The Heart of Kentucky
Yes, it really is the dead-drop, U. S. Geological Service-designated center of the state of Kentucky. It’s sandwiched between two major interstates and the Bluegrass Parkway. It’s a defining point of the “Golden Triangle”…about 65 miles from Louisville to Lexington to Lebanon and back to Louisville.
It’s the crossroads of Kentucky’s two best Bourbon experiences: The Kentucky Bourbon Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour intersect here. Limestone Branch Distillery in Lebanon is one of the highlights of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour. Maker’s Mark Distillery, about 11 miles from Lebanon and near Loretto, is a shining stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
One of the best Bourbon visitor experiences in Kentucky is available in Lebanon and only in Lebanon: You can tour Independent Stave Company’s Kentucky Cooperage, where the bourbon industry’s barrels are made and charred with fire.
There’s a rich history here of music and entertainment. An entire generation of Kentuckians and others believe a visit to Lebanon’s Club 68 and The Golden Horseshoe was a rite of passage to adulthood. And the Club Cherry is a bookmark in the history of Rhythm and Blues and Rock and Roll. (Little Richard’s inspiration for “Tutti Frutti” lived in Lebanon!)
There’s a rich history of fine food, bourbon and ham production that runs like a river of heritage through this Heart of Kentucky to this very day. It’s a wonderful place to tour, dine, shop and stay with it’s array of restaurants, unique diners, shopping destinations, overnight accommodations and more…including one of the state’s top community festivals, Marion County Country Ham Days.
There is one distillery experience open to the public in Lebanon:
