Economy of Louisville, Kentucky

The city's location at the Falls of the Ohio, and its unique position in the central United States (and other origins) to the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, and beyond.

The city's location at the crossroads of three major Interstate highways (I-64, I-65 and I-71) also contributes to its modern-day strategic importance to the shipping and cargo industry.

Other distilleries and related businesses can also be found in neighboring cities in Kentucky, Barton 1792 (Bardstown), Jim Beam (Clermont), Wild Turkey (Lawrenceburg), or Maker's Mark (Loretto, with a restaurant/lounge in Louisville).

[8] To keep up the demand, Mayor Greg Fischer announced in 2015 plans to create "Lou Brew": a tour, similar to the Urban Bourbon Trail, that will highlight the local breweries and craft beer scene of Louisville to both natives and tourists.

A few blocks away, the Seelbach Hotel, which F. Scott Fitzgerald references in The Great Gatsby, is also famous for a secret back room where Al Capone would regularly meet with associates during the Prohibition era.

The room features a secret back door escape and was used as a starting point for rumrunners who would transport illegal moonshine from the hills of eastern Kentucky to Chicago.

The Highlands area of Louisville on Bardstown Road has many independent businesses, including the Preston Arts Center, Baxter Avenue Theater, Carmichael's book store, Heine Brothers' Coffee, John Conti Coffee, Wick's Pizza, Steilberg's String Instruments and O'Shea's Irish Pub, among others.

Several major motion pictures have also been filmed in or near Louisville, including Goldfinger, The Insider, Stripes, Lawn Dogs, Elizabethtown, Demolition Man, and Secretariat.

Brown & Williamson, one of the subjects of the tobacco industry scandals of the 1990s, was the focus of The Insider, a 1999 film shot around the Louisville area.