It only makes sense that in the Bourbon Capital of the World, there’s always room for another bar showcasing the drink that made the town famous. Neat Bourbon Bar is the newest establishment to join the line-up. Following the spectacular success of the original Neat in Louisville, owners Owen and Danie Powell opened their second establishment this past May. Located on W. Stephen Foster Avenue, it’s in a century-old building that once served as the office of the Kentucky Standard, Bardstown’s local newspaper.
Upon entry, one realizes that this is no ordinary bar. The furnishings are eclectic to say the least. Brick walls, upholstered sofas, patterned carpets, floor-to-ceiling windows, pressed copper ceilings, Victorian-era inspired lighting fixtures (such as the pineapple globes above the bar), and framed vintage posters in both the main bar and a smaller space located adjacent to it are eye-popping. The cozy atmosphere encourages patrons to make themselves comfortable and enjoy some equally inspired sipping.
Inspired is putting it mildly. In an interview with Whisky Advocate Magazine, Owen Powell spoke about his desire to open a place, or in this case, places, which would satisfy today’s craze for “dusty liquor” where bourbon enthusiasts are willing to shell out thousands of dollars for rare vintage spirits. But don’t let that price tag scare you off. The rest of us are welcome here as well. With some 115 bottles – 90 of which are vintage – there is something for everyone.
Order a bourbon cocktail (perhaps the house bourbon Buffalo Trace) and contemplate Owen’s hard work in renovating the space himself, along with a friend he jokingly allows “knows more about woodworking than I do,” and Danie’s eye for finding gems at antique stores and estate sales for the décor. Your eyes probably will go first to the bathtub with a statue of the Madonna inside that sits in the center of the bar. Your first thought may be that a bar seems an odd place for such a shrine, but appropriate or not, these “Bathtub Marys” can be found at various spots along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Looking around the room, you’ll also see wooden beams that come from rickhouses on the site of the James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Boston, Kentucky, and shutters between the windows taken from a rickhouse at the Old Crow Distillery in Frankfort (now Glenn’s Creek Distilling). The exquisite stained glass panels bookending the large mirror over the bar are courtesy of a 100-year-old bar in Oklahoma.
Impressive, but you obviously didn’t come just for the design – stunning as it is. It’s all about the product. Like its sister bar, Bardstown’s Neat offers the rarest and best the bourbon distilleries produce – either in a tasting where pours allow you to sample several different vintages of your choice, or in selecting from the curated cocktail menu. The latter features classics such as the Manhattan and Old-Fashioned, as well as more exotic libations such as one with the oxymoronic name Florida Snow (ask the bartender to tell you the story behind it), and a cocktail by a former bar manager as his final offering. The Swan Song is an aptly named concoction composed of tequila, bourbon, rum, lemon, peach/strawberry/mint shrub and pomegranate molasses.
As for prices, pours range from $20 - $30 for a one ounce pour of a spirit such as Ancient Age to $50 and up for half-ounce pours of very hard-to-find whiskies such as the original Stetzel-Weller. Bardstown may be a town of just 13,000 residents, but it draws three-quarters of a million visitors annually to sample its bourbon. Now, with Neat Bourbon Bar they have another place to do just that.