Old Louisville Whiskey Co.

Old Louisville Whiskey Co. bottles bourbon that has already spent the better part of a decade asleep in someone else's rickhouse before it ever reaches Louisville. The husband-and-wife team behind it, Amine and Beth Karaoud, built the brand as a non-distiller producer, meaning their craft is entirely in the selecting, blending, aging oversight, and bottling of whiskey distilled elsewhere, not in running a still of their own.

History & Heritage

Amine and Beth Karaoud began acquiring barrels as early as 2015, years before Old Louisville Whiskey Co. formally launched as a brand in 2022. That gap matters: it means the company's debut release was not young whiskey rushed to market but stock that had already been resting for the better part of a decade. The brand opened with Batch #1 Straight Bourbon Whiskey and simultaneously opened a tasting room, positioning itself from day one as a hospitality destination as much as a bottling operation. The company is headquartered at 2600 S 7th Street Rd in Louisville, Kentucky, with a separate tasting room and warehouse at 4427 Poplar Level Rd where barrels are stored, blended, bottled, and hand labeled.

The Whiskey

Old Louisville Whiskey Co. sources the substantial majority, cited at roughly 99 percent of releases to date, from MGP (Midwest Grain Products) in Indiana, a widely used contract distillery whose output underpins many well-regarded non-distiller producer brands. A Louisville news profile of the company independently confirmed both the MGP sourcing and the non-distiller producer model, with Amine Karaoud describing the business as starting with sourced whiskey while keeping distilling as a future possibility. The company also holds Kentucky-distilled barrels nearing release at 8 to 8.5 years old, a signal of diversification beyond the MGP relationship. Every release is aged a minimum of seven years before bottling, and batches are kept small, typically capped at 2,500 bottles or fewer. Batch #1 Straight Bourbon Whiskey, aged 7 to 10 years, is bottled at barrel proof, uncut and unfiltered. The 7 Year Old Double Oaked Bourbon is barrel strength and undergoes a second maturation in new, heavily toasted and charred American oak. Single Barrel releases span a wide age range, including 9, 10, 11, and 17 year old expressions, alongside an 8 Year Rye, an 8 Year Madeira-finished American Whiskey, and an 8 Year Brandy Finished expression. The Kentucky Series, an 8 year old, 100 proof bourbon built on a 78 percent corn, 10 percent rye, 12 percent malted barley mashbill, is notable for breaking from the MGP pattern: it is sourced from Bardstown Bourbon Company rather than MGP.

Why It Matters

What distinguishes Old Louisville Whiskey Co. from many non-distiller producers is patience. Barrels acquired in 2015 did not see a bottle until years later, and the seven-year minimum age statement across the portfolio is well above the bourbon industry's typical release age. That patience earned recognition: the brand received a Double Gold award at a major spirits competition in 2023. For those who appreciate good whiskey, the appeal is straightforward, mature, barrel-proof bourbon assembled with real selectivity rather than rushed to market, at a scale small enough that individual batches sell out.

Visiting the Distillery

Old Louisville Whiskey Co. offers private tours and tastings at its Poplar Level Road tasting room and warehouse. Visitors evaluate how the bourbons are made and aged, taste six different bourbons and whiskeys drawn directly from the barrel, and can bottle their own single barrel bourbon with a hand-labeled bottle to take home. Tours cost $50 per person and can be booked online up to 90 days in advance.