Before the 127 Yard Sale: Distilleries

Editor’s Note: This post is a part of our series on Delilah’s annual trip to the 127 yard sale. We’ll be back next week with DIY projects, recipes, inspiration and business tips. -Nicole S.

Uggh… I’m so sad to leave Louisville. We had such a great time and yet we only scratched the surface. BUT the 127 Yard Sale awaits us and more importantly, BOURBON awaits us! For the past couple of years we have been slowly visiting bourbon and micro distilleries as well as cooperages along the Bourbon Trail while tasting amazing spirits, seeing the Kentucky landscape and meeting some great people! If you are in the area, please do yourself a favor and visit at least one.

Today we went to four distilleries and had an extra stop (see below). In order to visit all four we decided not take any full tours but instead just visit the site and purchase items that we enjoyed at the tasting or had never seen before.

BARTONS DISTILLERY

Our first stop was Bartons Distillery in Bardstown. The people there were really sweet and we loaded up on this chocolate-bourbon-cream liquor, barrel char for the grill and bourbon jelly! I am looking forward to tasting the jelly and if we have any bourbon leftover (probably not), I would love to make some myself!

HEAVEN HILL DISTILLERY

This place is a MUST GO. Heaven Hill. They are the largest independent and family-owned distiller of spirits in the country and the location is also the home of the Bourbon Heritage Museum. I would definitely take people there if this were the only place you had time for. Other stops would be Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, one micro-distiller and one cooperage for a full tour. We purchased a number of gifts for friends back home.

WILLET DISTILLERY

The Willet Distillery is beautiful and that alone should make you visit, but another plus is the people. The woman in the shop was really friendly and we happened to speak with the director of the place who was so accommodating. We spent a short time talking to the director about the 127 sale (and I guess a big-time bourbon person came in while we were there, it was a big deal!). Willet is fantastic bourbon but they also had adorable shirts (I had to buy one, they fit well and had CUTE designs) and they sold bitters that were aged on the property. We purchased an aged sorghum bitter and I can’t wait to use it! It is very close to Heaven Hill, so just do it!

BUTCHER SHOP AT UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

Gustavo found out that the University of Kentucky had a butcher shop to further incorporate the local food movement on an academic level. Students learn how to process meats and the store is open to the public. Such a great idea (I also heard that there might be a distiller and brew program soon)! To access the store, go to the Garrigus Building on campus. Go to the basement and go through a few halls. It is kind of secret-style but this tiny shop has so much goodness. We bought a number of dried meats and sausages that we packed in ice for the trip home.

BARREL HOUSE DISTILLERY

We spent the night in Lexington where we paid a short visit to Barrel House Distillery, a micro-distillery making vodka, moonshine and rum! Yes we bought a lot of bottles and I loved the old-timey bar that they served samples in :). If you are looking for barrels to do your own aging, they sell them online (they were out of them or else we would have bought a few).

So now we are resting in Lexington. We need to rest up because tomorrow we head to the 127 Yard Sale in Covington, Kentucky. This will be totally uncharted territory for us so I am excited to see what is in store!

-Delilah Snell