424. Christmas at the Hill House

Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of the Bourbon Road Podcast. I'm your host, Jim Shannon. And I'm your host, Todd Ritter. We've got a great show for you today.

So grab your favorite pour and join us.

Todd and I are proud to have Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars as a sponsor of this episode and as the official cigar of the Bourbon Road Podcast. Our hosts and listeners alike enjoy the ultimate experience of premium cigars. Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Find out more during the halftime break and at Smokey's Lifestyle Cigar dot com. The Surgeon General warns that cigar smoking can cause lung cancer and heart disease and is not a safe alternative to cigarettes. The Hill House Bed and Breakfast, located in Loretto, Kentucky, is ready to be your bourbon country home away from home. Located less than three miles from Maker's Mark, the Hill House is convenient to Bardstown and the rest of the Bourbon Trail. The next time you visit bourbon country, choose comfort and convenience. Choose the Hill House Bed and Breakfast. Listen in at the break for more details or visit their website at thehillhousekentucky.com. Welcome back listeners. This is Jim Shannon. I am your host tonight. Todd is not with us. Melody and I have traveled down the road today. We find ourselves in Loretto, Kentucky, and we're hanging out with Jim and Cheryl Greer, who run the Hill House Bed and Breakfast in Loretto. And we're going to drink a little bourbon tonight and talk a little bit about the Hill House. Guys, welcome to the show.

Thank you.

We kind of planned this night for a few weeks now. We wanted to let our listeners get an opportunity to hear your ad spot on the show a few weeks to become familiar with what you guys offer, but we do like to bring our sponsors on and have them on the show and talk a little bit about what they do and why they're tied to the bourbon industry and why our listeners should be interested in what they do. So I think tonight's a good chance for us to do that. We've got a couple of bourbons we're gonna drink through. I brought one, you guys supplied two. We're actually sitting in the fireplace room at the Hill House. So comfortable in here.

Thank you.

Yeah, this is one of the favorite spots for our guests to sit. Definitely when it's cold outside, we got the fireplace going.

Now that's beautiful. It looks like it opens up on the backside, doesn't it? It does. Wow. It's a beautiful fireplace. Nice big cozy room here. Great night to drink bourbon. A little chilly outside. Oh yeah. So I'm going to talk a little bit about what we have in our first class, because I brought this. And kind of in sort of in keeping with where you're located, you guys are located literally, what, two minutes from Maker's Mark Distillery.

Correct.

Right here in Loretto. And I guess you could probably, if it were daylight right now, we're looking out the window, we might even see a Rick house nearby.

Yep. Straight behind you. Is it? Yep. There's about 10 of them straight behind you. Wow. Fantastic.

Well, today we're going to have a little bit of Maker's Mark number 46, the French Oat. And this one is finished with 10 French Oat staves. This is kind of recipe 46 or barrel stave recipe 46. And this is something that has really set Maker's Mark apart in the last five to ten years. I'm not sure exactly when it was released, but when it was, it kind of took the world by a little bit of surprise because the flavor profile was so unique. And so this is something I've liked to sip on from time to time. It doesn't often make it to the show because we're always dealing with this special release and that special release and Things are coming out all the time, but, uh, we do like to get straight to the bourbon and today we've got Makers Mark 46, French oak. You guys want to take a taste? Cheers. Cheers. Cheers. Oh, that's so good. It's so smooth. I love the smoothness of it. It's a, it's a 94 proof, you know, straight Kentucky bourbon whiskey. It is probably second in line to the maker's traditional bottle for being probably flying off the shelves because this is definitely something that people reach for now. I love it. I think it's got a great character to it. A lot of nuttiness too.

Yeah. I agree.

When we first moved here, we went and did the tour at Makersmark. That's one of the first things we did. Of course, at the end, you do get to do the taste of all the five I think they had out there for us. 46 was definitely the number one on my list. ended up getting and doing the bottle and doing the wax on the bottle at the end.

So you dipped your own bottle there?

Dipped my own bottle. You got to do it.

Oh yeah, got to. Now did you guys go on the fermenters, the tour of the fermenters and everything? Did you dip your finger down in?

No, we didn't do the big one. We only did the hour tour, the shorter one.

They got quite a gift shop there, great restaurant, just a great place to visit. I feel like you can spend Probably two hours there, maybe three. Definitely.

And the lunch too. I mean, that's really good. 11 to, I think they go till about two or three, three o'clock and best fish and chips. It's killer.

So are you guys, I understand you can walk two miles, but is it walking distance or is it driving distance? Driving distance, definitely.

Yeah.

All right. So you definitely want to get in your car in your parking lot here and just drive just a mile or two down the road and you'll be there.

Yep, definitely.

So that is great. So a lot of your visitors who come and stay at the house then, uh, are, are, but that's part of their agenda is, is visiting Meckler's Martin.

Yeah. Yeah.

And the other Bartstown distilleries, I would imagine.

Yeah. Yeah. We've had people, um, come and stay that did a tour at Jim Beam, Woodford, and Heaven Hill. So the drive was not so bad.

Yeah, so you're about 15 minutes from like Bartstown Burman and Heaven Hill. Correct. Yeah, Willett's right there, right next to Heaven Hill. That's actually the closest one. It's about 12 miles.

And then the Barton Distillery is right there, but they don't really entertain guests anymore. They used to, but things have changed a little bit. But Bartstown's a great spot. It's a wonderful spot. Oh, I'm seriously enjoying this. It's been a while. Melody loves a weeded bourbon. Unfortunately, I don't think we've had the makers upstairs in the pantry for a while. This might just make it to the pantry though. Tell us how your adventure brought you to a bed and breakfast in Laredo, Kentucky, serving the community of bourbon lovers around the world.

All right. We started out about five years ago in Colorado. We were actually managing a larger bed and breakfast there, 10 rooms, 26 acres. right on a big river up in Estes Park, about an hour and a half outside of Denver. It was kind of a, not a spur of the moment thing, but something that Cheryl had never been west of the Mississippi until then. We both came from the eastern side of the United States. It kind of fell right in our wheelhouse. We talked to the owners and all that. They gave us full control of the whole place and started out a little slow and then pretty soon we had them profitable. We added all kinds of new features, different packages and all that stuff. Cheryl was actually an officiant. How many weddings would you do a year?

Oh gosh. Anywhere from 40 to 85.

Yeah. Wow. That's a lot of weddings.

Yeah. We got there right- At COVID. Yeah. A little bit before COVID started. So the year after COVID, 2021, that was, I mean, everyone just let her rip. I mean, they- A lot of them lost all their money on wedding packages and stuff and everything, so they were coming to do a smaller venue and all that. That's something we do want to try to do here eventually as well, is do small venue weddings. I think we did almost 80 in 2021 weddings. It was a significant part of the business.

Wow. That's a lot. So, you're an officiant. Are you an officiant in Kentucky as well? Have you taken the... Not yet. Yeah.

I will be.

Is it just a matter of raising your writing and swearing or do you have to attend some kind of a no? Just...

Just raised my hand, signed the paper.

Raising your finger to hit the enter key.

So somewhere along the way, you guys decided to migrate back this direction, I would say.

So I'm going to take it. So we loved what we did in Colorado. It was, we owned it. We owned it, but we didn't own it. And we said, you know what? Let's just do this on our own. We can do this. We wanted to get back to family. So all our family is on the East side, something.

from Georgia up to Knoxville, Tennessee. So they're all like in the southeast. Southeast, okay, thank you. About Florida though. Yeah, definitely.

Yeah, so, and that was the big thing in Colorado. Like, I mean, we loved Colorado, but traveling was an issue. So we thought we'd get back here, we see the kids, we see the grandkids, we see the parents. And this just kind of fell into our lap. I mean, we were looking on the East Coast, Um, we just didn't find what we were looking for. And then this, this just fell in and it was exactly what we wanted. It was something that we could manage on our own. We didn't need employees. Um, so we jumped on it and said, let's, let's do this. I've never been to Kentucky in my life. until we moved here.

Yeah, we got here about the beginning of September, so when we opened up, we did a lot of remodeling, painting, the whole nine yards and everything and opened, I think officially, middle of August, October 14th is when we first opened. We've been going about a couple of months now. We're learning the area, learning the people, trying to make friends wherever we can, hitting up all the distilleries when we can, maybe a little too much at times. It's a good problem to have where you have to go visit that distillery to get part of your business going.

Well, I think that there's certainly some business-related expenses there. You've got to educate yourself.

Exactly.

Because your clientele expects you to be knowledgeable in bourbon. You already like bourbon. Both you guys already drink bourbon. Yeah. It's one of your things you do, but educating yourselves on what else is in the area and what's available and what's it like to go to this distillery or that distillery because I guess the guests come in, you want to be able to fill their heads with all kinds of wonderful ideas. Yeah.

That's the most important part is, and that's, I think we took a little bit of time to get out there and visit because we need to educate our guests and say, Hey, you like this, go here. You like this, go there. Um, and that's really important to us is to make sure our guests have the best experience while they're here.

Yeah. So let's talk about your location again. I mean, everybody kind of has heard of Maker's Mark and they understand that, you know, you've kind of got Louisville, Frankfurt, Bardstown. These are the three main central hubs of Bourbon in Kentucky. We're literally less than 12 minutes from Bardstown, right? So we're closer to the Bardstown corner of that big triangle. But a lot of people understand that Maker's Mark is a little bit outside the corner of that triangle. So that's why they're two minutes from you and 12 minutes from Bardstown. But how long does it take for you to get to Louisville from here?

On the east side of Louisville, right at an hour.

Okay. And then Frankfurt?

Probably an hour and 15, something like that.

You guys are certainly positioned where somebody can start their Bourbon Trail tour here in and near Maker's Mark and then just continue into Bardstown, then up into Louisville and to Frankfurt and on from there. There's a lot of places in between too. Yeah, definitely. Lebanon is not too far from here and they've got one there. They've got the limestone branch. Correct. Is over there. And then who else do we have?

And Jefferson's is opening in 2025. We actually spoke to one of the people that were actually working there. They wanted to come and stay at the inn. First phase one is supposed to be open the very beginning. I think they said January of 2025. That's another you know, very nice distillery in the area, you know, and one of the reasons we brought the ocean here to take a sip on later. Absolutely.

I'm looking forward to that. Yeah. Yeah. I know when we drove here today that, um, we passed by Barstown Burping Company and that's 10, 12 minutes up the road. Not very far. Didn't seem very far anyway. Um, and that's a great place to go. Definitely. There's a lot of great spots around here. So let's talk a bit about, The physical in itself, what can you tell our listeners about? What can they expect when they come to the Hill House Bed and Breakfast?

Well, we have four rooms, all about 300 to 350 square feet, each one with a shower and a tub in them as well. We have one on the bottom floor and three that are upstairs. They're very cozy. Each one's a little bit different, but at the same time being a great experience for the guests to come. The house itself, the Hill House, we are on a hill and that's the first thing you think of. It's named Hill House because we are on a hill, but I found out that a gentleman by the name of Richard Hill owned it 30, 40 years ago and I think they just started calling it the Hill House because of his last name and all that. First thing, when I first pulled up, when we looked at it, it was, oh, it's the Hill House because we're sitting on a hill. The water tower is right here as well, and they always put the water tower on the highest point in the city and everything. But I guess the ambiance of the place itself, it was built in the late 1800s. It has been redone twice since then, but first thing you'll notice is the foyer, the beautiful staircase. It's all original wood. We have cherry hardwood floors, oak hardwood floors, a large sitting room you talked about before, which we're sitting in now. Gourmet, hot plated breakfast every morning, nice dining room that we serve that in. We have a lot to offer. You also mentioned it before. We have a huge patio out back. It's very private as well. Grills, smokers, lots of seating areas. We've got chiminea, solo stove. great place to sit outside and light up a cigar and have a pour.

Absolutely. Well, I noticed that the rooms all have names. You've named your room. Was there any manner to that at all?

It was. Actually, Jim did that. He named each room after the tree that was outside that room. Oh. Yeah. So I'll let you take that.

Yeah, Cheryl's not big on trees like I am, I guess. So that's a green tree would be what Cheryl's thing. But downstairs, we have magnolia. So there is a beautiful star magnolia out the side window of that room. Up above it is maple. And of course, we have two beautiful red maples in the front yard, which all the leaves are gone now. But they were just drop dead gorgeous in the fall. We have cherry because we have a beautiful weeping cherry out back upstairs. And then right, right above us now is dogwood and there's a beautiful dogwood in between the maples out front. So we just kind of, you know, pick the names based on, you know, the trees that were around there.

So you said you have three rooms upstairs, one downstairs, and then you guys have your residents on site, but you're not in with the guests specifically. You have your own separate area.

Correct. So we can be as present or not as present as the guest would like. A lot of the guests that come in, they love to chat. Actually, they like to chat a lot. They like to get to know us. We like to get to know them. We end up chatting in the kitchen, which moves us into the living area. And then it turns into, let's have a drink and chat more. But we are happy to give them their own space. This area that we're in now, the living room, they have the TV, they have the fireplace, they can sit in here, they can play games, they can play cards. We're in our own space. So it gives them privacy, if they choose.

Sure. Now, On your website, you have, and we'll get into a lot more of this later, but on your website, you have pictures of all the rooms and the house and the story and about you guys and all of that stuff. And bet you also have the ability to book rooms on the website so people can click on, find out more information or book on, book this room or whatever it is. But do you guys rent individual rooms? Do you rent them like, uh, like any bed and breakfast, you might have different guests from different places coming in and spending the night one in one room, one in another. It's not always a group of people using all four rooms.

Oh no, no. Um, that's, that's pretty rare actually. Yeah. Not rare. I would say 20%. Um, normally it's, it's, a couple in one room, a couple in another room, they don't know each other, and then they all meet at breakfast, and it's kind of cool.

Oh, yeah. I imagine if you come with other family members and you get multiple rooms, that's great. Of course. If you bring a group of friends or couples that know each other, that's great. But it's also a lot of fun to meet new people and just sit around in the morning at breakfast and get to meet some new people.

Yeah, since we've been here, I think there's been one set of guests from Kentucky. It's Indiana, Iowa, Tennessee, North Carolina, Illinois. I mean, almost all neighboring states coming in to visit the Bourbon Trail. Being able to spend it and we always say, and I think what Cheryl has said before is where they come down to breakfast and you just made a new set of friends. We've had an exchange, phone numbers and all that stuff after staying literally one night together in the same house and all that. It's pretty neat. I think that's what we enjoy about it more than anything is meeting the people, finding out a little bit about them, where they're from and all that stuff.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, great. I mean, I've stayed at Bed and Breakfast before and get up in the morning and the owner's there for breakfast. And it's just wonderful to sit and meet and other guests. It's wonderful to sit and meet and talk and get to know someone new. Melody's really good at that. I'm sort of passable, but she's real good at striking up conversations with people we don't know. Well, this is probably the goodest place as any for us to take a short break, and we're going to pour our glasses for the next half. When we come back from the break, folks, we've got more from the Hill House and Jim and Cheryl, and we've got two more bourbon expressions to try. So stick around. Don't go away. Few things pair better together than a fine whiskey and a premium cigar. And Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars are where flavor and craftsmanship meet. Their exclusive collection is meticulously hand-rolled from aged tobacco sourced from the Dominican Republic. Revel in the artistry that only decades of experience can bring. The owner, with over 10 years of cigar mastery, curates blends that capture the essence of family tradition and innovation. Embrace the journey and indulge in a harmonious symphony of Smokey's Lifestyle Cigars, an experience truly beyond compare. Find out more at SmokeysLifestyleCigar.com. When you're traveling the Bourbon Trail, location and comfort is everything. That's why I recommend making the Hill House Bed and Breakfast your home away from home. Located in the heart of Bourbon Country, the Hill House Bed and Breakfast is less than five minutes from the Maker's Mark Distillery in Loretto, Kentucky, giving you easy access to the Bardstown Distilleries and all points of the Bourbon Trail. The owners, Cheryl and Jim, offer four comfortable and cozy rooms along with a gourmet hot-plated breakfast every single morning. And when you return from a long day of fun, it's time to enjoy a bit of the Bourbon Trail nightlife. Relax on the large outdoor patio, complete with a blazing chiminea and solo stove, or curl up on the sofa and chairs, put a record on the turntable, and relax with snacks and fruit in front of the gas fireplace. An evening at the Hill House is a perfect time to raise a bourbon glass full of cheer in the company of family and friends. We know you'll enjoy your stay at the Hill House Bed and Breakfast as much as we did. Find out more at TheHillHouseKentucky.com. All right, listeners, welcome back. Once again, we are in Laredo, Kentucky. We're at the Hill House, bed and breakfast. We're hanging out with Jim and Cheryl Greer, and we're having such a great time. In the first half, we sipped on a little bit of Makers 46, which is nice since you guys are only about two miles from Makers Mark. But that was great. But in the second half, we're going to start out with whiskey that you brought. This distillery is actually going to come to the area in 2025. So you want to kind of showcase it on the show tonight.

That's correct. It's the Jefferson's Ocean. It's a 45 ABV.

Okay, so a 90-proofer?

90-proof, correct.

This is Voyage 28, I think, right? It is Voyage 28, correct. All right, so this is a 90-proof whiskey that has done its time at sea in barrels, sloshing around. That's kind of their claim to fame, right?

Yeah, I kind of read up a little bit about it. Was it something that actually made a difference on the taste or the smell or whatever, being at sea or whatever? I guess we're here to either prove or disprove that theory in our own simple bourbon minds.

I've heard people say it tastes like salt. Who knows? Just knowing that information, knowing that it spent time strapped to the decks of a ship at sea for some months sloshing around just kind of makes you wonder if it didn't pick up a little bit of salt air. You know, does the sloshing really make a difference? And I believe if you ask those at Jefferson's, they'll tell you absolutely 100% it does. But let's check it out. What do you say? Sounds good. All right. Well, this one's a little bit lighter on my nose than the one in the previous half, than the Makers 46. This is a lighter, fresher nose. It's nice and sweet. Caramely on the palate. What do you think?

Yeah, definitely. Definitely lighter.

Yeah.

Yeah, than the Makers.

The Makers does have a, it does step all over your tongue with that French oak, doesn't it? Just a little bit. So this one is definitely not, not carrying that deep nutty flavor that we got the first time around, I think.

No, but I taste the salt.

Oh, you do. It's gotten, it's gotten into your head there. The whole idea of the, you can sort of picture these barrels on the ship, can't you?

I'm liking the ocean, the salt. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I have to, I have to say that I would, if I had to guess, I would say the agitation and the motion make a difference because other people use like sound waves and other things to do it. So I think the science is there. I think you would have to have an identical barrel sample before it goes out to sea and, you know, after it goes out to sea. And I would assure you that, uh, that they've probably done that.

I think it's pretty cool actually.

Yeah. I think it's a neat concept and it's a, you know, they've gained a lot of fame for their brand. It's a good quality whiskey. They have a number of expressions they put out, but the voyage numbers as they're released each time is a, it's just a great, it's a great thing. And they've really built a following of people.

I think it's exciting.

And they kind of change it up from time to time, which is nice. Yeah, I'd definitely buy it again. I like it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think it's kind of cool that this ocean is going to be in Laredo, Kentucky.

Yeah, about that.

Like, really? I think it's pretty cool.

Yeah. Yeah, I think the bourbon made its way to, I'm trying to remember the name of the ships they use, OCEARCH or something like that. Am I correct?

Yeah.

Okay. Something to do with shark research, right? Correct. Okay. Yeah, I've heard the story before about the two friends and how it all got started. It's a great story, but great whiskey altogether. So tell me about breakfast. I'm starting to get hungry, by the way. Tell me about breakfast at the Hill House.

So we do a two course breakfast. So we start with a starter. And it depends on what the main is. So if you have a sweet, we do a savory starter. If you, if we have a savory main, we do a sweet starter and it could be anything from French toast souffle to a cheddar grit casserole to ham and cheese souffle. It's pretty elegant.

And it's a lot, too. It's a lot. That's just a starter you're talking about, right?

So your starter could be anything from coffee cake to a Parmesan oat to... My favorite's the banana split. I was just gonna say, as simple as a banana split, chia pudding, it could be, yeah, it's a whole variety.

And a lot of times we, uh, you know, we adjust it based on, you know, what time of year it is and all that, you know, we could do something, you know, a little heavier in the winter time, uh, you know, for a starter or a little figgy pudding or a steel cut oats, stuff like that.

So cranberry coffee cake for the winter time.

Oh, fantastic.

Now you guys have your own, uh, your own coffee, your own, your own blend or your own personal choice.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

Yeah. And we kind of play with it. So people are, people are questioning, you know, what's your blend? What do you do? What do you buy this? And it's just what we do.

But you can only get it at the Hill House.

Absolutely. Trade secret.

Now in these days with Airbnb and VRBO and HomeAway and all these millions of, you know, websites that promote bed and breakfast and so forth. A lot of them give options to rent not only by the room, but by the whole house as well. Do you guys do that?

Yeah, we actually do do that. And it's something we just started thinking about because we've had a couple inquiries for that happening in the springtime. And that's When the busier part on the Bourbon Trail, people start coming more than they are doing in the wintertime. We've had people call about a bachelor party or a family reunion get together. In fact, the young lady who just called yesterday was asking about a place for a family to stay in May. We do rent the whole house out and that includes all the grills and back patio, access to the laundry, access to the kitchen, the stove, the microwaves. We have three ovens in there. basically have the full run of the house. During these full house rentals, we actually go away and leave it to the people renting.

You need a day off too, right?

We do. Definitely. There you go.

Kind of works out for everybody, doesn't it?

It does.

Yeah, I would imagine when you're running a place like this that, you know, there's not a lot of days off, right? I mean, you've got guests to think about because the weekends aren't yours anymore.

No, and you never know. Somebody could book tonight, somebody could book tomorrow, and we have to be here.

Yeah, it's weird because, you know, sometimes we'll wake up and, you know, Back in the day, oh, it's the weekend coming up and all that, and sometimes we don't even know what day it is because they kind of all just blend together. But it's a good thing. It's something that we have come to enjoy and come to love over the last five years and just what to expect the next set of guests coming in. 99.9% of every guest coming in is happy, loving life, leave here happy and all that stuff. There is always that 0.1 guest out there somewhere, but yeah, it's something we're really enjoying. We look forward to the next guest coming in every day.

I guess you make a lot of friends that way, don't you?

Definitely. Yeah, just shoot two days ago, the people from Colorado that had stayed there, a couple of different ones, they're always calling Cheryl about wedding plans and what we can do here and stuff like that. So it's definitely friends that, you know, stay with us forever.

Yeah, they're actually from Texas and they're planning on coming now.

Well, fantastic. Well, I think we have listeners all over the country and actually in all 50 states and 40 countries around the world. So hopefully they're all listening and they're all jotting down the Hill House Bed and Breakfast in Laredo, Kentucky, and they'll look you up when the time comes. A lot of times you need inspiration for vacation, right? It's not always that you already know what you're going to do the next year. Sometimes somebody says something to you or you hear an advertisement or you're watching a television show or a friend tells you, you really need to check out FloraBama or whatever it might be and off you go. So we hope that we're reaching a few people out there that are interested in settling down in Loreto for the weekend or whatever it might be and just touring all the distilleries and having a great time. So what other kind of packages do you have available, things that you're offering to your guests?

Well, actually, the month of December is you book a night and you'll get a charcuterie board, which Cheryl has become an expert at making as part of the deal. We've had a couple of guests coming in that have actually applied that offer if you just go on the website. In book, you can actually put in the promo code cheese, C-H-E-E-S-E, and you'll get a free Chuck Rootery board for the month of December. Chuck Rootery board is one of our big sellers. Another one we have is a keepsake picnic backpack that it's full of sandwiches and kinds of fruit and snacks and all kinds of stuff like that. You get to keep the backpack as well. If you're touring a distillery or going to some of the local historical monuments or great, a great amount of, you know, church monasteries and stuff that are all near here that a lot of people come to visit as well. It's a good little thing to sit down and pull out your backpack and, you know, have a little picnic lunch wherever you want to, and you just, you know, keep everything in it.

Yeah, when we were talking earlier about what you're near, we failed to mention, like, Gethsemane and the Amp.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah. Lockstill distillery. They're a big destination now, a lot of great, a lot of people coming in to visit that location and also the train museum in New Haven, right?

Yep.

Yes. So a lot of great stuff around here. Is Thomas the Train still out there? I don't know, but we took our grandkids there once to see Thomas the Train and they loved it.

But back to Log Still, so they actually have a lot of concerts coming up.

Yeah, and big names too.

So it's definitely something to check out.

Yeah, I think they ended with L King was where they ended. They're about to announce all the acts coming out for 2025 here, I think in a couple of weeks.

Well, I was looking forward to hear that. Yeah, we did record an episode back there when they were mid-construction. So they were open to the public and they were serving the public, but they hadn't built out their extra areas yet. So now it's all It's all done. It's beautiful. It's gorgeous. But yeah, we need to get back down there. We've talked about it, but we haven't made it happen yet. So I think we will. This would be a good spot to start at for that. No doubt about it.

Definitely.

Right down the road, another nine miles.

Stay here, go there.

Yeah, absolutely. What about weddings, bachelor parties, other kinds of events like that?

Yeah, we're gearing up in 2025 to actually start small venue weddings is what we're going to look for. Bachelor parties right now, golf outings. We have talked to a couple of people about that. There's three wonderful golf courses. Again, one in Lebanon, nine miles down the road, one right by Willett Distillery in between Willett and Bargetown Bourbon Company. to a third golf course out towards New Haven ways.

Rosewood.

Yeah, that's the one in Lebanon, Rosewood. So it's great, great places to go just to have a golf outing. We've, again, talked to people about coming here to do that. Bachelor parties are fine. We do only have four rooms, but it is rent the whole house. you know, we can, you know, easily sleep 12 to 15 in here.

So, yep. That's a pretty good group. They can have, they can have fun out on the patio and build a fire and smoke their cigars, drink their bourbon, just enjoy themselves altogether and come back in here and warm up and call it a night and get out and do it all again the next day.

Yep. Yep.

All right. Well, we better get onto this, this last bottle you brought for us. So what do we have now? This is significantly darker than what we've been drinking earlier.

Yeah. You can, uh, sitting side by side with the ocean. It's, um, yeah, night and day. Uh, this is a, uh, larceny barrel proof. Okay. Um, it's 62.5, which 125.1. That's the proof of it. Correct. Got it. Okay.

This is a step up in proof from what we've been drinking. We had 94 in the first glass, we had 90 in the second glass, and now we're jumping all the way up to 125. It does have a little bit of, uh, ethanol singe on the nose. Larceny sometimes can come off a little hot when you're nosing it.

Yep.

Yeah, definitely.

I agree.

But it has such a rich aroma. There's another weeded bourbon. So Makers is a weeded bourbon, Larseny is a weeded bourbon. Uh, Jefferson's not. They do put out a weeded from time to time, but I don't think that one is. When you taste this, it has a really rich flavor. It's very concentrated compared to what we have been drinking already. That's why I kind of wanted to wait to last for it.

It's a big impact on the, on the tongue. Definitely.

Now melody loves larceny. That's one of her favorites. So she's, um, she's a, um, a weeded bourbon drinker. She likes Weller. She likes, you know, um, larceny.

Yeah, like you were saying earlier, we're right down the road from Heaven Hill, so we're huge larceny fans as well. This is our first time with the barrel proof, so you could definitely tell the difference, but what is the regular larceny? I think it's 94. 94, exactly.

Yeah, I think it's 94 proof.

I think it's a small batch, which is a very easy drink. Yeah, like it's smooth. It's yummy. It's yeah, it's just tasty.

Yeah, these are not meant to be mild and they're not meant to slip by. They're going to stomp all over you and let you know that it's a good strong pour, no doubt about it. It sees what can happen to a weeded bourbon as it reaches that mature age at a high proof, it can get real It can get a little bit hot, even though it doesn't have that rice spice in it. It can still get a little spicy for you.

Oh yeah. Oh, it's spicy.

That spice is all coming from the barrel there. Because I can tell you one thing, wheat doesn't introduce much spice into a bourbon. Neither does corn. It all comes from that rye and that barrel. Yeah. That's the way to finish a night, isn't it?

Sitting there on the back.

So Cheryl, which one of these do you like the best so far? Cause we've, we've all had all three of them now and I'm just kind of curious. It looks like you were, uh, you were paying very close attention to that last pour.

So I'm going to have to go with the larceny.

The larceny barrel proof. Yeah. So you like the more, um, intense whiskeys ones that have the more concentrated flavors, the higher proof.

I do like that, but I would do Jefferson as a nice light, airy, kind of afternoon delight.

Yeah.

If you want to call it that.

And close the evening with larceny. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I get that.

Yeah. I think, I think that's my favorite.

Definitely.

You don't want to close the evening with larceny. Yeah.

You don't want to start your day with larceny, right? On your Cheerios now So you guys mentioned earlier about the charcuterie board and So that's your month of December. So I'm assuming you've got kind of a similar thing every month How can people find out about what's going on with that?

Yeah, well, what we try to do is offer a different special promo code that they can either go to our website, thehillhousekentucky.com, or Facebook, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and they can find out all about what's coming up or actually sign up for a newsletter and we can Let them know through emailing them on what's going to be coming up.

But your website's kept updated and they can always check into your... You got Facebook and Instagram you said? Is it just The Hill House, Kentucky? Correct.

Excellent. Fantastic.

And people, can they find you on other sites outside of your own? Are you through other travel sites or booking sites?

Yeah, we're on Yelp, TripAdvisor, Booking.com, and Expedia. That's the four main ones right there, but we're on all of those.

Okay, so in any one of those places, I can find you guys and figure out how to get you reserved for their date and what they want to do. Like we were saying earlier, it can be just a single individual, it can be a couple, it could be a group of friends. They can rent one, two, or up to four rooms, or they can ask for the entire house.

Absolutely.

I guess it's good to book in advance, right? Because you guys do get filled up.

We do.

What would you suggest to people? How long in advance should they be thinking about getting on the books with you guys?

Yeah, especially coming up in the spring and all that. I would start here within the next month for stuff starting through the spring. And we've already got bookings for September. People have already started because of the Bourbon Festival and all that stuff. So yeah, as soon as you can. Awesome.

Awesome. Well, guys, we, The Bourbon Road, Todd and I, and Melody, we all appreciate your sponsorship of The Bourbon Road podcast. When our sponsors step up and join us in partnership, they help us to get down the road to that next interview and help to subsidize the equipment and the time we spend. and all of that. And it gives us an opportunity to educate our listeners on what you guys do and introduce them to your business and how it might benefit them in their trips to the Bourbon Trail. I think I've given everybody kind of a good view inside today. It was a good idea and what it's like to stay at the Hill House. So I think people can expect a nice comfortable stay, roomy, spacious accommodations, a nice comfortable house with great common areas, both outside and inside. This fire is amazing, by the way. A great breakfast in the morning. And then maybe from time to time, if they can cash in on one of your coupon deals, they can walk out of here with a backpack of food for the day too. Yep. Or charcuterie board.

Yep.

It's all good.

Yep.

Well, Jim, Cheryl, we've had a wonderful time here tonight. And actually we are spending the night here tonight. So I'm kind of excited. Melanie and I are excited to hang out with you guys for the evening and enjoy an overnight stay here at the Hill House.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for being a sponsor and thank you for joining me today on the show. We certainly encourage all our listeners to go to HillHouseKentucky.com.

Did I get that right? TheHillHouseKentucky.com.

The Hill House. Same with us. The Bourbon Road. Exactly. If you know that, you got to put the in front of the Bourbon Road. You got to do the same with the Hill House. TheHillHouseKentucky.com. Thanks again, guys. We certainly appreciate it.

Thank you, Jim. Cheers.

Cheers. Well, you can find The Bourbon Road on all social media outlets. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, threads. We kind of do it all. We do do a show every single Wednesday. We'll have guests on like Jim and Cheryl or a distillery or a musician or just anybody who wants to sit down and chit chat with us and enjoy a good pour of whiskey. We're always having fun, happens every single Wednesday. All you have to do to make sure you don't miss a show is scroll up to the top of the app you're listening to us on. Tell Alexa, just subscribe, join, add the plus sign, whatever it takes, so that every week when we put out a show, you'll get that notification, let you know that a new episode is out. And Jim and Todd, or Jim or Todd, are putting out another great episode so that you can get you through your day. We do appreciate you. We'd love being down the road today. It's always nice to get out of the out of the Bourbon Road bar and travel a little bit. But until the next time, we'll see you down the Bourbon Road.

you