Bulleit Distilling Co. sits on 300 acres in Shelbyville, Kentucky, about 30 minutes east of Louisville. This is the flagship distillery for the Bulleit Bourbon brand, which was founded by Tom Bulleit in 1987 but has roots tracing back to Augustus Bulleit’s original 1830s recipe. The modern facility opened in 2017 as a $115 million investment by Diageo, bringing large-scale bourbon production back to Kentucky with a focus on the high-rye bourbon that made Bulleit famous. Tom Bulleit’s journey to whiskey started unconventionally—he left his law practice in the 1980s to revive his great-great-grandfather’s bourbon recipe. Augustus Bulleit had been making whiskey in Kentucky in the 1830s before mysteriously disappearing while traveling between Kentucky and New Orleans in 1860. Tom spent years perfecting the high-rye mash bill that gives Bulleit its distinctive spicy character, eventually selling the brand to Diageo while staying on as brand ambassador. The Shelbyville distillery represents the brand’s return to its Kentucky roots after decades of contract distilling. The visitor experience centers around massive copper pot stills and column stills that can produce up to 1.8 million proof gallons annually. You’ll walk through a modern facility that blends industrial efficiency with Kentucky bourbon tradition, seeing everything from grain handling to barrel filling. The highlight is the barrel warehouse, where thousands of barrels age in Kentucky’s climate extremes. Tours end in the visitor center with tastings of Bulleit’s core lineup, including their signature 95% corn, 5% rye bourbon and their 95% rye whiskey.