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.