Bourbon Membership Bar and Lounge Coming to Norton Commons
PROSPECT, Ky. (April 20, 2021) – Norton Commons, the growing mixed-use development in Prospect, KY, announced today a new bourbon membership bar and lounge, Watch Hill Proper, is slated to begin operation in the community’s North Village in the first quarter of 2022. The club will be open to the public, but members will have priority access and favorable pricing on all spirits, amenities, and special events. Membership will be capped to ensure premier experiences.
“Watch Hill Proper will be rich on bourbon history, loyal to traditions, and filled with modern luxury to help celebrate the new age of bourbon. Bourbon continues to expand to a whole new audience who are looking for tastings and learning opportunities. We will offer a calendar full of those types of opportunities,” said Tommy Craggs, co-owner of Watch Hill Proper. “This is a club that is long overdue. The fact that the bourbon capital of the world didn’t have an exclusive bourbon club was a little surprising to us. It does now!”
Watch Hill Proper will be located in Lyric, a new high-end apartment community from Bristol Development, the group behind Main & Clay in the Nulu neighborhood. The club will occupy approximately 5,200 square feet of the roughly 13,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor.
Members can expect whiskey cocktails, premium bourbon, tastings, barrel picks, personal spirit lockers and enrichment opportunities such as guest speakers and appearances from master distillers and industry leaders.
The club will feature a large main bar and a smaller bar in the waiting room, a library room to expand your bourbon knowledge, and a member-only lounge.
Watch Hill Proper is owned by KBM Brands which was founded by Josh Howes and Tommy Craggs to advocate for the Kentucky bourbon industry through community, enrichment programs, certifications, and philanthropy opportunities.
Craggs has extensive supplier and wholesaler relationships and is a Bourbon Steward and Certified Spirit Specialist who has served in the spirits and bourbon industry for over 20 years. He also was a bourbon educator at Heaven Hill Distillery and has guided hundreds of bourbon tastings to beginners and experts alike.
Howes is an entrepreneur and owner of several companies including Blue Energy Group. Howes works with dozens of companies in the engineering, construction and energy service markets.
Howes and Craggs brought on Bev Reese as Marketing Director and Chris Nuttle as CFO. Reese was in Marketing/Branding for Papa John’s for over 20 years and Nuttle is the current CFO of New Riff Distilling and The Party Source based in Newport, KY.
For membership details, please visit the Watch Hill Proper website at www.watchhillproper.com or contact Bev Reese at 502-230-1982.
About Norton Commons:
Norton Commons is Louisville’s first Traditional Neighborhood Development (“TND”). Planned TNDs are the cornerstone of the new urbanism movement, which promotes the creation and restoration of diverse, walkable and vibrant mixed-use communities assembled in an integrated fashion, resulting in a complete community. Norton Commons sits on almost 600 acres in northeast Jefferson County, Kentucky and is currently home to over 1800 residences, 80+ businesses, three schools, and dozens of parks, pools and green spaces. In 2019 won the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) Charter Award, the preeminent prize for excellence for urban design that embody and advance the principles of the Charter of the New Urbanism. In 2020 Norton Commons was named the “Best Mixed-Use, Single Family Community” at the Best in American Living™ Awards (BALA) by the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB). To learn more about Norton Commons, visit nortoncommons.com or on Twitter @nortoncommonsky.