The Story

I looked down at my Apple Watch as it buzzed with a new notification. “Be there in 20 mins” the message read. ‘That works’, I thought, as I cruised down I-65 South past downtown Louisville. My GPS prominently displayed that I would arrive in 8 minutes, just a tad early.

On this sunny Friday evening I was slated to meet up with the owner of Old Louisville Whiskey Co., a new and interesting brand that had just set up shop in south Louisville, KY. I was feeling rather excited; there was a fair amount of buzz on social media about the new brand and I was able to get a meeting with the proprietor, Amine Karaoud, via a few back and forth DMs on Instagram.

As I pondered what fun lay ahead of me, I meandered my way around the city, blindly following my GPS until I stole a moment to take in my surroundings. The area was decidedly industrial; body shops and machine factories lined the streets. I turned a corner or two, slowing down as I closed in on my destination. ‘Did I take a wrong turn?’ I thought, as I took a street parallel to the raised highway and set my sights on an underpass. Thankfully, as I rolled up on the map marker designated on the screen, I saw a building with graphics on the windows that read ‘Old Louisville Whiskey Co.”. I had arrived.

I thought about how atypical this experience was. Hell, I was even a little nervous as I sat and waited, worrying that the sun would be setting soon. Thankfully after only about ten minutes, a white SUV pulled up next to me. The driver got out.

“Hey, nice to meet you, I’m Amine” he said, with a smile on his face. Any nerves I had previously were dashed. I introduced myself and grabbed my video equipment as quickly as possible, eager to learn more about his brand. And of course, taste some whiskey too.

We walked into the gift shop together, which was nicely laid out. Not totally finished just yet, but had been neatly designed. Merchandise on one wall, a luxurious leather coach, solid wood table and some chairs on the opposite side. In the center towards the back was the whiskey display and register.

After taking some video clips we made our way into the back, which was spacious. Amine showed me the tasting bar and gave a tour of the facility. We started with the bottle filling station, then set our sights on the labeling area.

“We handwrite all of the labels ourselves” Amine says as he gestures towards the rows of Rye bottles.

“I think it’s nice for craft [whiskey] to have that handwritten touch” I say, as I take a panning shot over the bottle-filled table.

“Yeah, well if you write 1,100 bottles…” he replies, as we share a laugh.

Another very cool aspect of the bottle is the label – which Amine told us went through many iterations. Eventually, they settled on the label you see today. The star on the map of Old Louisville represents the first store that Amine owned as a retailer, where he learned about and grew an appreciation for whiskey.

We spent the next twenty or thirty minutes sampling some of his barrels. All of which were exceptionally good; from dark fruit to honeysuckle, banana to rich oak, high rye bourbon to wheated bourbon. Needless to say, this was a particularly fun aspect of the visit.

Before I headed out, we spent some time hanging at the tasting bar and trying a few other bottles, including his Rye whiskey, which is unique as it’s 51% rye and 49% malted barley – which was another fantastic bottle.

At the end, I didn’t even know which of the bottles I wanted to take home, as I felt each were equally enjoyable. If my budget had dictated it, I would’ve grabbed all three, but ultimately I decided to go with Barrel 1. Here’s to hoping next time that we’re able to get more (fingers crossed).

Our experience at Old Louisville Whiskey Co. was one to remember; the space was smaller than most you’d normally tour, but very well designed. The hospitality was more than gracious and the whiskey was incredible.

But why take our word for it? Be sure to visit when the gift shop opens, which should be happening rather soon.

Now that we’ve introduced you to the brand, let’s get to the tasting of Old Louisville Whiskey Co.’s Single Barrel – Barrel 1 bourbon.

Nose

Definitely a sweet oak aroma on the nose. The 8 year age certainly comes through, and is supported by a foundation of sweet aromas: Caramel, brown sugar and maple syrup.

Palate

There’s not much of a surprise here – the wonderful notes you get on the nose translate to the palate as well. It’s oaky, deep caramel, brown sugar, maple syrup and a touch of pecan. A palate-only exclusive we got was a Cherry Jolly Rancher hard candy too. The spice is more prominent on the palate than the nose, and that black pepper note shines on the mid-palate.

Finish

The finish is sweet and introduces some really pleasant notes, like milk chocolate. We also got a touch of baking spice near the end.

Verdict

This is a very good bottle, and we know you’d like it if you bought it. The cool thing is that it provides a really nice evolution on the palate over time. We didn’t really get that milk chocolate note until very late, but it was very good and kept us wanting to go back to the glass.

So, if it’s so great, what’s the problem?

Well, $150 is quite the price tag. As much as we are hounds for excellent whiskey, so too are we dedicated to recommending a fair price. There are other great offerings from MGP that are less expensive and offer similar quality. So, ultimately we have to say recommending the bottle was a bit tough for us – we would say it depends on certain factors.

Are you trying to get the best bang for your MGP buck? If that’s the case, there are a handful of great, sourced brands that can give similar quality and not hit your pocketbook so hard. You probably will have to do some real searching, but it’s doable.

If you are able (and willing) to drop some coin on a very nice 8 year MGP bottle, then we would recommend purchasing. It was a bit tough for us, because Kevin got to know the proprietor and really loved the story, so it made sense that he wanted to support the brand a bit more. But looking at it from purely a ‘see an $150 bottle on the shelf’ perspective, it’s a tough one to recommend.

We’re giving Old Louisville Barrel 1 an 8.0 out of 10. Whether or not to purchase at the retail price, we will say ‘depends on factors’.

Do you own this bottle? Then surely you’ll want to add it to your inventory using our web app! It’s free to use. Sign up here to get a handle on that unruly home bar.

Cheers friends!