The

Reimagining

Bourbon Leaf did not begin as our idea. It began as our responsibility — and then it became our passion.

We were handed something that needed new vision and new life. A concept with real potential, not yet in the right hands. When the opportunity came, we did not hesitate. We asked ourselves: what could this become? What if we stopped being observers and became builders? So we reimagined everything — the name, the atmosphere, the experience — rebuilt with our own hands, rooted in what we believe a great gathering place should be.

Bourbon Leaf was born in that moment of decision. The moment we chose ownership over observation and creation over comfort. This vision had believers before it had us, and we are grateful for every hand that held it until ours were ready.

Discovering

Asheville

We came to Asheville to do the work. We didn't expect the city to inspire us the way it did.

We came because this is where the work was, where Bourbon Leaf needed us to be. But the moment we arrived, something shifted. Asheville has a way of surprising you into belonging before you've even decided to stay. Our arrival did not feel like a move. It felt like recognition.

This city is layered. Part mountain town, part art world, part culinary destination, part living history — where a craft distillery sits next to a century-old building and creativity is not a hobby, but a way of life. Asheville felt like a city built for exactly the kind of experience we always wanted to create, full of beauty and depth, with the resilience of a community that has faced hardship and come through it still vibrant, still proud, still itself.

Our

Family

At the center of Bourbon Leaf is something simple: a family.

We are Ophelia and Jerrod — husband and wife, partners in every sense. We have built things together, weathered things together, and chosen again and again to keep going, together. Jerrod is the warmth you feel the moment you walk in, the kind of person who remembers your name and means it. Ophelia is the visionary behind what you feel, the intention, the curation, the reason every detail seems considered, because it was.

Together, we are the rare combination a great lounge requires: the warmth that draws you in and the vision that keeps you coming back. What we want for every guest is simple: be here fully. Let the noise fall away. Taste something worth tasting. Sit with someone worth sitting with. Let a good cigar slow you down in the best possible way. Bourbon Leaf was built for exactly that kind of moment, and we do not take it lightly.