Tennessee Hills Distillery - Bristol — Local services in Bristol

Went to TN Hills Distillery last night and had an absolutely magical night. I do not typically post reviews for places, but I’m making an exception for this place. We walked in on a cold afternoon to a pleasantly warm room. Walked up to the tasting bar expecting to pay to sample the products. This lady that was conducting let us know that it was at no charge to have the tastings of 16 different whiskies, rum, vodka, and creams. I had never heard of TN Hills brand, so I was expecting mediocre at best. Boy am I glad I was wrong. I was so wrong that I had to walk out of there with $250 worth of rum and whiskey. Now mind you that the prices are not terribly expensive compared to other distilleries I’ve been to.

After our very informative tasting, we decided to try out the bar upstairs. The bartender we had was fantastic. She seemed to love what she was doing, and was probably the best bartender I’ve ever had. After the first two drinks (thankfully I was not the DD), I trusted her judgement and ability completely to make delicious drinks. From on the menu drinks to off the menu experiments, my buddies and I had not one bad drink. Everything was delicious and the presentation of the drinks were magnificent.

This started out as a work trip and turned into the most pleasant and memorable experience. It saddens me that I can only give 5 stars to this distillery, and that they have not opened one of these in/around Nashville. We will be back in the area next week and already have plans to come back to TN Hills for another...

We stopped in for lunch on a whim, and we left disappointed. The drinks, pulled pork tacos, and pickle fries were great, and the rest of the food ordered was okay but wouldn’t get it again.

The big issue here was the service, which was very poor. We had to stop the server from leaving because she forgot a person’s order (party of four). She returned with waters and dumped one on my sleeve and into my purse, and she casually pulled out a table rag from her pocket and gave it to me to clean it up. The restaurant was not crowded, but we felt like we were a burden to her. We had limited interaction with her after she brought our drinks until it was time to pay.

We were planning on leaving a 15% tip (usually give 20-25%), but the electronic options started at 20% and went up to 40%. We looked for the 15% or custom option, but the server stood next to us and watched the screen, making it very awkward. Just to get out of there, we gave 20%, but she did not deserve it.

We are locals, and for what we spent, we would have gotten a much better experience at another local restaurant.

It’s a beautiful place, and we desperately wanted to like it. Unfortunately, we won’t be back to the Bristol location. I hate to say that, as we love supporting local businesses, but we will not be giving it...

A trip to Bass Pro Shop led us to finding this little gem on the mountain. The atmosphere was wonderful, they were not real busy, and the view was magnificent. Sam in the tasting room was wonderful during our tasting. He made some great recommendations and was very knowledgeable. Then we traveled upstairs to sit down to eat, and the food was great. The pork had good taste and the beer batter fries were great.

We tried the beer and I must say it was great. The Big Honey Blonde blonde ale was great. Had a wonderful smooth taste and was not very sweet. Charlie has the new beer Haze in the Hills and for hazy IPA it was great. The IPA was smooth with no bitter hoppy taste of an IPA. It looked thick and bitter but was not. I was amazed with the taste and the freshness.

Audrey was an incredible server. She was extremely friendly and easy to talk to. She made good recommendations and answered our questions. She made the experience even more enjoyable. Along with the other woman working behind the bar and on the floor.

Definitely a place we will be visiting again. It is worth the drive from Christiansburg, and a detour when headed to Pigeon Forge...