Kentucky Craft Spirits Trail - Day 2

Since we went to sleep early on Wednesday night, we awoke early on Thursday morning.  It was especially early since we were in the Central Time Zone.  We watched the Weather Channel for a while then left the Bowling Green Microtel before 8 am.  We had breakfast at Subway since they have a buy one – get one free special this month.  Mary had a ham, egg and cheese breakfast sub and I had a bacon, egg and cheese sub.  We both had spinach and tomato on the sandwich.  With the special, we got both breakfasts and a cup of tea for $5 which we thought was a much better choice than the stale doughnuts at the motel.

We started driving to the MB Roland Distillery which was a little over an hour from Bowling Green located near Pembroke, Kentucky.  Along the way, we saw a structure near Fairview, Kentucky that resembled the Washington Monument.  Turns out that Confederate President, Jefferson Davis was born and raised here at Jefferson Davis State Park. There is a 381 foot obelisk here in honor of the Confederacy’s first and only President. We stopped at the museum and chatted with the guides there for a bit before continuing on toward Pembroke.

We arrived at MB Roland Distillery a little before 10 am and went in for a tasting of their products.  Most of what MB Roland makes is white spirits that are blended with fruit or botanical flavorings.  We both really enjoyed the blackberry and apple moonshine.  I liked the St. Elmo’s Fire, named for the nearby town of St. Elmo, Kentucky.  This is basically high proof moonshine generously flavored with cinnamon and cayenne pepper.  It was spicy!  They have a few aged spirits, but they specialize in the fruit flavors.  Mary purchased a bottle of blackberry moonshine, and I bought a bottle of regular moonshine corn whiskey.  Both are excellent.

From MB Roland, we drove west to the Land Between the Lakes area where we visited the Silver Trail Distillery near Hardin, Kentucky.  We first stopped at the Silver Trail Visitor Center along the highway that is currently under construction.  They have an old car on display that would be like one that would have been used to deliver moonshine a couple of generations ago.  There are also some old stills on display that were used in making illegal moonshine in the 1940s and 50s.  The owners are still painting and decorating the old bank that will be their visitor center, but it will be nice.  

The bank’s vault is being converted into a replica jail cell where one of the owner’s uncles was sent after being arrested for making moonshine.

We drove to the distillery where LBL Moonshine is made by Silver Trail which is adjacent to the owner, Spencer Ballentine’s home.  Spencer was very generous with his time, showing us the stills where he hand makes the LBL Moonshine using recipes handed down to him from generations of moonshiners in his family.  He has a modern still that is constructed using techniques from past generations of moonshiners.  

Spencer wants to take the best of old school recipes and modern tools and technology to make the best white whiskey available.  He takes a lot of pride in his techniques, tools and products.  He uses only non-GMO corn that comes from a farm in Kentucky along with the mineral rich water in the area.  Since Callaway County, Kentucky is dry, Spencer was unable to give us a sample taste or sell us a bottle of product.  However, he is proud that his LBL Moonshine and other products are becoming widely distributed and available in many states.

From Hardin, we started the long drive back toward Bardstown.  We had hoped to visit Willet Distillery on Thursday but it was after 4:30 by the time we got back to Bardstown.  We neglected to consider the one hour time difference between Hardin in Central Time and Bardstown back in the Eastern Time Zone.  We knew that the Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center was open until 5:30, so we decided to hold Barton and Willet Distilleries until Friday and go to Heaven Hill this evening.  Without a doubt, this is the best visitor center of any distillery.  There are many interpretative displays describing the history of bourbon as well as of the Heaven Hill brands like Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, Henry McKenna, Old Fitzgerald and others.  The tasting room in the center of the visitor area is also excellent, resembling the inside of a bourbon barrel.  The staff do an excellent job of explaining differences and similarities in bourbons as well as how bourbon can be tasted.  I have modeled our family bourbon tasting party on the tasting room at Heaven Hill.  We picked up a pretty mug with a photo of the old Heaven Hill Distillery on it for our friend, Rex, then made our way to the Bardstown Hampton Inn.

We really enjoy visiting Bardstown since it is such a beautiful and historic town.  When we were here last we ate at the Talbott Tavern that has been in business as an inn and tavern since 1779.  This evening, we ate at Kreso’s Restaurant, which is operated by a Bosnian restaurateur.  We both had the jaeger schnitzel which is an unbreaded pork cutlet covered in melted cheese and mushrooms.  Mary had potatoes, and I had steamed broccoli on the side.  We both enjoyed the meal very much.  The restaurant is in an old theater and is decorated with photos of stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age. 

We came back to the Bardstown Hampton Inn to crash and prepare for a busy day of distillery visits on Friday.

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