Carbon & Oak

The whiskey distilleries worth planning a trip around across the Midwest, Kentucky excluded on purpose. Second installment of an annual series — including which states didn't make the cut.

A solo day trip through Nashville with no bourbon agenda ended with the best pour of the trip at Nashville Barrel Company's tasting room — and a Single Barrel Experience flight I didn't see coming.

Sometimes the best bourbon trips aren't about chasing an allocated bottle. They're about pulling whiskey straight from the barrel, asking questions to the person who made it, and leaving with a greater appreciation for the craft than when you arrived.