Knox Joseph Distillery at The OTR Still House

We love this place we call home. We are enamored with the rebuilding and the reimaging of our urban core, yet so many of the hip new spots are so small that it’s nearly impossible to carry on a civil conversation. And we don’t need just another corner bar. We need something that is new…something that adds to the culture and rebuilding. Something different…something that is unique...
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This will be Big

We will be the first and only distillery, public house and entertainment venue in Cincinnati. We are open to the public year round and handle our own onsite programing thru our exclusive "To Do" master plan.

Clean gins, spicy whisky and smooth bourbon

A place for entertainment

5000 sq ft indoor, plus 6000 sq ft outdoor, and that’s just The Still House. Knox Joseph occupies another 3000 sq ft on the same grounds.

A space to park your car

Free parking on Central Parkway and access to another 100 lot spaces to the east and north. We are on the bike path and 250 steps from the Brewery District Streetcar stop. 

OUR HISTORY 

In 1891 on this site the Standard Ice Manufacturing Company served our City. Drawing from an aqueous cavern below the grounds, pure clear water was drawn to make the ice that proposed itself into any establishment dispensing ice in the Ohio Valley River Basin. It chilled the drinks served in any of the hundreds of bars and taverns throughout the City and OTR.

​By 1899, using old growth timber, the William Miller and Son Builders, began constructing the first building that would eventually become this beast of a compound. The site morphed with each time the transportation methods running south to the river and the City changed. Using boats until the closing of the Miami Erie Canal, horses and dirt roads awaiting the installation of subway tunnels, the speedy automobile main line they then named Central Parkway to today's first protected bike path in Ohio. And all through these changing times, the structure from 1899 remained intact, occupied and productive. It never stopped being a part of Cincinnati and specifically, Over the Rhine. But this time, this time soon, the property and all of it's original bones, will be open to the public and become entwined in the rebirth of Over the Rhine in a way in which it never had in the 118 years of it's existence. 

Yes, the building from 1899, will be open soon.

OUR TEAM

Dr. Tom Asquith

Retired whiskey scientist, formerly of Brown Forman

Michele Hobbs

Entrepreneur and project visionary. Founder of national retail pet food brand Pet Wants.

Chris Mitchell

Chris Mitchell and Michele Hobbs met for the first time 16 years ago when Chris was working for an architecture firm and Michele was involved in the commercial construction industry.  Sharing a passion for cooking , Chris purchased several All-Clad pans from Michele that she obtained from auction after the local Michelin-starred Maisonette restaurant closed its doors. Chris went on to start a career in the Beer Supply and Brewing industry, working at Listermann’s for 8 years and eventually becoming a founder and Head Brewer of the Woodburn Brewery in East Walnut Hills.  While at the brewery, Chris implemented award-winning recipes he had developed over the years as a home-brewer and saw a very successful opening of the business fueled by his passion for Good Beer and Good People. Meanwhile in OTR, Master Distiller Larry Ebersold suggested Michele find a “Brewer that can cook” to aid Dr. Tom Asquith in developing the line of spirits they were working on at Knox Joseph Distillery. When Michele set out to find that person, several well respected friends kept bringing up Chris’ name. Ever the Renaissance Man, Chris agreed to join the OTR Stillhouse team, adding to his already impressive resume and his continued thirst for knowledge.  “The fact that our paths were crossing again, made this opportunity really meaningful for both of us”, believes Michele. Now, as Head Distiller of Knox Joseph Distillery at the OTR Stillhouse, Chris will continue to use his creativity and passion for the Community to develop the Stillhouse brand of spirits, working side-by-side Dr. Tom to develop gins, whiskey and bourbon for the first time in OTR since prohibition.

On Board.  Larry Ebersold, master distiller for more than 35 years.  Anthony Robertson Attorney Graydon Head and former brewer at Mt. Carmel Brewing. Bradley Thomas, Attorney and Liquor Law Consultant. Nathan Musgrove Excelsior Accounting.