The last time I was travelling in these pages, it was on a two-wheeled tour of Islay’s eight distilleries. Now I’m on another spirit-inspired journey, but this time I’ve packed my passport, I’ve booked four wheels – and the whiskey is spelt with an ‘e’.

I’m hitting the Kentucky Bourbon Trail for a fact-finding trip along with Scotch Malt Whisky Society ambassador, Phoebe Brookes. The US state is home to what Congress has designated as “America’s native spirit”, and where the sense of pride in the product is on a par with our relationship with Scotch.

Our trail begins in downtown Louisville, where everywhere we turn there is evidence of distilling and bourbon. The Whiskey Row loft apartments are next door to the new Old Forester distillery, cooperage and visitor centre, which only opened its doors in June this year.

Across the street, there’s another recently opened distillery and visitor centre for Angel’s Envy. Further down the street is the Distilled Spirits Epicenter, home to Moonshine University, Grease Monkey distillery and its own bottling line, where you can study every aspect of distilling.

At Heaven Hill’s Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, tour guide Ally is certainly doing his story justice. There’s a Hollywood-style production about the Welshman who set up the area’s first commercial distillery in the 1780s, followed by a look at the building’s artisan distillery in operation.

Where Evan Williams is a custom-built tourist attraction, Buffalo Trace in the state capital of Frankfort is both a living museum – and a bourbon-producing giant. The oldest part of the distillery on the banks of the Kentucky River dates back to 1792, and in 2013 the site was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Production is now around three million cases annually, and plans are underway to build an additional 50 warehouses over the next 10 years to expand production, as demand continues to outstrip supply. In the meantime, Buffalo Trace brands such as Blanton’s, Weller, Stagg Jr and E H Taylor are in short supply – and if you’re searching for a Pappy Van Winkle…good luck. Fans are still discussing the theft in 2013 of 195 bottles of Pappy 20-year-old – which now sells for about £1,500 a bottle.

We take a stroll with tour guide Freddie Johnson, who adds more colour to Buffalo Trace than even the most heavily charred barrel ever could. Freddie’s grandfather was a foreman here from 1912 to 1964, when he passed on responsibilities to his son, who also spent his working life at the distillery. Freddie made his way in the corporate world until taking early retirement to return to Frankfort and look after his father. He then fulfilled the 94-year-old’s dying wish that Freddie carry on the family’s association with Buffalo Trace.

“I’ve been around this place since I was a little kid with my grandfather, getting in everybody’s way,” he says. “Now I’m honoured to keep the promise I made to my father, that I’d also work here one day.”

The gleaming glass and steel structure of Alltech’s Town Branch in the centre of Lexington is another completely different distillery experience. It began by producing beer and then, with two pot stills from Scotland in place, it distilled its first whisky in 2008. It’s now producing a cask strength and non-chill filtered single barrel bourbon, as well as the Pearse Lyons Reserve – the first malt whiskey produced in Kentucky in almost 100 years, apparently.

We drive five minutes across town to pull up in yet another different world of distilling. If you’re looking for a case of the boom in craft production, Barrel House is a prime candidate. It’s tucked away in the warehouse of historic producer James E Pepper, and since setting up shop in 2006 it has led the regeneration of what’s now known as Lexington’s ‘distillery district’.

Where there were abandoned warehouses, there is now a bustling creative community with a brewery, restaurants, coffee shops and studios. Beards and tattoos aren’t compulsory, but appreciated.

Chad Burns is manning operations single-handedly when we show up, but a tour doesn’t take long when you only have one small still and less than 50 barrels sitting in your warehouse. Chad tells us how Barrel House started out with its Devil John Moonshine, Pure Blue Vodka, and Oak Rum. “It’s aged in bourbon barrels, so if bourbon and rum were to have a baby, this is it,” he says. “But now we’ve released our first batch of bourbon, RockCastle – it’s the first produced here in 60 years, so we’re very excited.”

The next day, we set ourselves up with the kind of hearty breakfast you can only find in an all-American diner, followed by a meandering drive through the heart of Kentucky’s horse breeding countryside.

It’s clear where the real money in the state comes from. The ranches here are imposing and immaculate, surrounded by miles of white picket fences, every blade of grass perfectly trimmed. Breeders say the region’s limestone rich water produces bluegrass that is rich in calcium, and builds strong bones in the horses. Distillers claim the same heavy limestone component is what makes their bourbon taste so good.

At Keeneland racetrack, trainer Ron Carmichael is making sure the horses cross safely from the stables. At 79, he tells me that he’s finally ready to retire after a lifetime’s association with the course. He’s preparing to take his first trip to “the old country” to trace the Carmichael family back to their emigration in the 1700s…and sample some Scotch while he’s there.

On the drive to Tennessee we leave the official Bourbon Trail to cross an international time zone – gaining an hour in the process – and pass over into a different landscape altogether.

From the rolling green hills of Kentucky, the land now spreads out in a flatter and less obviously manicured state. Kentucky is as smooth and polished as the bourbon it produces. By comparison, Scotland – and its spirit – feels much wilder and more challenging. Driving across this terrain, it’s hard not to see a correlation between the landscape and the kind of spirit it produces.

We head south to the town of Lynchburg, home of Jack Daniel’s since the 1830s. It’s the oldest registered distillery in the US, and its Old No.7 Brand Tennessee Whiskey is the most ubiquitous spirit to come out of the US. Just don’t call it bourbon.

“If you taste our whiskey before and after our charcoal mellowing process, you'll see it's hugely different, on the nose and on the palate,” master distiller Jeff Arnett tells us. “Without that process, the character of our distillate would be more like bourbon, but after mellowing it moves forward on the tongue, into the sweet zone.”

We can barely scratch the surface of the Lynchburg distillery, which holds around 2.3 million barrels in 87 warehouses. The Scotch industry is the biggest recipient, taking the barrels that can only be used once in the US to age whiskies in Scotland.

“I tell people that if there's a Scotch you like, it's probably because there are about three gallons of Jack Daniel’s soaked in it!” says Jeff. “The barrel comes in here at about 95lbs and leaves at about 115, so about 20lbs of weight gain is whiskey that soaks in. That's the penalty we pay as the first user.”

The commuter traffic slows our progress back to Nashville, where the AT&T Building pierces the sky like Batman’s mask. In a flashy city playing its country music heritage at full volume, Corsair distillery is tucked away in the old redbrick Marathon Motorworks building, trying to be anything other than flashy or false.

Phoebe and I catch up with ambassador Will Atkinson’s tour, to hear a no-holds barred declaration of Corsair’s authenticity – and why customers should be wary of the labelling on some other craft distillers.

“People need to know that often the source of spirits for various distillers is from the same MGP distillery in Indiana, although they are not transparent about it on their labels,” he tells our group. “We don’t buy a drop from those guys.”

He’s also matter of fact about Corsair’s approach to ripping up the rulebook and experimenting with different ingredients. “Some work out well, a whole lot don’t,” he says.

Our tour winds up with the group in the bar, nosing a Quinoa whiskey and comparing notes on the Triple Smoke. They have the youthful energy of believers who have stumbled upon the Holy Grail of hipster distillers. They may well have.

The US whiskey scene clearly has something for everyone.

To help plan your trip, visit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail at kybourbontrail.com

For information about The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, visit www.smws.com

Travel notes

How to get there

United Airlines flies from Glasgow via New Jersey to Cincinnati, Ohio, which is 90 minutes drive from Louisville. Fares start from around £900. www.united.com

We rented a Mustang convertible with GPS for a week for £370 from Alamo, www.alamo.com

Where to stay

There are countless options along the way on this popular tourist trail, ranging from budget motels from as little as £30 p/night to five star establishments at £200 and upwards.