A Barrel of Lights

During the economic boom following the Civil War, a block-long stretch of cast iron-framed buildings on Louisville’s Main Street—famously known as Whiskey Row—became the hub of Bourbon Country and big business in Kentucky.

A block from the Ohio River, the West Main Street Historic District was originally the city’s business thoroughfare and once home to nearly 90 bourbon distilling companies.

Today, only one of those companies can proudly say they have operated continuously from then to now: Brown-Forman and its founding brand, Old Forester, credited as being America’s first bourbon to be sold in sealed glass bottles to ensure quality.