When I show people the Bourbon & Beyond billing, their eyes get big after seeing the acts and then, some say something similar to this Forbes’ headline: “Sting, Lenny Kravitz…Fred Minnick? ….” Yeah, it’s true: I’m on a rockstar poster and can’t even play a guitar, sing or pull off a convincing air drum solo.

But what I can do is talk bourbon, and what makes Bourbon & Beyond so special, beyond the brilliant musical talent, is it seamlessly weaves bourbon into the culinary scene unlike anything before. As the festival’s
official bourbon curator, I am proud to say we developed some great bourbon-culinary workshops and showcase many celebrity chefs.

For the second year, Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio and I take the Bourbon & Beyond stage to talk bourbon and food.

For one seminar, Tom and I join the renowned Uncle Nearest founder Fawn Weaver to analyze the cultural shift in food and drink. In another, we discuss the chemistry of the good stuff with the brilliant Andrea Wilson, master of maturation for Michter’s.

As the festival’s official bourbon curator, I’m ecstatic to also show you the rest of this stellar culinary lineup:

• Milkwood chef Kevin Ashworth with Mita chef Jose Salazar
• Decca chef Annie Pettry with Alta Calidad chef Akhtar Nawab
• Bourbon & Beyond culinary curator chef Edward Lee with MasterChef judge Aaron Sanchez
• Seviche chef Anthony Lamas with Great White chef Alex Thomopolous
• Bourbon & Beyond culinary curator chef Edward Lee with Brothers and Sisters chef Erik Bruner Yang
• Food Network host Damaris Phillips with Broken Spanish chef Ray Garcia
• HiCotton Hospitality’s Ryan Rogers and bar Vetti chef Andrew McCabe with Iron Chef Gauntlet winner Stephanie Izard

Local Louisville Cuisine, enjoying offerings from over a dozen local restaurants including:

• Boss Hog BBQ
• Citizen 7
• Doc Crow’s Southern Smokehouse & Raw Bar
• Eli’s BBQ
• Gelato Gilberto
• Hull & Highwater
• Joella’s Hot Chicken
• Merles Whisky Kitchen
• Midway Café
• Ramiro’s Cantina
• River Road BBQ
• Steel City Ice Pops
• Tumbleweed
• Waylon’s Feed & Firewater
• Whiskey Dry
• 502 Café

The Silver Dollar will host an exclusive drink experience featuring experimental, rare and hard to find bourbons at The Hunter’s Club. 

Of course, there’s so much more. General Admission tickets are still available. Get them at BourbonandBeyond.com.

Check out Fred Minnick’s latest project, a new magazine called Bourbon+