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| 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.
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| 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.
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.
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.
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| 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.
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