Nashville Whiskey Festival

The Nashville Whiskey Festival returns to The Rux Rooftop on Saturday, October 10, its 14th year running. Presented by Corkdorks Wine Spirits Beer, the festival takes over the 9th floor of the Cambria Hotel Nashville Midtown at 1612 Church Street. It's built around rare pours, immersive education and elevated experiences, with more than 200 spirits on the table, food pairings, signature cocktails, live music and masterclasses throughout the day.

That number—over 200 spirits—is the real draw here. You'll find WhistlePig, Woodford Reserve, Rare Character, Jack Daniel's, Leiper's Fork and Big Machine, alongside American, Scotch, Irish and Japanese whiskies, plus tequila, mezcal, rum and gin. It's a broad spread that lets you work your way through different styles and regions in one spot, with the food pairings and cocktails filling in the gaps between the straight pours.

If you go for the VIP ticket, you get a distillers' showcase, rare pours from whiskey lockers, a private lounge, curated food and a limited-edition swag bag. There's also a chance to be selected for a barrel-picking trip to Buffalo Trace, Jack Daniel's 1792 or Bardstown.

The festival sits against Tennessee's complicated relationship with whiskey. The state went dry years before national Prohibition, and for much of the 20th century most of its counties couldn't legally distill a drop. Today, the state's whiskey trail runs to dozens of distilleries, and this is one of the bigger annual gatherings around them.

General Admission is $123.67 and runs from 6 PM to 9 PM. VIP is $175.44 and gets you in earlier, from 5 PM to 10:30 PM.