Hotel Distil

Bourbon aficionados now have a place to vacation where they can fully immerse themselves – not literally – in this all-American spirit with Hotel Distil.

While bourbon has never quite enjoyed the same level of association with luxury as its cousin across the pond, the spirit has its fair share of followers that enjoy bourbon’s generally sweeter, richer profile – thanks to its 51 per cent-minimum corn requirement; and use of charred, first-fill American oak.

Bourbon itself is no less storied, nor made with less attention to quality compared to Scotch – and you can now experience all aspects of the spirit with a stay in a luxury hotel. 

Fittingly enough, the property is located in Louisville, Kentucky, where a third of all the world’s bourbon is produced. Specifically, Hotel Distil occupies the former headquarters of the  J.T.S. Brown & Sons Bourbon Company – a distiller with historical ties to spirits giants Brown-Forman and Jim Beam.

Hotel Distil’s storied building features 205 rooms, all tastefully furnished with the building’s booze-soaked history in mind. 

Of course, food and drinks feature heavily as part of the experience. While there’s a nightly toast at 19.33 (7.33pm) to commemorate the year prohibition ended; guests with less time-specific drinking habits will be glad to know that other options abound. 

Hit Bitters End, a rooftop bar with a cocktail programme featuring housemade bitters (that means unlimited permutations of Old Fashioneds!), or book one of their “Connoisseur Suites” to enjoy an in-room bourbon cart complete with 10 different whiskies, and four signature Old Fashioned cocktails crafted with private, single barrel picks.

For the ultimate experience though, the hotel offers a US$75,000 (S$101,000) “Exactly Like Nothing Else” package that includes a dozen bottles of vintage bourbon, one for each decade from 1900-2010; airport transfers; and a limousine ride to the picturesque Ashbourne Farms for a private picnic that includes a bluegrass performance.

For the icing on a very, very boozy cake – the hotel is also dog-friendly, and offers “handmade bourbon barrel” dog beds and Hotel Distil-branded chew toys for your fur friends.