The Kentucky Liquor Store With The World's Rarest Collection Of Bourbon

If there's one state that's associated with bourbon, it's Kentucky. While bourbon doesn't always have to be made in Kentucky, the Bluegrass State accounts for a whopping 95% of all bourbon produced, perhaps owing in part to the unique mineral water that's found in the state. So it's not surprising that the liquor store with the world's rarest collection of bourbon can also be found in the state: Justins' House of Bourbon.

Named after its two co-founders, Justin Thompson (one of the founders of The Bourbon Review) and Justin Sloan, Justins' House of Bourbon is home to the world's largest collection of rare and vintage whiskeys available for sale, and it boasts two shops. The flagship shop in Lexington opened in 2018, while a second location followed soon after in 2019 in Louisville, not far from Whiskey Row and several of the best distilleries to visit along Kentucky's Bourbon Trail. Looking for that rare bottle of Pappy Van Winkle or a bottle from before Prohibition? Justins' will have it. Some of these rare bottles were purchased from individual sellers after a Kentucky law changed in 2017 to allow for such sales.

Both locations of Justins' House of Bourbon offer a selection of contemporary bourbons plus rare and vintage bottles. There's a bar where you can enjoy tastings of regular and rare bourbons by the pour, limited-release pours, single barrel picks (some of which are available for just $5 a pour), bourbon flights, and bottles from every decade since 1950, along with a private tasting room where the really rare bottles can be found. It's the latter collection of rare and vintage bottles that makes Justins' really stand out, and why it's been compared to a museum of bourbon and not just any plain old liquor store.

While the prices for contemporary bottles and pours seem to be on par with other stores, the prices for rare and vintage bottles tend to be on the higher end. However, the convenience for bourbon connoisseurs who don't want to have to put in the legwork to track down rare and allocated bottles on their own can't be beaten. And if you do manage to track down that rare bottle of bourbon at Justins' House of Bourbon and need to fly home with it, rest assured that you can board a plane with a bottle of bourbon in your checked luggage (so long as it's under 140 proof).