With our original plans of leaf peeping in New England way-layed by COVID (argh!), I was perplexed on where to go next and how to top my 60th celebration for John’s upcoming 60th. Then, I stumbled across one of his favorite subjects…bourbon! I knew that would be the Perfect way to celebrate this Wonderful man! So the Kentucky Bourbon Tour was planned. Go forth and consume! 🙂
Using the Kentucky Bourbon Tour website, we found several local distilleries in Kentucky we wanted to try. And with a little help from the Harvest Host website, I found distilleries that would host us for free! Can’t beat that!
Our first stop was the midway point between Grand Design and Kentucky…Columbus, Indiana. After brutal 7+ hours of driving on our last trek, we were NOT doing that again! 4-5 hours max! The Simmons Winery and 450 Brewing Company was a great Harvest Host. An easy drive off I-65S, we set up in a large gravel lot next door to the winery. We each enjoyed a hearty porter with boneless wings. Yum! Knowing that we wanted to get an early start in the morning, we limited our consumption! 🙂
Traveled 236 miles. 5 hours. (+an hour stop for groceries and other provisions!)
Happy Birthday John!
It was an early start. I saw the sunrise for the first time in….well, a along time! LOL After an easy travel day, we arrived at Casey Jones Distillery in Hopkinsville, Kentucky around 1:30. The grounds were absolutely beautiful; an open field with huge shade trees in fall colors and plenty of room for big rigs like our Beast. AJ and Peg were more than gracious hosts. They allowed us to have an extended stay so we could enjoy the local distilleries on the State Line Whiskey Tour. Starting with theirs! Let the Spirits flow! 🙂
Traveled 281 miles. 5 1/2 hours (And another time zone change! They make my head spin!)
Casey Jones Distillery Tour
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Being our first distillery tour, we didn’t know what to expect. What we got was an interesting history lesson about Casey Jones’s stills, Al Capone, and moonshining during Prohibition. Casey Jones was well known for his innovative 3 piece stills, complete with handles in just the right places that made for a quick move when the revenuers came snoopin’! His specially designed cylindrical condenser which could produce more shine in less time had it’s own special handle too! Casey only used copper for his stills, knowing that the alternative, steel, which may be cheaper could also be toxic. (Not that consuming the shine wasn’t!!!) Al Capone got shine from many places, but the shine he liked the best was produced from a Casey Jones still. Casey continued building stills until 1967 with his arrest for bootlegging. After serving a 2 year sentence he retired. His grandson, AJ, took up the business in 2014 and uses the same still design and recipe that Casey used 50+ years ago.
Again, being newbies at this, we were in awe of how they took the grains and made moonshine and bourbon. So basically, it’s choose your grains, turn them into mash, distill and age the liquid. Depending on the aging process you either get a bourbon or a whiskey. And if you choose neither, you’ve got Moonshine! Okay, seems simple enough…NOT!
After the tour comes the tastings! Definitely for those that have a palate for bourbon; so, not so much me! John, on the other hand!!! I would take a little nip and pass the rest to him to finish! After much consideration and tasting, John settled on his birthday purchase for the day!
Happy 60th, My Love! 
Barreled on election day 2016. 
4 years later, opened in 2020 
Casey Jones Still 
Making Mash 
Typical Tourists 🙂 
Tasting Time! 
Owners made hand sanitizer during COVID shutdown
MB Roland Distillery Tour
Pembroke, Kentucky
This distillery was probably my favorite. Built on an Amish farmstead, the Roland family kept the original structures which added to the charm. Our tour guide was very patient as I asked questions about the different buildings. The hay barn is used for storing the aging barrels of bourbons. It’s also home to the “Angels’ Share” and the “Devil’s Cut” of bourbon. The Angels’ Share is the bourbon that evaporates from the aging barrels; and the Devil’s Cut is what is has been absorbed in the charred sides of the aged bourbon barrels. It made me smile to think that Mom and Dad were enjoying their share of bourbon! 🙂 The silage silo’s story is not as interesting; it’s just home to a bunch of pigeons! LOL The house is used as the tasting room and a gift shop, which has local artisan’s crafts as well as their own merchandise. The wittiness of the staff is seen through the many quirky signs/sayings that fill the walls, which added to the ‘fun quality’ of this tour!
Speaking of tour, having a little background knowledge, it was easier to understand the process and how the little differences between the two distilleries make the difference in the tastes of the final products. MB Roland uses a locally grown white corn to make their mash. It was also neat to understand the charring process for the oak barrels they use to age the bourbon. Different degrees of char can alter the taste of the bourbon. Here’s an interesting tidbit…Oak barrels are only used once for aging bourbon, after that they can be used to age other spirits, including wine! I love that our gift for finishing the tour was a charred stave (one of the bourbon slates) from one of the oak barrels.
I enjoyed the tastes here! They had “infused” moonshines with flavors I could enjoy…apple, strawberry, cinnamon, blackberry,… John ended up sharing with me! We purchased a bottle of bourbon for a camping buddy of ours who turned us on to MB Roland. I guess you could say he is partially responsible for this tour as he shared the last of his last bottle with us the last time we met up at Bernice State Park in Grand Lake, OK.
Hay Barn 
Silage Silo 
Distilling the Spirits 
Aging the Spirits 
Best Tour Guide! 
Different degrees of char 
Best Husband!
Some of the wittiness in the tasting room of MB Roland. Forgot picture of my favorite…Whiskey in, Wisdom out!
Old Glory Distilling Company Tour
Clarksville, Tennessee
Crossing over into Tennessee, we arrived at the last stop on the State Line Whiskey Tour. First impressions, we knew this tour would be even more different than the last two. First, it is in a new modern building just off the interstate, while the others were out in the countryside on large acreages. Venturing in we were correct on our assumptions. The second thing we noticed through the big glass windows was a completely modern still. Another big difference is they are able to distill not just moonshine and bourbon, but also vodka and gin. The “portholes” on the still show the level of something important??? Which my old brain can not remember. What I do remember was worrying how the “Angels’ Share” escapes to heaven!
Second favorite tasting room! Lots of infused fruity choices. After much consideration and tasting, I settled on a Blueberry Moonshine! Yumfest! 🙂
Saturday was spent chillaxing. Clemson football, hiking around the 73 acres at Casey Jones and finding a waterfall, a Kentucky sunset, and readying for travel day tomorrow. Life is Grand by Design!
We hoped to find a few more distilleries to visit, but alas, the ones on our “way” were not touring due to…you guessed it…COVID! Maybe next year! 🙂 So off to our next adventure…Stay tuned! Stay safe! And Stay in Touch!