“The Most Unique Tasting Experience in Kentucky”: a Bluegrass Show, a Comedy Set, a History Lesson, and a Bourbon Tasting all in One!
LOUISVILLE, KY—Tuesday, September 2, 2025— The Frazier History Museum has announced an exciting new Bourbon tasting! Bourbon Through Bluegrass starts Monday, September 8, and will take place at 10 a.m., every Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through December 22. This one-of-a-kind sensory journey brings the history and stories of the evolution of Bourbon alive by pairing those stories with not only appropriate whiskeys, but with live bluegrass music!
Led by Bourbon icon Bernie Lubbers, a.k.a. the Whiskey Professor, and bluegrass legend Steve Cooley, this live musical experience brings Kentucky’s native spirit to life—literally. As the stories of Bourbon’s past unfold, they are paired with the appropriate Kentucky whiskeys that pair with that history, and then they are further paired with live renditions of the music that shaped a culture.
Kentucky musicians are highlighted through the songs of Arnold Shultz, Clayton McMichen, Merle Travis, and Bill Monroe. Audiences will hear about their influence on the worldwide music scene kept alive today by artists like Alison Krauss and Billy Strings.
People will hear it, taste it, and feel it. Live music being played on legendary instruments, paired with historic spirits. It is not just a tasting—it is a multi-sensory celebration of Kentucky’s roots. Only in Kentucky. Only in Louisville. Only at the Frazier!
ABOUT BOURBON THROUGH BLUEGRASS
Admission to the 90-minute Bourbon Through Bluegrass tasting and bluegrass music experience costs $109. It includes a welcome cocktail, four whiskeys, and a self-guided tour of the Frazier History Museum. The experience takes place in the Frazier’s Spirit of Kentucky® exhibition, in the Speakeasy, where 1920s bluegrass instruments have just been placed on display. You’ll also have access to the Frazier’s Museum Shop, which sells Kentucky Bourbon Trail® souvenirs, Bourbon-themed accessories and clothing, Bourbon-infused foods and sauces, and bottles of rare, collectible, and vintage Bourbons and whiskeys. Get tickets at fraziermuseum.org/bourbon-through-bluegrass!
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
Bernie Lubbers. Bernie is a Louisville native who traveled the country from 1985 to 2005 as a full-time professional standup comic with regular appearances on the national radio program The Bob & Tom Show. Jim Beam lured him off the road in 2005 to represent their brands alongside the iconic Fred Noe as their Bourbon Ambassador. Then Heaven Hill persuaded him to work with the legendary Parker Beam in 2012 where Bernie still serves as their Global Whiskey Ambassador Emeritus.
Whiskey writer Fred Minnick credits Bernie with “singlehandedly bringing Bottled-in-Bond whiskey back to the forefront.” In an article in March 2025, Garden & Gun Magazine called Bernie “Mister Bottled-in-Bond.”
Steve Cooley. Steve has been pickin’ the banjo professionally since the early 1970s based right here out of Louisville, Kentucky. His longest hitch was for eighteen years touring with the Dillards (the Darlings on the Andy Griffith Show) where they were nominated for four Grammys! Steve has also toured with Grandpa Jones. The Father of Bluegrass Music himself, Bill Monroe, called Steve personally on the phone and asked him to join the Bluegrass Boys on a tour with him.
Morehead State University along with Bluegrass legend Bela Fleck just named a scholarship in his name in the creation of the Steve Cooley Bluegrass & Banjo Music Scholarship Endowment.
ABOUT THE FRAZIER
The Frazier History Museum is where the world meets Kentucky. Opened in 2004 and located on West Main Street in Downtown Louisville, the Frazier presents and preserves Kentucky history through artifacts, exhibitions, educational programs, Bourbon tastings, and guided tours offered daily. Subjects of exhibitions include Kentucky history, Kentucky counties, Kentucky pop culture, Bourbon whiskey, the Lewis & Clark Expedition, the Stewart Historic Miniatures Collection, the Founder’s Gallery, and KentuckyShow!. With the opening of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® Welcome Center in 2018, the Frazier became the official starting point of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail®.
The Frazier Museum serves tens of thousands of students, educators, and families each year, offering camps, field trips, youth and family programs, and projects such as The Journey: Unsung Stories of the Underground Railroad. Our Stories in Mind team brings the Frazier into long-term care facilities for senior citizens. Our annual fundraisers include Night at the Frazier, Michter’s Speakeasy at the Frazier, Frazier Summer Beer Fest, the Owsley Brown Frazier Classic Sporting Clay Tournament, and Lights on Main.