Hey y’all, we recently made a quick three day trip to visit the oldest bars in states 34 & 35! We grabbed an early flight to Nashville and then took a Thrifty rental 155 miles northeast to Bardstown, Kentucky. A quaint town of 14,000 residents, Bardstown is the Bourbon Capital of the World and has been named one of the most beautiful small towns in America more than once. As the home of several well-known distilleries, we were looking forward to our stay. Kentucky’s oldest bar is The Old Talbott Tavern, also renowned as the world’s oldest bourbon bar. The Old Talbott dates back to 1779 and is a handsome looking tavern, both inside and out. That day the well appointed bar was tended by Jeremy. Besides making us requisite Old Fashions, he also fed us great info about the tavern while feeding us some tasty food from the kitchen. Jeremy was even gracious enough to take us on a tour of the tavern’s upstairs hotel rooms while regaling us with stories of its famous and infamous guests from the past, as well as its present day ghostly inhabitants. We happened to have reservations for the night in one of the inn’s guest rooms so we took copious notes of what Jeremy was sharing with us.
After our impromptu tour we headed out the door to seek out some other Bardstown watering holes. We had a number of interesting experiences during our walkabout before heading back to the Old Talbott to hit the sack. Cox’s Evergreen Liquors Spirit Shoppe was a large liquor store that happened to contain a small bar. The drinks and flights were very good and they had the best cocktail prices around. Meanwhile, Kreso’s Restaurant had a nice bar but the refurbished movie theater also had a very cool event space. Last but not least was the Volstead Bourbon Lounge. The Volstead had a speakeasy kind of vibe and an enormous selection of spirits. We were told that the last count was 876 different varieties, but that additional new brands keep arriving all the time.
After our bar cruising we headed back to the Old Talbott for a nightcap before retiring. In the middle of the night we were awakened not by a rambunctious ghost but rather by a hellacious storm. Torrents of rain, strong winds, lightning, and marble sized hail took out the hotel’s power as well as the surrounding area. Upon departing the hotel, which still only had 50% of its power restored, we saw a huge 100 year-old plus tree uprooted just across the town square. Thankfully, the tree barely missed the historic Harrison-Smith House, Circa 1795-1815. After surveying the destruction we headed south to score state #35. See y’all later!
Comments