LEXINGTON, Ky. — Walking through its doors may feel like stepping into the lounge depicted on the cover of Tyler Childers’ new album “Snipe Hunter,” but the cozy speakeasy adorned with mounted animal heads, leather furnishings and brassy accents instead belongs to one of the Distillery District’s first tenants.

The Barrel House Distilling Co. had already been located in the area now known as the Lexington Distillery District for nearly a decade when the state legislature passed Kentucky Senate Bill 11 in 2016, allowing distilleries and other similar businesses to begin selling individual drinks on site. Barrel House promptly opened Elkhorn Tavern the following year.

“When (the bill) was going through legislation we thought we were only going to be able to serve our products by the drink so we started building out the tavern in anticipation of it being a tasting bar for that,” Elkhorn operations manager Jake Wiseman explains. “But by the time legislation was finalized we got a full liquor license, which led to us expanding to offer a small food menu as well. The two fit together naturally, and it’s all Kentucky-focused as well.”

What’s on Elkhorn Tavern’s Menu?

Named for the Town Branch of the Elkhorn Creek that runs alongside it, the tavern features a formidable drink menu that includes a variety of cocktails featuring Barrel House’s signature spirits like the Barrel House Select Old Fashioned, the Devil John Moonshine Margarita and Barrel House Oak Rum Daiquiri. Other standouts include a wine list over a dozen deep and a hefty bourbon list, the latter contributing to the establishment’s unique Kentucky flavor and feel.

“When people think of Kentucky they think of bourbon and horses, so we wanted the former to be something we focused hard on,” Wiseman says. “Walking in and being greeted by 150 bourbon bottles on the wall was very intentional. We want people to try things they normally wouldn’t find unless they come to Kentucky and visit a small distillery like us.”

The Elkhorn’s drink menu is accented by an assortment of food offerings that further delve into local influences with everything from bourbon balls, barbecue bourbon meatballs, pimento cheese sandwiches and bread pudding available. However, Wiseman says their most popular items are the corn mash muffins — which utilize the distillery’s spent grain otherwise given to farmers to use as animal feed, composting and fuel. But even the muffins are no match for the tavern’s Kentucky burgoo made with elk and rabbit meat, beef and vegetables.

“People come from all over for the burgoo,” Wiseman says. “If it didn’t have elk and rabbit meat in it it would just be beef stew (laughs).”

Distillery District growth

While walking inside it does feel like a moment straight out of C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe,” Elkhorn Tavern’s success has no doubt been amplified by its location inside arguably Lexington’s most high-profile entertainment corridor, the Distillery District. According to Wiseman, the bar brings in over 25,000 customers per year, split evenly between tourists stopping in during larger Bourbon Trail experiences and locals visiting in the evening for live music or a drink after work.

Inhibiting that flow at times has been parking, with several businesses for years competing not only against one another — but also with downtown attractions like Rupp Arena and the Lexington Opera House — for the limited spaces available.

This finally led to the implementation of a paid parking system (sort of) in July where people parking nearby and not patronizing a business in the district will have to pay for the privilege.

Those visiting the tavern and other Distillery District businesses will be able to validate their parking to unlock a two-hour credit that can be redeemed for more time later by visiting other businesses.

“We’re actually really excited about (the paid parking) because it’s going to mean our patrons have more of it, which at the end of the day has been the biggest complaint in the Distillery District for years,” Wiseman says. “We watch people come in with tour buses, park their cars in the lot and then leave on the bus — or park here to carpool to Rupp. Our goal is to cut down on some of that by making them pay so that our own customers aren’t deterred from coming down to support us.”

With the ability to extend your free parking time, Wiseman also hopes visitors will be encouraged to go to multiple Distillery District businesses during their time there, leading to even more growth in the region.

He also praised the city for its efforts to alleviate the matter by constructing free parking lots on Manchester Street and South Forbes Road and opening up evening parking inside the regional recycling facility’s lot while also hinting at a trolley system expected to launch in the spring of 2026. That initiative will be a collaboration between VisitLEX and Lextran and is expected to include stops in other notable areas around town as well.

It’s an entirely different situation than the one Wiseman first encountered when Barrel House landed in the Distillery District nearly two decades ago, but one that he’s grateful to see come to fruition nonetheless.

“When we first got down here and opened in 2008 we didn’t want tourists,” Wiseman jokes. “It was a rough area then — when you got a knock on the door you didn’t know who it would be. Seeing what things were once like here compared to the restoration that’s taken place in the 17 years since has been mind-blowing.”

The Elkhorn Tavern

Where: 1200 Manchester St., Lexington, Ky.

Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday

Online: ElkhornTavern.com