Kentucky Moonshine Trail – Day 3

The temperature was forecast to be in the mid to upper 90s today and we knew it would be too hot to work in the garden or yard. It seemed like a perfect day to visit the last distillery and optional attraction on the Kentucky Moonshine Trail. Since we would be going to Williamson first, I called my friend, Greg, and arranged to meet him for the distillery tour.

Mary & Greg at Pauley Hollow Distillery

We left the house a little before 6:30 am to arrive at Pauley Hollow Distillery for our 10 am appointment. There wasn’t much traffic on the Mountain Parkway and we arrived in South Williamson a little after 9:30. Greg called as we neared our location to double check the directions to the distillery since it was in a residential neighborhood. The information on the Kentucky Moonshine Trail lists Pauley Hollow Distillery as being in Pikeville. Actually, the distillery is 30 miles away in South Williamson, Kentucky.  As we drove to Pauley Hollow from home, we traveled the Mountain Parkway as well as Rt. 23, called the Country Music HighwayCountry Music Highway because of all of the famous musicians with roots along Rt. 23.  Examples include Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, Loretta Lynn, Dwight Yoakum, and Chris Stapleton to name a few.

Owner, Josh Martin at Pauley Hollow Distillery

We were greeted by the Pauley Hollow Distillery’s owner and operator, Josh Martin. Josh’s warm personality made us feel welcome at his small but efficient operation. He shared a great deal of information on how he ferments and distills his spirits. He is very picky about the source of the water and the grains that he uses to get the best quality of products. One of his moonshines even uses water from the well on the property of Randolph McCoy of Hatfield/McCoy fame. Like many on the Kentucky Moonshine Trail, Josh gets his yeasts and some of his enzymes from Wilderness Trail.

Because of recent festivals, Josh’s stock of distilled spirits were low but we were pleased that he had bottles of original recipe corn moonshine, Fuel of the Feud, rye based moonshine and his Robert’s Reserve four grain sour mash bourbon. We sampled each of these as we chatted with Josh and looked around the metal barn that he has converted into a distillery. We were unable to get any of the apple brandy or other products at this time. Greg and I each purchased a bottle of the corn based moonshine and promised to return in the fall when his stocks of spirits would be higher.

In chatting with Josh, he mentioned that Southside Wine and Spirits in Pikeville has a large selection of his products as well as bourbon from a new distillery in Eastern Kentucky aging their barrels in former underground coal mines. Josh also told us that Deb, the proprietor, keeps a stock of Buffalo Trace products including Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare.

We said our goodbyes to Josh and started down Kate Camp Branch when we were surprised by a young black bear crossing the road in front of us. I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised by seeing a bear in that area but it was a great way to leave the Forest Hills area of South Williamson. We wished that we could have taken a photo of the bear but it was moving too fast for us to get a snapshot.

Lunch was at Giovanni’s in South Williamson where we met Jenny, a contact for Mingo County when I worked there leading the Shewey Science Academy from 2007-2020. Jenny was instrumental in working with educators from around the county and even expanding into neighboring school districts. It was great catching up with Jenny on her son, Jordon, who was in the first group of middle school students in the Shewey Science Academy and has been with the program since. Jenny’s husband, Jerry, is now fully retired from dentistry but continues to work with sports teams in the area. I was happy that she and Greg could meet. We all enjoyed the pizza, pasta and salad buffet at Giovanni’s and the good conversation at the table.

Leaving the restaurant, we said goodbye to Jenny and Greg then drove 30 minutes into Pikeville to Southside Wine and Spirits where we met Deb and had a nice chat about our favorite spirits. We were amazed at her selection. We have been in larger wine and liquor stores in Cincinnati and Lexington but no one has the selection that I saw at Southside Wine and Spirits. She had seven bottle sets of Blanton’s with each letter on the stoppers. Every imaginable bottle release of Maker’s Mark and all of the Woodford Reserve releases. We were very pleased that she had plenty of Eagle Rare and a full display of store pick bottles of Buffalo Trace. We were very excited and bought two bottles each of Eagle Rare and Buffalo Trace.

Loretta Lynn & Crystal Gayle's homeplace

After leaving Pikeville the drive to Van Lear was about an hour. Loretta Lynn’s homeplace was our last stop in the Kentucky Moonshine Trail. A network of backroads led us to Webb’s Grocery where we got the final stamps in our passports. The young man at the counter told us that we were the first visitors to come in with completed passports. He gave us directions to Butcher Holler and Loretta Lynn’s homeplace. We drove the short 1.6 miles on the narrow winding road to the small cabin and outbuildings perched on the side of a hill. We took a few snapshots then drove back home. We had time for a snack and change of clothes before our meetings at church.

The next time we are in Lexington or Winchester we will turn our passports in at one of the distillery stops for our awards for completing the Kentucky Moonshine Trail.

Kentucky Moonshine Trail – Day 2

On the first day of our trek for the Kentucky Moonshine Trail we visited five of the nine stops. We planned to visit two stops today and two next Monday. On our way to Kentucky Mountain Moonshine in Ravenna, we stopped at Sam’s Club in Lexington. We needed a few grocery items for us as well as some large cans of green beans for church to serve at The Gathering Place Mission. The morning was cool for June, and we had packed a cooler so our purchases would be cool throughout the day.

Howard Arvin with a column still

We drove south on I-75 to Richmond where we drove to Ravenna in Estill County. At the Kentucky Mountain Moonshine Distillery, we were met by Howard Arvin and his wife. After throwing a ball for his dog we came into the distillery to see where Howard works his magic. Their place is an old white frame house that has been repurposed to serve as a visitor center and distillery. Howard told us a lot about the area and the history of moonshine. As a retired dentist in the area, he has extensive knowledge of Estill County. Water for the distillery comes from a well on the property and feeds one of three column stills or a small pot still. Howard is very knowledgeable regarding the chemistry of distillation and is super caution to assure that only the best distillates from his stills are made available to visitors.

The Arvins at their tasting area

After spending time in the still room, Howard’s wife prepared several drinks for us including a pickle juice moonshine drink which wasn’t our favorite. However, the peach moonshine with fresh peaches was outstanding. I purchased the smokey vanilla bean corn moonshine. Howard ages the corn moonshine in a jar with charred oak blocks then transfers the moonshine to another jar with vanilla beans for a second aging. I thought it would be very good mixed with Ale 8-1. Mary bought a cranberry flavored moonshine that she found very tasty.

Column stills at Kentucky Mountain Distillery

Howard invited us back to hike some of the trails on his property behind the distillery. We left the distillery feeling like we had made friends of the Arvin family and respect their skill in producing distilled spirits.

After leaving Ravenna, we drove the short distance to the Menards home center in Richmond, Kentucky. Our home water heater failed on Tuesday morning and Menards has the best prices on water heaters as well as the plumbing parts we would need to install the new tank in our basement. Menards had everything we needed, and we were pleased with the price that we paid and look forward to the 11% rebate offered by Menards.

Leaving Menards, we drove to Barrel House Distilling in the old distillery district in Lexington. We had been to Barrel House many times since our first visit there in 2014. Like other moonshine distilleries, Barrel House is a small operation but has a nice bar connected. The bar seems to do a brisk business with visitors in the popular area. The staff at the Barrel House visitor center were very personable and pleasant. We chatted about our previous visits to the distillery as they stamped our passports. One of the tour guides was telling us about a planned expansion to a location near Cynthiana that would be a much larger facility that could produce more spirits and accommodate more visitor groups. I asked if they would be needed tour guides when another guide there said that her husband is the head distiller and would love to have me work there part time. I took his contact information and promised to contact him soon with my inquiry about working at the distillery.

Barrel House Distillery

After leaving Barrel House, we drove the short distance home and unloaded the pickup with the water heater and plumbing. I will do the water heater installation on Thursday afternoon when I get home from volunteering at McConnell Springs Park and attending the board meeting at the Scott County Cooperative Extension Office.

We plan to visit the final two stops in the Kentucky Moonshine Trail on Monday. Hopefully our friend Greg can meet us for the visit in South Williamson. We also hope to meet our friend, Jenny, for lunch after the visit to Pauley Hollow Distillery. We hope to stop at Butcher Holler in Van Lear, Kentucky on the way home for the final optional stop in the passport.

Kentucky Moonshine Trail – Day 1

We left home around 7 am for the nearly three hour drive to Whitesburg in Southeastern Kentucky. When we drove through Hazard we were reminded of Hinton, West Virginia. Both were railroad towns whose economy has hit the skids with the decline of coal. Like Hinton, streets in Hazard wind around the mountainous town. We understand that the failing economy in Hazard has contributed to a takeover by opioids and homelessness. Our purpose for this trip is to visit all of the sites on the Kentucky Moonshine Trail and most of these are in Central and Eastern Kentucky.

Kentucky Mist Moonshine in Whitesburg

We arrived in Whitesburg in Letcher County a little early for our 10 am appointment at the Kentucky Mist Distillery so we walked around town and stopped in at the local library. We really liked the small town. Everyone we met in town was very pleasant and the town seems to be coming back from the shift in the economy. Much of the town was flooded during storms in the area a few years ago but most places seem to have recovered and restored the damaged buildings.

Anthony showing us the still

The Kentucky Mist Distillery is located in two buildings that were formerly an automobile dealership in Whitesburg. The interior of the distillery’s visitor center was attractively arranged with a bar, tables and shelves of spirits produced by Kentucky Mist. The large windows in the front of the visitor center made the room bright and inviting.

Anthony gave us a brief history of the distillery and the locations Myrtle Beach, SC and Orange Beach, AL as well as in Whitesburg. The large mash tubs and the column still were impressive. Anthony showed us a vat where corn based moonshine was steeping large bags of fresh blackberries. Anthony shared the mashbills and techniques that he uses to make moonshine, vodka and corn whiskey.

After leaving the visitor center, we walked across the street to the car dealership building that he uses to age the barrels of moonshine. He also showed us some of the experimental barrels that he is aging with brandy and other distilled spirits.

Anthony with our purchases

Back at the visitor center, we purchased a bottle of corn based moonshine, a bottle of aged corn moonshine and a bottle of blackberry moonshine. Anthony gave us passports for the for the Kentucky Moonshine Trail and stamped our books for the distillery. We enjoyed the chat with Anthony and found him to be interesting and pleasant. He shared information on attractions in the Whitesburg area including Kingdom Come State Park. We plan to come back to Whitesburg in the fall and will certainly come to Kentucky Mist.

Backwoods Moonshine Museum

After leaving Whitesburg we drove two hours to the Backwoods Moonshine Museum outside of Beattyville, Kentucky. We were greeted by Don, the father of the museum’s owner. His son and daughter-in-law who were featured on Discovery Channel’s Moonshiners television show were unable to be there . Don let us in the small museum and allowed us to look around at the displays and to the working model moonshine still outside. Don was pleasant enough but didn’t have much knowledge of the displays. While Don stamped our passports, we put a tip in the jar on the counter then continued toward the Mountain Parkway where we drove to Red River Gorge.

Mary at Moonshiner's Arch

One of the optional stops in the Kentucky Moonshine Trail is Moonshiner’s Arch in Red River Gorge. We arrived at the trailhead easily and walked along the muddy trail to the limestone arch. The arch was a double span of rock in a ravine where it is reputed that moonshiners operated a still when water was available. We took a few snapshots then continued to Winchester.

Regeneration Distilling in Winchester

At the Winchester Beer Cheese Festival last weekend, we met Zach Pasley, distiller at Regeneration Distilling in Winchester. He invited us to come back to the distillery this week for a tour. When we arrived at Regeneration, we were met by Christian who took us from the gift shop area on Main Street across the street to the distillery. He showed us the tiny pot still where they produce their spirits. Because of the recent festival, they were sold out of many of their usual spirits including the unaged corn moonshine. Their signature product is sweet potato moonshine and several flavors of corn moonshine. Christian allowed us to taste all of their products that were available at the distillery. We were not impressed with the sweet potato that had an interesting flavor but wasn’t our favorite. The corn moonshine was sold out, but Mary bought a jar of the raspberry moonshine. We promised to return with my friend, Greg, to try some other spirits and buy a jar of corn moonshine.

Pot still at Regeneration Distilling in Winchester

Christian stamped our Kentucky Moonshine Trail passports with Regeneration Distillery as well as Moonshiner’s Arch and Folly Farm which is associated with Regeneration. Like Anthony at Kentucky Mist, Christian was very pleasant and knowledgeable. We look forward to returning to the distillery soon.