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.