Work is progressing on a new visitor attraction for spirit maker Beam Suntory – the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, US.

Located below Beam Suntory’s Louisville office, the new multi-million dollar visitor experience will include a small working distillery, a bottling line, a tasting experience and a selection of Jim Beam-branded merchandise for sale.

Scheduled to open towards the end of 2015, Jack Rouse Associates (JRA) are providing planning, design and project management services for the experiential components of the 4,300sq ft (400sq m) Urban Stillhouse. Having also worked on the US$18m (€16m, £11.8m) Jim Beam American Stillhouse and Distillery Tour in Clermont, Kentucky, JRA are well placed to provide an immersive visitor experience for the bourbon brand. Louisville-based Sullivan & Cozart are operating as contractors on the project.

The Clermont tour sits on the famous Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which dates back to the 1700s. The new visitor experience will be part of the Urban Bourbon Trail – an area of Louisville where at one point in the 1920s, as many as 50 bourbon distilleries were active.

“The Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse will be a must-stop destination in the heart of Louisville that will complement the experience offered at our Jim Beam American Stillhouse,” said Kevin Smith, vice president of Kentucky Beam Bourbon Affairs. “The attraction will provide a unique hands-on opportunity to experience the heritage and craftsmanship of bourbon on weekdays, weekends and evenings, and we believe it will serve as a trailhead for the increasing number of visitors to Kentucky’s bourbon distilleries.”

Louisville mayor Greg Fischer added: “This project is another example of the growth of ‘bourbonism’ in the city. Our city’s bourbon experiences are attracting a new type of tourist and that leads directly to economic growth and job creation. The Urban Stillhouse also expands the bourbon experience of Fourth Street, creating a density of spirits tourism locations downtown.”