Justins' House of Bourbon

We didn't get into town early enought to go to any of the acutually distilleries but Justins' may be a better option!Lots of unique bourbons. Many you can try before you buy. They also hae high end bottles not easily found elsewhere.The staff is very helpful and the other patrons were fun to chat with.

Louisville's House of Bourbon is located downtown Louisville about 3 minutes off 65. I was intrigued after seeing a billboard sign saying they had "rare bourbons" come to realize most of the rare pickings are behind display cases. Either way, they had a good selection for tastings. Most bottles for purchase could be found elsewhere. We got a 0.5oz sampling of Eagle Rare & Blanton's to kick off our visit ($10 each)! Staff was very kind, gave us space to look around and time to think over tasting choices. Our group was happy we stopped but I wouldn't go out of my way next time passing through. Tip: Street parking has meters so one needs to pay to visit.

Found this place on a whim while walking around Louisville. The place has an incredible selection of bourbons and love that you can do flights in store.

So I'm torn on this review. The hype about Justin's had me excited. But upon walking in I was not blown away. Kinda just okay. Okay that was a little harsh. Justin's is not your typical liquor store. They source from a lot many places and yes you are going to see secondary and beyond prices on high end allocated. But what makes Justin's shine is their barrell picks. They have several. This isn't cheap to do. The bar offers a huge verity of drams for sale and you can sample the store picks for $5 a half ounce. That's a bargain. Be sure to pick up a bottle. The guys are friendly and knowledge.

A decent little shop where the highlight is ultimately their selection of store picks that seemed reasonably priced. Plus, you can try before you buy for $5+ depending on the bottle.The back of the shop is the "museum" if you will, with overpriced secondary pricing on rare bottles, but there is also some cool memorabilia and old bottles for display.The staff welcomed you upon entering, but the selection and pricing wasn't enough to get me to buy anything.

I would say it is only appropriate to pour myself a glass of Kentucky's finest while I write this review. Rewind to a few months ago, I had heard about Justin's and that they have two locations (Louisville and Lexington) and they are famed for having the largest selection of vintage bourbon in the world. I saw they even had a website, and I was like, well, maybe I should check it out! I will admit, at least from my personal experience, the website is either a tease, hacked, or both. I saw at their Lex location they had Jeppson's Bourbon in stock. I sent my sister to go check it out, and when she asked about it, they pretty much laughed and said people look for it (wonder why, it is on your site!). However, they did steer her in the direction of a Old Bardstown BiB (Bottled in Bond), which I have not seen outside of Kentucky, so that was a cool gift.When I finally made it up to Kentucky for a few days, I stopped by at the location in Louisville (which is geniously across the street from White Castle), I was excited to see what it was about. They have a great selection, and stuff you surely won't see everyday. I would like to point out, that about roughly 60% of the store is retail, and they tell you when you cross a magic line, the secondary pricing begins (and that is because they got those items at secondary). For those of you not familiar with secondary pricing, it pretty much means if you aren't careful, you can get sucked into paying 3-4X+ retail for certain bottles.The second half of the store are the museum pieces, those will give you chills seeing them all in person, and probably give you an ulcer when you see the price tag. Some cool stuff you don't see often, if at all though! At the end, they have a tasting bar, where via an ipad you can try .5 oz tastings of things. I decided to try the Blanton's Straight Barrel for a cool 35$ teaser. I have only seen those bottles for about $400 on the secondary, so I knew that was absurd, but at least I got to try it, that was cool.All in all, a cool place if you are a bourbon fan, just do your research before you start dropping major coin on the back half, unless money isn't an option. Cheers!

First time in here. Friendly greeting at the door. Neat place to have a drink and check out their extensive bourbon collection. Store picks you can't find anywhere else and a neat display of not for sale bottles in the back, along with bourbon themed gifts. Check it out if you love bourbon!

2*=Could have been betterI came with a few friends. We all have a variety of knowledge of bourbon/whisk(e)y.I loved how they have a variety of bottles and brands set behind glass...almost museum like. What I did not like was how much they charged for what they called "airport minis". $7 and up is pretty steep for normal brands of minis. The customer service came across like we were not spirit knowledgeable or was willing to pay anything for whatever.I will not return.

The "bros" at the bar openly mocked us just based off basic conversation of our flight schedule. If either one of them is an owner I feel bad for them and the business they are trying to run.But whatever, if you would like to be insulted by some "cool" dudes go ahead. You'll be offered overpriced bottles (more than just going to the distilleries walking distance away) by some smug cashiers. Blech. I loved my trip to Kentucky, but this was by far the worst part (despite my phone getting stolen haha).

Staff was friendly and very knowledgeable. There was a wide selection to choose from for pour or for purchase. Vibe was very comfortable and the museum bottles were very, very cool.