Anyone with a little knowledge of the Kentucky Shakers — a religious sect whose members practiced a communal lifestyle and a strict dedication to simplicity and perfection — might be surprised to learn that this group once distilled whiskey for both their personal use and for sale.
This remarkable story will be the topic of the next History on Tap at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 29, at Hopkinsville Brewing Co. Tommy Hines, director of the South Union Shaker Village, will lead the program.
“From 1807 through 1922, a religious sect known as the Shakers occupied a 6,000-acre farm in nearby Logan County,” states the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County, which organizes the monthly History on Tap, in a press release. “Naming their village South Union, the Shakers practiced a communal lifestyle based on withdrawal from the ‘world’ and with an emphasis on simplicity and perfection in all things. Their lifestyle also included the production of “ardent spirits” for both sale and consumption. South Union made whiskey in a stillhouse as early as the 1820s.”
South Union, which now operates as a nonprofit historic site, recently released its own Shakertown Spirits bourbon. Hines will discuss the new label, which is reportedly the first bourbon produced by a Kentucky nonprofit.
