Land of Unbridled Spirit comes to Toronto

Representatives from the Kentucky Department of Tourism were in Toronto on Wednesday evening to spread the word about the Land of Unbridled Spirit to select members of the media. Executives from Lexington, Louisville and Northern Kentucky were present, highlighting some of the state’s main attractions and new developments in 2017.

Louisville

Louisville has been bolstered by the opening of Angel’s Envy Distillery last November. Tours are available by reservation in the distillery, located in the old Vermont American Complex, which will produce bourbon and related products. The city’s brewing scene is on the rise, with locations such as Lou’s Brews growing in popularity.

New developments in Louisville include the Old Forester Distillery, which is expected to open in late 2017, and the $28 million renovation of Paristown Pointe, which will transform it into an arts and culture district – with completion expected for mid-2018. The Rabbit Hole Distillery, planned for the trendy Nulu section of Louisville, is slated for completion in fall 2017. Meanwhile, the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville closed in August 2016 to undergo a two-year, $180 million expansion.

National Horse Show, Louisville

Lexington

In Lexington, a new tourism product, Horse Country, takes visitors behind the scenes to learn about Thoroughbreds, with stops including approximately 35 farms, two equine hospitals and a feed mill. The city is also home to the 21c Museum Hotel, opened at the end of February 2016, which offers curated exhibitions and cultural programming in addition to fine dining at the Lockbox restaurant.

In 2017, Lexington will see the revival of the historic 1776 James E. Pepper bourbon label, with the distillery to be located at the west end of the formerly abandoned Pepper Campus – which also houses Ethereal Brewery, Barrel House Distilling, Crank & Boom Ice Cream, Kentucky Knows and Middle Fork Kitchen. It’s scheduled to open around the end of this year.

Other notable developments in Kentucky include the rebuilding of the iconic Rabbit Hash General Store, which was destroyed by fire in 2016; construction of the Bill Monroe Museum in Rosine, planned to honour the ‘Father of Bluegrass Music’ Bill Monroe – projected for completion in the fall of 2017; and the new International Bluegrass Music Center in Owensboro, a $15 million facility featuring a 500-seat concert hall, 2,000-seat outdoor concert arena, and a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Ohio River. The center is slated to open in 2018.