EXPERIENCE
‘Every Day Is A Good Day’
Exploring like an Angel
We sent our Explorer JD Dotson to Angel’s Envy in Louisville
PHOTOS & STORY BY JD DOTSON
Every day is a good day for a bourbon distillery
tour in Kentucky. Angel’s Envy is a heavenly one.
The urban distillery, which is located in
downtown Louisville, brings something new and
wonderful to the table (or the bar, I should say).
Science was never my strong suite in school. I
didn’t understand a lot of it, or didn’t find much
interest in it. Angel’s Envy Distillery is like a GIANT
science class come to life, and I couldn’t be more
fascinated in the process.
It is amazing to me the precise percentage of corn,
rye and barley mixed with yeast and science and
time, going from one place to another, starting out
20 EXTOL : APRIL/MAY 2019
as one thing and becoming something completely
different ¬–parts separated and distilled in a giant
copper tube and run through with heat and cooling
– to become something else, which is then put into
a specific type of barrel to sit around in and become
yet again something different and wonderful. and giant tanks and the most amazing smells
wafting around your head.
It’s exhausting, yet completely captivating. The tour began with the story of Lincoln
Henderson’s history in the bourbon industry to
the family-run business of the Angel’s Envy brand,
and the purchase and redevelopment of a long-
vacant downtown building.
My wonderful tour guide met me at the retail
shop to begin my tour. She had to coax me away
from the stores shelves showcasing Angel’s Envy’s
beautiful bottles and glassware and T-shirts. We
headed up the elevator to begin our tour, and
entered the massive operations room full of pipes
Angel’s Envy Distillery tour takes you on a full
bourbon-making experience, from concept through
every stage of the process and the final product
in the bottle.
The fascinating history lesson finishes and the
science class begins.