Best Souvenirs: What to Buy on Your #CFBroadtrip
Kentucky treasures for sale in Covington, Frankfort & Bardstown
Attention all bourbon lovers and shoppers: On Kentucky’s authentic bourbon road trip to Covington, Frankfort, and Bardstown you’ll discover lots of locally owned boutiques, quirky shops, artist co-ops, candy shops, booksellers, gift shops (even at distilleries, of course), and so much more!
You might add to your barware collection with coasters sporting an artist’s original doodles. Or find a bourbon barrel reimagined as a piece of art or functional home accessory. Or expand your library of bourbon titles. Maybe even pick up a luxe faux fur to cuddle under while puffing on a handcrafted bourbon cigar. Whatever your style, you’ll find the perfect souvenir to bring home—we’re not even going to name-drop bottles of bourbon on this suggestion list, since that’s an obvious choice!
covington
Among Grainwell’s selection of barrel heads, one of the most popular designs is the Bourbons of Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Head ($140), featuring silhouettes of brands including Four Roses, Blanton’s, and Buffalo Trace, among others. The barrel heads are made in the Covington woodshop of this women-owned and -operated business. You might also like the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Hard Wood Sign (from $68).
Browse local books at Hail – Records & Oddities in Mainstrasse. It’s a true original among area gift shops with its mix of taxidermy animals, crystal balls, and vintage medical equipment. Find Bob Batchelor’s The Bourbon King: The Life and Crimes of George Remus, Prohibition’s Evil Genius ($20) and Peter Bronson’s Forbidden Fruit: Sin City’s Underworld and the Supper Club Inferno ($20) among other titles relating to bourbon’s sometimes-checkered past.
Play the part of master mixologist with the Foghat Cocktail Smoking Kit from Thousand Oaks Barrel Co. ($89.95), sold at The Black Goose, a coffee house/gift shop combo in Union. The kit includes the smoker with stainless steel mesh guard, 4-oz. Foghat Whiskey Barrel Oak culinary smoking fuel, kitchen torch, Foghat Culinary butane, a chimney sweep, and instruction book: It’s everything needed to bring the smoke and elevate your cocktail-making skills to the craft realm.
The luxury faux fur throw blankets from Donna Salyers’ Fabulous Furs, home of the largest faux fur inventory in the world, align with a bourbon connoisseur’s fine taste. Cuddle beneath a Truffle Chinchilla Faux Fur Throw or an Onyx Mink Faux Fur Throw ($350-$395) from the Couture Collection. Schedule an appointment to peruse the Covington Showroom at (859) 291-9222. Faux fur coats, accessories and other home goods are part of the collection.
frankfort
Completely Kentucky presents works of over 650 Kentucky artisans. Don’t miss the beautiful Bourbon Stoppers made from hand-carved gourds that feature a map of Kentucky and pops of blue against a palette of burnished bourbon hues ($39).
Don’t miss the chance to pick up a box of Rebecca Ruth’s handcrafted dark chocolate bourbon balls ($55/16-oz. box), made from the original (and still) secret recipe developed by Ruth Booe, hailed in the confectionary world as the “Mother of the Bourbon Ball.”
Find your favorite bourbon on a print created by Kentucky artist Kayla W. Nord (from $19) at Glitterati Treasures. Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Woodford Reserve, Pappy Van Winkle, and other brands grace the canvas on a colorful backdrop. Bourbon-sipping style-setters may opt for a European Chenelle Bag, made in the USA from imported fabrics, in drop-dead gorgeous designs (from about $200).
There’s nothing like a great cigar to accompany a fine bourbon, especially if it’s one of Kentucky Gentlemen Cigar Co.’s bestselling Blanton cigars made with tobacco aged in Blanton Bourbon barrels for six months. The shop offers a four-pack featuring a cigar created for each of Blanton’s bourbons ($75). The bestseller among Blanton’s cigar? The Single Barrel Blanton’s Cigar with the tan label, as that is the only Blanton’s Bourbon you can get in the U.S.
bardstown
Doodles by Rebekah is a fun poke-around shop with a variety of items showcasing the artwork and hand-lettering of the owner-artist. Pick up a Bourbon Coaster Set ($20), a four-pack of bourbon themed coasters brandishing four distinct designs. So cute! They come wrapped with twine for ready gift giving, too.
Kentucky makers Keith and Angie Downs of the Charred Shack repurpose bourbon barrel staves into items like coat hangers with a design incorporating the iron barrel bilge hoop bands and barrel bunghole ($45). Find them at the Charred Shack booth at Artists Barrel, a co-op featuring artworks for sale from local artisans.
Bardstown for the Arts/The Gallery features the works of local artists in individual exhibit areas, including prints on canvas created by Kentucky artist Kim Perry ($245). The gallery-wrapped canvas prints come in different sizes and show off different bottles of Kentucky bourbon.
Looking for anything bourbon to remember your trip? Old Talbott Tavern, home of the world’s oldest bourbon bar, has everything bourbon, including theBAR2Go, clever and compact cases that step in as a personal on-the-go mini bar. Available in leather ($99.99) and canvas ($39.99) in clutch and crossbody designs, they are made in the USA.
Share your Covington, Frankfort, and Bardstown, Kentucky shopping discoveries with us on Instagram by tagging #CFBroadtrip.
