LOUISVILLE, Ky. (DERBY CITY WEEKEND) - If you’re looking for a new place to check out in the new year in Greater Louisville, a unique partnership between a popular national magazine and a beloved Kentucky distillery might just be the ticket.
The new Garden & Gun Club is open for business and is creating quite a buzz.
With roots going back to Pappy Van Winkle and many of the finest bourbons, tour groups frequent the grounds of the Historic Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Shively.
The distillery’s been dubbed the Cathedral of Bourbon.
Lately, those tour groups are finding a swanky new addition on property: The Garden & Gun Club at Stitzel-Weller, just the second club of it’s kind to open in the nation.
Atlanta is home to the original Garden & Gun Club. Now, it’s branching out for the first time to a smaller version in Louisville.
The club is the love child of Blade and Bow and Garden & Gun Magazine, combining for a true southern hospitality experience.
“Garden and Gun is all about Southern lifestyle, and what’s more southern than Kentucky Straight Bourbon?” asked Greg Hojnacki, the Bar Lead at Stitzel-Weller.
With a straight out of the magazine look, the lounge and bar that’s certainly made for conversation boasts comfy seating, antlers all around, and of course, serious southern cocktails.
Drinks are served with a menu of small bites like their famous pimento cheese or country ham boards.
“This place is exactly what a historic distillery needs,” Douglas Kragel, Blade and Bow’s Lead Educator said.
For years, teams behind the two iconic southern brands kept running into each other. They figured fans of Garden and Gun Magazine would come to Louisville to learn more about Blade and Bow, as well as the city’s culture and historic southern events like the Kentucky Derby.
Kragel often hears from guests, “I didn’t even know it was in my backyard.” He said that’s a common reaction he hears from residents in Shively about the new club.
Hojnacki, a former tour guide turned bar lead, said many area chefs and restaurateurs have been in to get the real stories behind the drink.
“We’re already seeing that local reaction to it, and we’ve even had people come in from out of town and travel just because of that,” Hojnacki said.
If you fancy any of Diageo’s other brands, they are also available at the bar too, as well as new cocktail twists on old bourbon favorites.
Kragel added of the new gem on the Bourbon Trail, “It’s a way to spend a little more time in these wonderful locations that (visitors) come to and they learn and taste whiskey and they do all of the great tourism that the state has, and now they can also meet a friend for a drink or just spend a bit more time soaking it all in.”
To learn more about hours, tours and the club itself at 3860 Fitzgerald Road, head to Stitzel-Weller Distillery’s website, Blade and Bow Whiskey’s website, or the Garden & Gun Club website.
Copyright 2022 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.
Copyright 2022 WAVE. All rights reserved.
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/gray/5744b136-3765-4ab2-8c78-19ccd2b73d47.png)