to go to a soft open). For the cost we got a lot of value. We tasted 5 bourbons and had a great discussion. We got to keep the glass too. Would definitely recommend to others.

Bourbon Tour to celebrate my sister's birthday. We had an awesome time at this hidden gem. The crew was awesome and the bourbon did not disappoint! The distillery tasting room feels like an old saloon. The tasting was generous and balanced with bourbon and rye whiskey offerings. We paired them with some Eatable truffles sold at the shop for a great add. You get to keep your glass, which was a nice touch! The options were outstanding, With something everyone liked. We left with nearly a dozen bottles of single and double-barreled bourbons and ryes. My hubby was a HUGE fan of the Double-Oaked Rye. Several in our group took home the Kentucky Cake and Double-Oaked Bourbon. You're sure to find a great bottle to enjoy! We highly recommend this distillery!

During a recent visit to Louisville we reserved spaces on the tasting experience. We visited other distilleries while we were in town but this was the first craft distillery we visited. The gift shop felt nice and open and we loved looking at the articles on the wall telling the story of how the business was recently reactivated after it closed down during prohibition. We were taken into a side room where we tasted 6 bourbons, usually the tasting includes 5 but since ours started late they added another. We tried multiple regular bourbons as well as some rye bourbons. Most of the tasting were single barrels that have specific flavors to them which was very interesting to try. Since they have such a small quantity of these the bottles are relatively expensive but it makes for a different tasting experience when you visit as well. At the end of the tasting we were told we could take our tasting glasses with us which was a nice surprise. Overall, the bourbon was great but very strong so just be ready for that. I would recommend giving them a try if you are looking for some unique flavors.