John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge ELIA LOCARDI
If you’re traveling to Kentucky as a whiskey tourist, chances are the state’s northern reaches aren’t first on your list of places to visit. That’s by no means a snub as much as a statement of fact—the vast majority of the state’s distilleries are dotted across the center of the commonwealth, in the “Amber Triangle” formed by Lexington, Louisville, and Bardstown. These days, however, there’s a hub of whiskey activity humming to the north, with Covington at the center of it all. Here's your guide to spending 48 hours in Covington.
The city of Covington (population 40,984) lies just across the river from Cincinnati, a travel hub with an airport bigger and more accessible than what you’ll find in Louisville or Lexington. Covington touts a rich, albeit lesser-known distilling history (one of its politicians, John G. Carlisle, was a co-creator of the Bottled in Bond Act, for starters) that’s resulted in a modern-day mushrooming of distilleries and whiskey-focused restaurants, bars, and bottle shops. Besides the whiskey, it also has some serious architecture and green spaces.
The city is also at the center of The B Line, a self-guided bourbon tour that stretches 95 miles across northern Kentucky and includes 9 distilleries, 9 bars, and 10 restaurants; a trip to Covington puts you but a stone’s throw from some of the finest whiskey destinations in the area. So, when a whiskey-focused Kentucky trip is on your radar, consider giving Covington its due.
Day One
Ask any Covington local where to stay, and you’re likely to hear one name: Hotel Covington. Located centrally in the city’s vibrant downtown, this luxurious boutique hotel is housed within the former John R. Coppin Co. department store, which was once the region’s highest-end retail venue of its kind before shuttering in 1977. While elegantly adorned and known as the hotel of choice for stars like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, Hotel Covington won’t break the bank, with average weekend room rates running around $300.
There’s also a great deal of convenience at Hotel Covington, as it offers much more than a place to lay your head—it’s also home to a restaurant, bar, and coffee shop. Start your first day in Covington with a morning beverage and breakfast from the hotel lobby’s Artisan Coffee Bar; the to-go options are plentiful, so you can be on your merry way, but if you’d like to sit and stay awhile, there are larger plates and boozy bespoke cocktails for brunch (though we recommend pacing yourself, as there will be lots of whiskey along the way!).
After fueling up, it’s time to get down to whiskey business. Distillery visits are first on the docket, starting right next door in Newport, a neighboring town that also sits across from Cincinnati along the Ohio River. A car ride to New Riff Distilling, the first stop of the day, will take just 10 minutes, or there’s public transit—the Southbank Shuttle runs regularly throughout the day, is just $1 to ride, and can get you from your hotel door to the distillery door in around 30 minutes.
Once at New Riff, let the tour and tasting begin. The distillery offers a variety of experiences, but your best bet will be the Bonded Tour, which takes visitors through the entire whiskey-making process, from grain to barrel. A tasting of New Riff’s bottled in bond bourbon and a selection of single barrel whiskeys is also included, and at the end, you’ll leave with a $10-off token (applicable to purchases of $25 or more) for the distillery gift shop. The Bonded Tour runs Tuesday to Sunday and lasts anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes, with tickets priced at $22 a person. New Riff also offers the more in-depth, back-of-house Barrel Proof Tour ($35) twice a month, as well as a blending class and “WHSKY NRD,” a monthly evening storytelling session—their website has specific dates, which change month to month. If you feel like sticking around once your tour concludes, head up the elevator to the top floor and grab a seat at The Aquifer tasting room. Recently renovated at the same time as the distillery gift shop, The Aquifer has the complete library of New Riff releases and a stellar cocktail selection to boot, as well as light bites to boost your energy ahead of the next stop.
Say goodbye to New Riff and hop in a car or bus (or stretch your legs with a 25-minute walk) to nearby Pensive Distilling, which will double as your lunch stop. Named after a 1944 Kentucky Derby winner, Pensive makes bourbon, apple pie moonshine, vodka, and gin. A tour ($25 per person) will bring you not only through the distillery, but through history as well, with many a story about Newport’s corrupt history of bootlegging. It concludes in the distillery’s speakeasy, which was a real-life speakeasy during Prohibition. Distillery COO Jeffrey Cole notes that Pensive’s owner, Scott Quigley, went to great lengths to restore the space to its former glory, and today all of its tastings are hosted there. By the end of the tour, you’ll be in need of some nosh, and Pensive’s kitchen should do the trick, with a laundry list of burgers on offer in addition to salads and shareable plates.
With two tours under your belt, the distilleries are done for the day and it’s time to return to Covington. Before heading up to your hotel room, there’s one more pit stop to make—no trip to the city would be complete without a visit to Revival Vintage Spirits and Bottle Shop. Located next door to Hotel Covington, Revival Vintage is the stuff of a whiskey lover’s dreams—the shop is an ode to vintage spirits, spread across 6,700 square feet and three floors. It houses hard-to-find and rare bottles, most dating back to the 1980s and earlier, as well as a tasting bar, which has both pours of vintage whiskey and craft cocktails. Owners Shannon C. Smith (who is, fun fact, also the vice mayor of Covington) and Brad Bonds are a wealth of whiskey knowledge, and can steer you in the direction of what to try and/or buy. The pair likes to keep something in stock for everyone, so prices start at $1 for vintage stir sticks and go well into the thousands for the most rarefied dusties, including the likes of an Old Fitzgerald from 1927 and Old Grand-Dad from 1926.
After hitting Revival, have a rest before taking to the town once more, this time for dinner at Bouquet. This farm-to-table restaurant sources the majority of its ingredients from farmers and purveyors in the region; as such, its menu rotates regularly, accounting for the change of seasons. The restaurant touts an impressive whiskey collection, so be sure to end the night with a taste of something special—like Knob Creek 18 year old ($54) or Old Fitzgerald 17 year old ($60)—before heading off to bed.
Day Two
You’re in Kentucky, so why not embrace some Southern cuisine—when in Rome, right? That means breakfast at comfort food hotspot Cedar in Covington’s Mainstrasse Village neighborhood. The restaurant makes mean biscuits, plus chicken and waffles, crab eggs Benedict, French toast, and so much more. Given that a great deal of yesterday was spent inside, today—weather permitting—take some time to explore Covington on foot once breakfast is finished. Start with a walk to the Ohio River, heading toward the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. Architecture fans may be surprised to know that this bridge was actually the blueprint for a far more famous Roebling site: New York’s Brooklyn Bridge. From here, you can walk across it, getting a bit of both Cincinnati and Covington in the same breath, or head to more whiskey-laden pastures.
Another car ride is in order, this one 10 minutes westbound to the neighboring town of Ludlow. Here, another distillery visit beckons: Second Sight Spirits. This tour is a little different than most, stemming from the fact that the distillery was founded by two childhood friends—Rick Couch and Carus Waggoner—who had hands in creating some of the Las Vegas Strip’s most lasting shows, Cirque Du Soleil’s Love and Viva Elvis. When the pair decided to open their own distillery, they imbued it with just the sort of whimsy you might expect of two such creatives, going so far as to build their own still and peppering in plenty of theatrical design touches. Tourists are regaled with tales of their past circus lives and the experience includes tastes of various spirits, like their Oak Eye bourbon. Tours last about an hour and a half, and cost $14 per person.
After visiting Second Sight, double back to Covington, with the Mainstrasse Village neighborhood once again in your sights. Mainstrasse, on the National Register of Historic Places, is home to one of the most impressive collections of 19th-century architecture in the country, and there are German-American details sprinkled throughout, including the Carroll Chimes Bell Tower, a 100-foot German-Gothic glockenspiel. The area is home to a number of bars, and one of the best is Wiseguy Lounge, a speakeasy tucked within Goodfellas Pizzeria. There’s no signage, but once you find your way in by heading to the second floor of the pizzeria, you’ll be treated to over 400 bottles of American whiskey and a killer cocktail menu. Given that it’s inside a Goodfellas, cut out any hunger with a pizza for lunch while you’re at it.
There’s also some quirky shopping to be had in Mainstrasse, so following your meal, check out nearby stores like Hail Records & Oddities—a “record store gone weird” that sells everything from vinyl to vintage medical equipment and taxidermy. If more whiskey is in your plans alongside the shopping, the neighborhood’s Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar has some serious whiskey-based cocktails ($11-$14) and staff-selected flights ($30-$269), plus more than 800 bourbons and 200 American whiskeys available, among them exclusive barrel picks from the likes of New Riff, Wilderness Trail, and more. The bar also has a bottle shop on-site, with a rotating selection of bourbons, other whiskeys, and drink kits, as well as custom merchandise and whiskey-related gifts.
Before heading back to the hotel, consider one more activity: a personalized blending experience at Wenzel Whiskey. Located half a mile northeast from Old Kentucky Bourbon Bar, Wenzel Whiskey puts you in the blender’s seat. You’ll have the opportunity to try four different barrel-proof samples from distilleries across the country, and create your own bourbon blend. If you’re satisfied with the results, you can fill up a bottle, or an entire case, to take home. Tickets are $40 (and that doesn’t include bottle purchases).
Circle back to the hotel after all this jumping around and take a breather. Once your appetite picks up, head to Smoke Justis, where smoked meats and whiskey are on the menu. Ribs, brisket, and other barbecue are the name of the game (though vegetarians will be pleased to know there are plenty of options for them as well). Recount your weekend over a divine meal and one of the restaurant’s several hundred whiskeys on hand, ranging from Ancient Age 80 proof ($6/2 oz.) all the way up to Michter’s 20 year old bourbon ($155/2 oz.), Pappy 23 year old ($165/2 oz.), and Weller Emmer Wheat ($175/2 oz.), any of them a fitting ending to a great couple of days in Covington.
