Heaven Hill Distillery

Heaven Hill Distillery is the largest family-owned and operated distillery in America and the second largest holder of aging bourbon inventory in the world. It was founded in the depths of the Great Depression by five brothers who were department store retailers, not distillers, and nine decades later, as of July 2026, the same Shapira family still runs it from Bardstown, Kentucky.

History & Heritage

In 1934, a year after the repeal of Prohibition, a group of investors approached the Shapira brothers, David, Ed, Gary, George, and Mose, with an opportunity to build a distillery. The Shapiras put up $17,500 in start-up capital, and the first barrels were filled on December 13, 1935 at the original distillery, built on land once owned by a farmer named William Heavenhill. Within a few years the brothers bought out their partners entirely.

The Shapiras knew retail, so they brought in whiskey royalty to run production: Joseph L. Beam of the famous distilling family served as the first master distiller, and the post stayed in the Beam family for generations, from Joseph's son Harry through Earl, Parker, and Craig Beam. Denny Potter became the first master distiller at Heaven Hill not named Beam, and Conor O'Driscoll became the company's seventh in 2019. The company survived a catastrophic fire on November 7, 1996 that destroyed the original Bardstown production facility and roughly 90,000 barrels. Heaven Hill acquired the Bernheim distillery in Louisville from Diageo in 1999 and made it the primary production site, while aging and bottling stayed in Bardstown. In April 2025 the company came home in full, filling the first barrel at the new $200 million Heaven Hill Springs Distillery in Bardstown, built to produce 150,000 barrels a year with room to grow to 450,000.

The Whiskey

Heaven Hill's portfolio reads like a survey course in American whiskey: Evan Williams, Elijah Craig, Larceny, Old Fitzgerald, Rittenhouse Rye, Henry McKenna, and Mellow Corn among them. The company states it produces more Bottled in Bond whiskey than any other American distiller, and Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey 7 Yr carries the house name itself at 100 proof. Bernheim Wheat Whiskey, named for the Louisville distillery, is a straight wheat whiskey with winter wheat as the leading grain, and Bernheim Wheat Whiskey Barrel Proof takes the same idea to full strength.

The Grain to Glass line is the newest chapter: a traceable, farm-to-bottle series with mash bills built for the project rather than borrowed from the house standards. Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Kentucky Straight Bourbon uses 52 percent corn, 35 percent rye, and 13 percent malted barley at 107 proof, while Heaven Hill Grain to Glass Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey runs 63 percent rye, 24 percent corn, and 13 percent malted barley, with the 2024 release bottled at 123.2 proof.

Why It Matters

Few producers cover as much ground, from everyday pours to allocated single barrels, and fewer still do it under one family's continuous ownership since 1935. The Sentinel Room's Reserve Whiskey Library holds 10 Heaven Hill expressions, spanning bonded bourbon, straight wheat whiskey, and the full Grain to Glass trio, which makes the house an ideal study in how one distillery can speak several dialects of American whiskey. For those who appreciate good whiskey, Heaven Hill is less a brand than a reference library.

Visiting the Distillery

The Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience at 1311 Gilkey Run Road in Bardstown is a stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, offering tours of the new Heaven Hill Springs Distillery, the You Do Bourbon tasting and bottling experience, interactive galleries, and guided tastings, with fast-casual dining at the Five Brothers Bar & Kitchen. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, with last tastings one hour before closing.