We recently started a new feature here on The B-Line Buzz: Meet a Mixologist. Our first article took you inside magical B-Line stop Second Sight Spirits to meet Morgan Earley. This time, we’d like to introduce you to Bill Whitlow, Master Mixologist and owner of the newest B-Line bar stop, Rich’s Proper Food & Drink.
Like every bar admitted to The B-Line, Rich’s Proper must maintain a collection of at least 100 different bourbons, mostly from Kentucky. They also keep in stock all local varieties of The B-Line distilleries, offer bourbon flights and specialty bourbon cocktails and host bourbon related events.
Bill has twenty years of experience in the restaurant and bar business, from his first job shucking oysters to his more recent stint overseeing the opening of four Goodfellas Restaurants with Wiseguy Lounges. Speaking of the Wiseguy Lounge, you may know the one in Mainstrasse Village in Covington, KY is on The B-Line too. But did you know Bill helped create the Wiseguy Lounge concept, curating their impressive bourbon selection and creating many of their outstanding cocktail recipes?
His cocktails are renowned and award winning. Bill is an Ole Smoky Moonshine National Champion, two-time winner of the Woodford Manhattan Experience and won last year’s competition for best Mint Julep in Kentucky.
He made two cocktails for us, an Old Fashioned and One Last Smoke.
He told us that their Old Fashioned is the most popular cocktail at Rich’s.
One unique twist to this classic is the slightly toasted orange peel.
As you can see from the photo above, the One Last Smoke is a more complicated recipe. In addition to those ingredients, it also uses candied ginger, which they make in-house at Rich’s. Yum!
This beauty of a cocktail also involves the addition of smoke, created by burning applewood chips.
Both drinks were spectacularly delicious! If you haven’t had a chance to stop in at this new neighborhood favorite, make a B-Line to Rich’s Proper Food & Drink!
