[Jeptha Creed grain silos at golden hour]
AfternoonDistillery · Shelbyville
Tu-Sa 11:00-18:00
Jeptha Creed Distillery
Why this stop · Grain-to-glass tour; their Bloody Butcher bourbon is the through-line of the weekend.
Plan · Bourbon Trail · 7 min read
A Two-Day Bourbon Itinerary, Anchored in Shelby County
Two distilleries, two restaurants, one room with a porch — the slow version of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, twenty minutes east of Louisville.
Mara HollowayApril 22, 20262 days · 1 night
[Aerial of distillery silos at golden hour]
At a glance
The trip in one column.
- Duration
- 2 days · 1 night
- Best for
- Couples, friends-of-bourbon, anyone planning a Bourbon Trail weekend
- Driving
- ~32 miles total driving
- Pace
- Slow
Pack list
- Comfortable closed-toed shoes (rickhouse floors)
- A water bottle
- An empty bag for one bottle home
- A jacket (the warehouses run cool)
- Cash for the farmers' market
Day 1 · Friday
Start at the farm.
The bourbon weekend begins in the grain — twenty minutes outside town, on the hill where the corn is grown.
Most bourbon weekends start at a downtown tasting room. Reverse that. Begin at Jeptha Creed Distillery, a family-run, grain-to-glass operation on a hill outside Shelbyville. The Nethery family grows their own Bloody Butcher corn on the land you're standing on; the tour walks past the fields, the milling floor, the column still, and the rickhouse before you taste anything.
[Wakefield-Scearce antique gallery interior]
AfternoonShopping · Shelbyville
Mo-Sa 10:00-17:00
Wakefield-Scearce Galleries
Why this stop · Browse English antiques inside the same 1825 building that will host tomorrow's lunch.
[Old Stone Inn patio at dusk with bistro lights]
EveningDining · Simpsonville
We-Su 17:00-22:00
Old Stone Inn
Why this stop · A 1791 stagecoach stop, now wood-fired and chef-driven. The patio fills up first.
[Bell Court B&B porch with rocking chairs]
NightLodging · Shelbyville
Bell Court Bed & Breakfast
Why this stop · Six rooms in an 1880s Victorian on Main Street, bourbon decanter in the parlor. Walk back from dinner.
Day 2 · Saturday
Come into town, slowly.
A Main Street morning, a craft tasting in the afternoon, a barn-side market on the way out.
Today belongs to downtown Shelbyville. Start with coffee at The Paddock, then walk to Science Hill Inn — hot brown lunch inside the same 1825 girls' school where Wakefield-Scearce lives — before the afternoon tasting.
[Science Hill Inn dining room with original 1825 windows]
MiddayDining · Shelbyville
Tu-Sa 11:00-14:00
Science Hill Inn
Why this stop · Hot brown lunch in a historic dining room. 11am–2pm.
[Bourbon 30 barrel rickhouse interior]
AfternoonDistillery · Shelbyville
We-Sa 12:00-21:00
Bourbon 30 Spirits
Why this stop · Pick-Your-Barrel Saturday — taste through five barrels, choose one, take a bottle home with your name on the label.
"It is the rare bourbon experience that ends with something durable in your hands."
[Red Orchard Park trail in morning light]
MorningOutdoors · Shelbyville
Daily 06:00-22:00
Red Orchard Park
Why this stop · Saturday farmer's market on the way out. Bring a tote, bring cash. Quiet enough to hear the bluegrass move.
Ready to take it
Push this into the planner.
Pre-fills your day plan with 7 stops. Drag to reorder, share the link with whoever's driving — same shareable URL pattern as the rest of the site.