The Fascinating 1930s Origin Of Bourbon Balls

As the old nursery rhyme says, little girls are made of sugar, spice, and everything nice. Back in 1919, two enterprising young women turned that adage on its head, combining cocoa, a creamy center made with real Kentucky bourbon, a dark chocolate coating, and pecans to create the iconic dessert we know as bourbon balls. Now in its fourth generation, their business, Rebecca Ruth Candy, is still using the same recipe, and its 100+ year history is just as sweet.

It all began with Ruth Booe (maiden name, Hanly) and Rebecca Gooch, two substitute school teachers in Frankfort, Kentucky who aspired to something few of their female peers were doing: starting a business of their own.  After friends and family praised the candy they made over the holidays, they teamed up to start their company, dipping chocolates in the bar room of a local hotel that had been closed by Prohibition. To drum up business, they staged public conversations where they pretended to be casual customers raving about the new treat in their neighborhood.

Within a few years, both women met their husbands and got married, but the next decade would be paved with hardships. Ruth Booe's husband Douglas Booe died from injuries sustained a decade earlier in World War I, leaving her as the sole breadwinner for her family. She bought out Rebecca Gooch's share of the business only to have the Great Depression begin, limiting her customers' ability to pay for luxuries like candy. Sadly, still more dark clouds loomed on the horizon. Booe lost both her house and candy factory to a fire in 1933, and was unable to procure a loan as a single woman during the Depression. Finally, a hotel housekeeper lent her enough money to start rebuilding the business.

The idea for the famous bourbon balls came from a conversation at the town's sesquicentennial celebration, when someone remarked that there was nothing better than a bite of chocolate and a sip of bourbon. Booe took that idea back to her kitchen, where she perfected her still-secret recipe for bourbon balls and began selling them. They became such a hit that during World War II, several people in the town donated their own rations of sugar and gas to help her make them, and even Frank Sinatra and Fred Astaire stopped by to taste them.

After retiring in 1964, Ruth Booe passed the business to her son, and it's now in the hands of her grandson, whose daughter is also working there. If you visit today, you'll find a shop, dining area, and museum in addition to the factory, which still uses Booe's marble slabs and copper pots. While Rebecca Ruth Candy makes more than 100 products, the bourbon balls remain the favorite.

Most of Rebecca Ruth's bourbon balls are made with Louisville's own Evan Williams bourbon, but the business has also done custom runs for other distillers including Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace. If you don't happen to be in Kentucky, you can order them online. Or follow in the footsteps of these go-getting women by cooking up our recipe for Kentucky Bourbon Balls. And as long as you're getting the bottle out, go ahead and whip up a Liquid Bourbon Ball cocktail to serve alongside your treat, using any of the 27 best bourbon brands.