14 Bourbons You Can (Pretty Much) Only Buy in Kentucky

Traveling to Kentucky? Bring a suitcase, make a stop at liquor store, and look for these covetable bottles.

No matter how booming the craft bourbon business is around the country, Kentucky is still king—and a place all whiskey lovers need to visit. While you're there for Derby celebrations, visiting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, or just passing through on business, be sure to stop at a few Kentucky liquor stores and distilleries.

Related: The 50 Best Whiskeys in the World

The reason they have these tasty, value bottles while folks in Wisconsin or Florida don’t is simple: There’s not much of it, and distilleries don’t bother shipping when they can sell it all a stone’s throw from home. Here are some of our favorite bourbons you can only buy in Kentucky or in select retailers online and throughout the States.

Best Bourbons You Can Pretty Much Only Get in Kentucky

1. Very Old Barton 90 Proof

We’ve written about Very Old Barton before, and we’ll continue to stick to our guns: It’s one of the best values on the market, when you can find it. The best place to do that is Kentucky. We picked the 6-year-old, 90-proof version for this list simply because it’s what we carted back from our last visit to the Commonwealth, but they’re all tasty bourbons for the price. 

2. Five Brothers Bourbon

Five Brothers Bourbon is a reference to the five founding brothers of the company. Only available at select retailers and at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience, it’s 90 proof and was aged between 5 and 9 years. As a bonus, on top of being a complex whiskey, its bottle was designed to look the way one might be packaged back in the early 1900s.

3. Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond

Aside from the gorgeous new packaging—inspired by an original 1950's Old Fitzgerald diamond decanter—the best thing Heaven Hill is doing here is bonding. Bottled-in-bond is a mark of certified quality. It's proof barrels were monitored for tampering by government oversight. There are a list of rules every barrel, every batch, and every bottle must comply with to receive the distinction, which takes a lot of effort to meet. Bottled-in-bond whiskey only has to be 4 years of age, so to see 9- and 11-year releases is encouraging there’s more good stuff to come. Every spring and fall, the brand releases a new edition.

4. Old Grand-Dad 114

When Old Grand-Dad 114 supplies ran low a few years ago, rumors circulated it might be discontinued entirely and panic ensued. There’s a simple reason: Old Grand-Dad 114 is the rarest of Jim Beam’s high-rye Old Grand-Dad bourbon line, and it’s the boldest and tastiest of the lot. It hasn’t been discontinued (thankfully), but Kentucky is still your best shot at finding it. 

5. Jim Beam Old Tub

Old Tub is a weird bourbon to get excited about, but bear with us. At 4 years of age and bottled-in-bond strength, it’s an unassuming piece of bourbon history. The main thing you need to know about this bourbon is that Booker Noe (the namesake of Booker’s) loved the stuff. It’s only sold at the Jim Beam Stillhouse in 375ml bottles, but if you visit, it’s a must-try for the experience. 

6. Bulleit Barrel Strength

When Bulleit first released Barrel Strength, only Kentucky residents and visitors were able to get their hands on the uncut barrel-strength version of the bourbon. Bulleit started expanding into other markets in 2017 (New York and California among them), but Kentucky is still your best bet to find this raw, bold bourbon in its non-chill filtered, authentic form. 

7. Maker’s Mark Private Selection

A number of years ago, Bill Samuels released his crowning achievement in Maker’s 46. The brand's wood-finishing series builds off that success. It starts with fully matured, cask-strength whiskey that's barrel finished with 10 different wood staves (e.g. Toasted French Spice, Maker's Mark 46, Baked American Pure). The whole lot is then aged in a limestone cellar. In all, there are 1,001 possible stave combinations to play with. This bourbon is worth the trip. Trust us. 

8. William Heavenhill

William Heavenhill is an interesting bourbon. Only available at the Heaven Hill Distillery (hence the name), its proof and age vary depending on the release. Made to pay tribute to William Heavenhill, as well as the limestone spring he used to make bourbon, the eighth edition was known for having a sweet and spicy flavor profile of caramel corn and oak. Seek this expression out if you happen to visit this iconic distillery.  

9. Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse Select

Only available at the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse in Louisville, this long-matured, non-chill filtered expression is known for its nose of maple candy, candied pecans, vanilla, and oak as well as its palate of caramel, oak, and wintry spices. It’s a warming, sweet, spicy expression worth seeking out. 

10. Old Forester President's Choice

This limited release is only available at Old Forester Distilling Co. and a few retailers throughout Kentucky, nowhere else. While the recipe, proof, aromas, and flavors vary based on the release, each one is a single-barrel offering made up of barrels hand-selected by Old Forester’s president. They're most often matured for eight years, minimum, and are bottled at a cask strength between 110 to 120 proof. 

11. Peerless Single Barrel

This distillery-only expression is a showcase of Peerless’ Single Barrel program. Head distiller Caleb Kilburn only picks the rarest, most unique, most flavorful whiskeys to be included in this limited-edition expression. The non-chill filtered bourbon is bottled at barrel proof and is known for its robust, rich, multi-layered flavor profile that whiskey aficionados take a journey to purchase. 

12. Woodford Reserve Distillery Series

Only available at the distillery in Versailles, this series was created as a way to showcase unique ingredients and boundary-pushing techniques. Recent releases include Toasted Oak Oat Grain 2022, Chocolate Malt Whisper 2021, and Double Double Oaked 2021.

13. Evan Williams 23-Year-Old

Evan Williams is arguably the most underrated bourbon brand. Known for its high value-to-quality ratio, it’s the type of distillery that makes nothing but exceptional expressions. If you want to try its 23-Year-Old bourbon, you’ll have to stop by the Evan Williams Experience gift shop in Louisville. This highly sought-after bourbon was matured for a minimum of 23 years in charred American oak barrels before being bottled at 107 proof. 

14. Elijah Craig Barrel Select

Some people believe that when Elijah Craig, a former Baptist minister, decided to age his corn whiskey in charred oak barrels, he invented bourbon. Whether that story is true or not doesn’t really matter as he has a whiskey brand in his honor regardless. Barrel Proof and Small Batch expressions are extremely popular, but if you want to try Barrel Select you’ll have to visit the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience. This 8-year-old, 125-proof bourbon comes in a unique barrel-shaped bottle.