The Kentucky Bourbon Festival just wrapped for 2025, and for those that don’t know, it’s basically the Super Bowl of bourbon.
Each year in Bardstown, Kentucky, thousands of people descend on the festival grounds to enjoy expert panel discussions, plenty of fun games, and, of course, the absolute best bourbons. As UPROXX’s head whiskey writer, I’ve been attending the festival for years and have previously had the pleasure of speaking on the main stage, but this year I wanted to be among the people and experience the festivities like all of the other festival-goers (although I did retreat to the air conditioning in the media tent a time or two).
After having that on-the-ground experience, I’m ready to share with you the best booths at this year’s festival, as well as some of the standout pours that I enjoyed along the way.
So, let’s dive right in. These were the best booths (and pours) at this year’s Kentucky Bourbon Festival!
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The Best Non-Distilling Producer Booth: Dark Arts Whiskey House
The Booth:
Dark Arts Whiskey House, located in Lexington, Kentucky, was holding down a mini but mighty booth tucked in the back corner of the festival’s craft village. Its out-of-the-way location was perfect, because for seemingly the entire festival, there was an extensive line of people waiting to try its products. The brand had one of its founders, Macaulay Minton, on hand to greet patrons along with a fleet of team members like Kymi Douglas and Sara Ahlgrim, formerly of the popular YouTube channel It’s Bourbon Night, who now serves as a “Spirit Guide” for the brand.
The Best Whiskey: Dark Arts 16-Year “K.B.F. Buff-Turkey Cuvée Blend” Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
ABV: 59.4%
Average Price: $299
The Whiskey:
This 16-Year “KBF Buff-Turkey Cuvée Blend” from Dark Arts wasn’t just the best whiskey at the booth, but it was easily the talk of the craft village, and the bottle most responsible for the brand’s long lines. Crafted from 7 barrels of “Buff-Turkey” juice, this expression was explicitly created for the thirsty attendees of Kentucky Bourbon Festival 2025.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a lovely dose of crème brûlée, brown butter, and stewed plums before deferring to the more classic bourbon notes of vanilla pods, oak, and the standard caramel aroma. As it sits in the glass, this one becomes a bit fuller, with notes of figgy pudding, cinnamon bark, and faint black peppercorn accents.
Palate: The palate on this whiskey is somehow richer than its decadent nose, with an oily and mouth-coating texture that slips over your tongue like a velour suit. The nosing notes spring to life, with brown butter, rich vanilla, and decadent caramel flavors forming the base as faint whisps of mocha and mature oak undulate gently in the background, giving each sip a ton of depth.
Finish: The finish on this whiskey is sweet and lengthy, with the creme brulee notes making the most extensive impression, while a bit of sandalwood, black pepper, caramel, and even some stewed red apple notes can be found after lip-smacking a bit.
Bottom Line:
Anyone familiar with KBF will note that there are typically extensive lines at legacy booths as attendees are often rewarded with the opportunity to buy some of their most limited offerings. Well, this year’s Dark Arts booth rivaled them all with equally extensive lines and a bottle that arguably outperforms some of the most notable allocated releases of the year. This one was definitely a can’t-miss.
The Best Craft Whiskey Brand Booth: Potter Jane Distilling Company
The Booth
The Potter Jane Distilling Company booth was loaded with representatives from the brand. Both of its namesakes, Denny Potter and Jane Bowie, were present to greet attendees and talk about their fledgling distillery. While they’ve only been up and running for a little over a year, they brought with them some new make as well as some newly aged distillate, part of a batch of barrels that the brand intends to set aside for future KBFs to show festival-goers in real-time how their whiskey is progressing.
The Best Whiskey: Potter Jane High-Rye “Western Facing” New Make
ABV: Cask strength
Average Price: Not for sale
The Whiskey:
While this isn’t a “finished product” that will see store shelves, it was a fascinating look into the future of Potter Jane Distilling Company. The brand was born from the minds of two industry legends, who worked alongside one another at Maker’s Mark before deciding to leave a mark of their own by making whiskey entirely in their own image. As veterans of wheated bourbon production, what I found most fascinating was the impressive quality of their bourbon, which featured rye as a secondary grain. Notably, it had a fruit-forward and complex aroma base, resulting in a bounty of both qualities on the palate.
It may not be ready for the main stage just yet, but for those who had the pleasure of tasting its liquid this year and are looking to attend the festival in 2026, seeing the progress a year can make at the Potter Jane booth will surely prove to be insightful.
The Best Established Whiskey Brand Booth: Bardstown Bourbon Company
The Booth:
The Bardstown Bourbon Company booth had one distinct advantage over most others: the number of brands on offer. Despite having an incredible lineup of its own whiskey, Bardstown Bourbon Company is also a highly regarded producer of other upstart brands via its contract distilling and sourced whiskey business. Not only was the distillery rolling out several new expressions for attendees to try, including its Hokkaido Mizunara Oak Barrel Finish, Discovery Series 13 bourbon, and latest Collaborative Series release with Maison Ferrand, but BBCo. clients like Blue Run and Forbidden Bourbon were also prominently featured, making it a can’t-miss destination throughout the weekend.
The Best Whiskey: Bardstown Bourbon Company Discovery Series 13
I had the opportunity to sit down with Bardstown Bourbon Company’s Master Blender and VP of Product Development, Dan Calloway, in the media tent during the festival. He was kind enough to share the latest Discovery Series bourbon with me while discussing his thoughts behind the product. In short, he’s been waiting patiently to try his hand at double-barreling, and with this project now out in the world, he anticipates that future iterations of the Discovery Series will also feature the technique.
ABV: 55.4%
Average Price: $114
The Whiskey:
This 100% Kentucky bourbon was a perfect fit for the festival and features bourbon aged up to 15 years that was double-barreled in American and Hungarian oak casks before being bottled at 110.8 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Layers of caramel, vanilla, dried strawberries, and faint mocha notes are blended well with the aroma of torched orange peels, hazelnut spread, white pepper, and clove on the nose. It has a slightly darker and nuttier spiced aroma than recent editions in the lineup, which is definitely intriguing and likely due to its double barreling process.
Palate: On the palate, the influence of Hungarian oak is evident but delightfully restrained, as those hazelnut spread and clove notes form the base of the flavor profile. Meanwhile, classic bourbon notes of caramel, vanilla, and black pepper are well-represented along the edges of the tongue.
Finish: The medium-length finish is where the finishing cask leaves its final impression as notes of coconut flakes, cloves, and hazelnut spread brush up against a slightly drying oaky, lactone flavor.
Bottom Line:
The Bardstown Bourbon Company tent was loaded with hits, with single barrels from Forbidden Bourbon and Blue Run’s latest whiskey releases standing out. That said, it was the assortment from Bardstown Bourbon Company’s prestige Discovery and Collaborative Series lineups that took the cake, with the newest Discovery Series expression edging out the rest to claim my top spot under the tent.
The Best Legacy Distillery Booth: The James B. Beam Distillery
The Booth:
The Jim Beam booth had just as many dazzling new releases to show off as any other booth, with a new Hardin’s Creek, the return of its celebrated “Bowling Pin” bottle, and the crown jewel: Knob Creek 21 on offer. While the bottles of Knob Creek 21 sold quickly and resulted in one of the longest lines at the festival, the brand had a much deeper stock of the “Beam Bowling Pin” bourbon, which kept fans of the brand circling its tent for all three days.
The Best Whiskey: Knob Creek 21-Year Bourbon
Is this really a surprise? I was part of a small group of journalists who got to try this product when it was still in the development stage a few months ago, and it’s only gotten richer and more robust since then. Surprisingly, this product clears the bell curve of maturation and tastes significantly less oaky than its 18-year counterpart, with a juicier flavor profile and more lively texture to match.
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $250
The Whiskey:
Knob Creek 21 follows the same trajectory as other hyper-aged products in the lineup in that it’s proofed down to 50% ABV, but this one comes housed in a cool wooden case that holds the iconic Knob Creek bottle. Aged for 21 years, this is Kentucky Straight Bourbon pushed to its limits.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nosing notes of this mature bourbon open with Dates, brown sugar, and hazelnut spread. Fainter elements like light menthol and dill then begin to billow over the rim of the glass before a closing note of sweet oak sweeps through the air. In short, this is a lovely, self-assured aroma profile that keeps the unpleasant oaky notes at bay while reaping the benefits of its maturity in the form of dates, faint leather, and rich brown sugar.
Palate: Once in the mouth, the flavors of sweet leather and raisins wash over the tongue at first. There’s still some slight menthol found on the palate to go with a lot of vanilla extract, cinnamon bark, and cream soda. It’s surprisingly more vibrant and juicy than the 18-year Knob Creek, which has been on the market for several years.
Finish: The finish is impressively lengthy, with a hint of honeyed black tea, faintly floral notes, and crackles of black pepper and star anise to close things out.
Bottom Line:
Jim Beam is always a popular booth at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, but this year’s triptych of new releases ensured that fans kept coming back to taste (and re-taste) the latest from their favorite brand. Those who were lucky enough to try and/or buy the Knob Creek 21 were the real winners, but with a consolation prize as beautiful as the revived Bowling Pin bottle, there are certainly no losers to speak of.
The Best Rye Whiskey Booth: Angel’s Envy
The Booth
The Angel’s Envy booth was yet another one that was inundated with long lines, albeit with relatively short wait times, as fans queued to taste the brand’s new expressions. Those included two new Distillery Series releases: a peated cask-finished rye and a two-grain bourbon, along with a new batch of its cask-strength bottled-in-bond bourbon, which is now headed to national distribution channels, meaning fans across the country will be able to taste what was formerly a distillery-only release. The brand also rolled out other cask-strength goodies, and of course, its latest Cellar Collection release, an extra añejo tequila finished rye whiskey.
The Best Whiskey: Angel’s Envy Cellar Collection Vol. 5 Straight Rye Whiskey Finished In French Oak Extra-Añejo Tequila Barrels
ABV: 52.1%
Average Price: $299
The Whiskey:
Angel’s Envy’s latest release in its Cellar Collection really leans into a unique finishing cask for bourbon: Extra añejo tequila. The process begins with Angel’s Envy rye whiskey, which is aged for up to seven years before being finished for 12 months in French oak barrels that previously held Patron tequila. For what the brand calls “the final touch”, they blend that with an 11-year-old rye.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this whiskey is front-loaded with floral notes that aren’t immediately discernible as agave-adjacent, with white flowers and lilacs leading the bunch. Accents of vanilla, clove, butterscotch, and spearmint also make up the lovely bouquet of aromas.
Palate: In the mouth, the tequila influence is a bit more pronounced as herbal tea with a drop of honey, allspice, and agave syrup notes blend well with butterscotch, brown sugar, cedar, tobacco leaves, and green apples. The texture is fairly dense and juicy, and that helps as it transitions to the finish.
Finish: The finish is lingering and full of orange blossom honey, touches of spearmint, black pepper, and vanilla. Green apple skin and cereal notes help draw the entire affair to a close.
Bottom Line:
Not only was the Angel’s Envy booth loaded with excellent ryes, but they also brought a wide selection of exceptional bourbon to satisfy the festival’s attendees and appeal to a diverse crowd in a way that few booths did. As a result, Angel’s Envy undoubtedly had the best and most interesting rye offerings at the festival, rewarding curious attendees with a pair of releases that are almost without precedent in the American whiskey world.
The Best Overall Booth: Preservation Distillery
The Booth
Preservation Distillery’s booth was devoid of fair games, loudspeakers, or any other bells and whistles. What it did have, however, was the best bourbon at the entire festival. Not only were VIPs treated to pours of the brand’s new Very Olde St. Nick 20-Year Bourbon, which is already in the hunt as one of our bourbons of the year, but additionally, they debuted another three releases that really knocked my socks off: Very Olde St. Nick 18-Year Bourbon, Very Olde St. Nick Super Freak Bourbon, and the pièce de résistance: Very Olde St. Nick 17-Year “True Religion” Bourbon.
The Best Bourbon At The Kentucky Bourbon Festival: Preservation Distillery Very Olde St. Nick 17-Year True Religion Bourbon
ABV: 63.8%
Average Price: $1,000 (375ml)
The Whiskey:
Very Olde St. Nick 17-Year “True Religion” Bourbon came as a bit of a surprise (Preservation Distillery typically eschews typical marketing for a more direct-to-consumer, grassroots feel) when it was initially announced on the brand’s social media channels. Still, given its packaging, folks quickly realized this was the spiritual successor to its previous triplet of 17-year releases: Unicorn Cask, The OG, and Lost Barrel. Those releases are purported, but not confirmed, to be from the shuttered Stitzel-Weller distillery and had been resting in steel tanks until their release. My palate would agree with that assertion, and I’d say the same of this newest release, True Religion.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this whiskey is remarkably dense and multi-layered with salted toffee, candied walnuts, black cherry, and brown sugar all folded into the aroma of mature oak, sweet leather, cinnamon bark, and baked apples. It’s an aroma profile that plays all the hits of classic bourbon with a richness that elevates it into rare air.
Palate: On the palate, this whiskey rumbles to life with all of the aforementioned nosing notes. Salted toffee and candied walnuts lead the way, but that then morphs into flavors like peanut brittle, caramel corn, stewed peaches, and sweet leather. It has a silky mouthfeel that helps each tightly-wound layer of flavor to coat your tongue, which is a huge win.
Finish: Thanks to that oily texture, this whiskey has an impressively long finish that seems to go on for minutes as the flavors of vanilla ice cream, gooey caramel, white pepper, and stewed peaches linger on the tongue long after the final sip.
Bottom Line:
Full disclosure: I didn’t taste every single bourbon at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival (it’s a bit of a tall order), but after spending 3 days at the festival grounds, fielding suggestions from attendees far and wide, and doing a ton of my own research, I feel confident in crowning Very Olde St. Nick 17-Year True Religion Bourbon as the best bourbon at KBF this year.
That is, perhaps, with one exception. Having previously tried the brand’s 20-Year Very Olde St. Nick, I opted not to taste it at the festival so that more people could try it and to maintain suspense for our “Best Bourbon Of 2025” list. That may yet prove to be the best bourbon of the year, but having opted out of that one, I’m happy to call Preservation Distillery’s True Religion the best bourbon at the 2025 Kentucky Bourbon Festival.
