Barrel Pick Confections in Bardstown: The Candy Shop With No Bourbon Balls (and a Story You’ll Love)
A Sweet Surprise on Flaget Street
Anyone walking down Flaget Street in Bardstown’s Historic District will see a sign in a storefront window that says, “No bourbon balls allowed.”
While it seems like a strange proclamation in the Bourbon Capital of the World, it’s even stranger when one realizes that the sign is located in the town’s newest candy shop.
Barrel Pick Chocolates has been open only since October of last year, but it has quickly developed into one of the focal points of the community, thanks to the hand-crafted small batch gourmet chocolates, and to the charm of owners Julie and Jim Conley.
As to the first, customers will find a selection including such delectable offerings as dark chocolate blackberry whiskey ganache with a blackberry caramel center or dark chocolates with real freeze-dried strawberries and cherries.
But one thing you won’t find is that most hallowed of Kentucky confections – the bourbon ball, so don’t even ask.
“I absolutely refuse to compete with your grandmother’s favorite recipe in the Bourbon Capital of the World,” says Julie with a laugh.
Don’t worry. You probably won’t even miss them when you have a multitude of other sweet treats to select from.
Chocolates Made Daily — and Hospitality That Keeps You Coming Back
The chocolates, which are made in house every day, may be the reason you first stop in, but the warmth and hospitality of Julie and Jim – coupled with those chocolates – will be the reason you return.
Both Julie and Jim are in the shop nearly every day and are always happy to welcome old friends and make new ones.
“Jim is really the face or the ambassador of the business,” admits Julie, “while I am usually in the kitchen working like a hamster on a wheel trying to keep up.
“In other words, he’s Willy Wonka and I am his Oompa-Loompa,” she laughs.
Listening to her talk, one gets the feeling her most satisfying payment comes not in cocoa beans, but in the friendship she finds in the Bardstown community.
A 2,500-Mile Journey to Their “Forever Home”
So, just how did the Conleys get to what Julie refers to as their “now forever home?”
As she describes it, the journey was a long one – some 2,500 miles to be exact - starting from an island off the coast of Washington State where the retired couple – Jim from his job in cybersecurity and Julie from hers as an interior designer – had a home.
“We were looking for a place to spend our retirement, so we started taking a number of road trips to different spots in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, but nothing clicked,” says Julie.
Kentucky had never been on their radar, but when they wound up taking a longer trip – their first east of the Mississippi and found themselves in Bardstown, Julie said she and Jim looked at each other and agreed, “this is it.”
Meeting the locals cinched the deal. “We felt like we had found our tribe,” she says.
The couple was so smitten that they purchased a home sight unseen (unless you count Zoom), arriving in the commonwealth in the summer of 2024. The town and the people proved to be all they had hoped. Only one thing was problematic – they discovered they were not quite ready to retire.
From Poker Night Treats to a Downtown Destination
That was quickly remedied. Julie, with her artistic background, saw chocolate as just another medium – one she had first utilized when she made her candies for Jim’s monthly poker games.
She became licensed as a home processor, and first introduced her product in the tasting room at Evergreen Liquors during their half-price Wednesday nights. The candies were an immediate success, and she was encouraged to take her skills to the next level.
The Three Chocolate Collections
At Barrel Pick Chocolates, you’ll find those skills demonstrated in three categories: Classics, Select and Vault Reserves.
Classics, explains Julie, are unspirited, family-friendly candies such as chocolate sea salt caramels; ganaches, her version of truffles, and brickles, a crunchy concoction similar to toffee, where the most popular, according to Julie, is the cashew covered in white chocolate.
The Select category includes all the spirit infused chocolates, whether that spirit be bourbon, rum or various liqueurs.
Specialty chocolates also fall into this category. One of those, Ruby Chocolate, a naturally pink-hued chocolate with a tangy, fruity flavor, will be available in time for Valentine’s Day.
Finally, Vault Reserves, which just opened earlier this month, is where Julie says, “the artist in me comes out to play.”
The vault contains bonbons which are hand-molded and hand embellished with tinted cocoa butter.
Exactly Where They’re Meant to Be
During this sweetest month of the year, Jim and Julie invite everyone to stop in, taste their amazing candies and hear about their incredible journey to their new home.
As Julie tells it, “Bardstown was never part of our plan. Everything happened very organically. Whether it was divine intervention or simply the universe setting us on this path, we’ve learned not to argue with it.
“We know we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be and we couldn’t be happier.”
The same might be said for those Bardstown locals and visitors with a serious sweet tooth. Learn more about Barrel Pick Confections!