How Old Hillside Bourbon went from an idea during COVID to a gold medal winning spirit
Because watching my friend tell me he was going to start a bourbon line and then do it -- and win awards in the process -- is pretty friggin' cool.
My co-worker Courtney is one of the easiest guys to like in the office. Always friendly, even-keel and dressed about 10% too nice in a casual environment like ours. A tad soft-spoken but always pleasant, I took to him quickly as a work homie to shoot the shit with and catch up on life inside and outside the four walls of the gig.
Because I’m an egomaniac, occasionally, I can be aloof to serious things that folks say to me, mostly because I’m hellbent on making whatever points I want to make instead. On numerous occasions, we’d be talking about bourbon at the gig, and I’d share about our whiskey club — Brown Liquor Collective — and this newsletter that I’d been thinking about launching. And yet, on one particular day, he responded to me with something I thought I heard him say, but I didn’t digest it.
“You know,” Courtney said quietly. “I’m launching a bourbon later this year.”
“Excuse me?” I stammered back. “What did you say?”
“Yeah man,” Courtney replied. “Old Hillside.”
“Man, why you just telling me this?” I yelped back.
“Bro, this is the third time I’ve told you about it,” Courtney laughed. “You don’t be hearing me though.”
I didn’t have a good response for that, because he was 100% correct.
What I later learned about and came to experience personally was the creation of Old Hillside Kentucky Straight Bourbon. “Old Hillside” is the manifested idea of four friends from North Carolina who wanted to pay homage to a high school — Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina — where two of the four founders graduated. The historically Black high school is one of five high schools that still operates post-desegregation in the state, and the founders’ appreciation for the history and heritage of the nickname made it worthy of their brand name.
“This business is not about us,” Courtney explains on their company website. “We’re just playing a part. This is higher than us."
Old Hillside is a black and veteran-owned company who were discouraged from starting a spirit business during the time of COVID-19, given the laws and regulation in the industry. And yet, they plowed forward with a plan focused on finding partners to produce their mash bill and tying their brand to something that easily resonates with Kentucky — horse racing.
The founders speak fondly about having a mutual appreciation for going to a horse race and bourbon. They noticed that in both spaces, there was a clear underrepresentation of black folks in the arena. In horse racing, there’s a clear history of black jockeys succeeding in the sport — something Old Hillside’s "The Last Rye'd" Whiskey pays homage to. The majority of the original black jockeys were either born into slavery or grew up as children of enslaved people who were responsible for taking care of the horses. Names like Oliver Lewis (the very first winner of the Kentucky Derby) and Isaac Murphy (a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby) are honored by the brand in various ways.
Old Hillside’s brand storytelling and a strong yield from their first barrels meant an intriguing option for retailers to add to their lineups. BevMo and Total Wine offered distribution deals in 2021, and online retailers like Drizly and Taste Select Repeat soon followed.
In 2022, Old Hillside received a gold medal in the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. In 2023, Old Hillside earned a Double Gold medal at the Sip Awards. The brand has also received silver and bronze medal awards from other spirit competitions.
Old Hillside is distilled in Sparta, Kentucky, and they offer a variety of non-chilled, filtered bourbon products, which are currently available in North Carolina, California and online retailers like Taste Select Repeat. Future goals for the brand include creating a space for folks to be able to touch down and get an in-house experience with the spirit back in Durham.
“That’s our goal, to get our own distillery, “ said Jesse Carpenter on the Black and Brown podcast. “We want to bring that Kentucky spirit home.”
Plenty of people came up with cockamamie ideas to pursue during the pandemic — like writing a newsletter about spirits and cocktails — but few have created something as respected as this. It’s been such a pleasant surprise for me to see the brand grow to its present heights.
If I’d been listening to Courtney the first time, maybe I wouldn’t have been so surprised.
Tasting Notes: Old Hillside Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Nose: Life cereal, vanilla and oak
Palate: Have you ever had a brown sugar Pop Tart? But with a bit of leather, oak and spice? Kind of like that. (This is a good thing, I promise.)
Finish: Medium long finish. It's almost a soothing burn that gives mint and vanilla going down.
Key details: A small batch bourbon whiskey that is aged for four years in new, charred American oak barrels. It is made from a mash bill of corn, rye, and malted barley. The whiskey is bottled at 97 proof and has a deep amber color.
Appearance: 14/15 points
Nose: 22/25 Points
Palate/Taste: 32/35 Points
Finish: 22/25 points
Total Score: 90
Recipe: The Isaac Murphy
Whenever I’ve asked Courtney about cocktails to make with the Old Hillside lineup, he always calls out the Isaac Murphy.
“The main inspiration for creating this signature cocktail is to celebrate history, heritage and homage,” said Courtney.
Well, let’s celebrate. Or at least, I did by making this into a punch for Labor Day weekend at the crib. Here’s the cocktail version for you to enjoy in the house.
Serve: Highball, wine or double old fashioned glass
Garnish: Lemon wedge
Ingredients for Isaac Murphy
1.5 oz — Old Hillside Rye
2 oz — Sweetened Iced Tea (or your preferred tea)
0.5 oz — Lemon Juice
Two dashes — Orange Bitters
Make the cocktail: Add all ingredients into a shaker with ice, stir for 30 seconds and strain into the glass. Add the lemon wedge.
Wow this is a dope story and Courtney might be me lmao. Congratulations, I can't wait to make this my next bottle!