Founded in Bardstown
In 1934 a group of investors approached the five Shapira brothers about starting a distillery.1,2,3 The brothers named the firm after William Heavenhill, who once owned the land where the distillery was built.1,2,3 The firm was set up to sell bulk whiskey to other firms on futures, and Joe and Harry Beam, of the Jim Beam family, ran the distilling.1,2,3 The first barrels were filled on 13 December 1935.1,2,3 While that first batch aged, the partners needed cash and asked the Shapiras to buy them out for $20,000, and the brothers did.1,2,3 In 1939, after four years of ageing, the brothers released Old Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon, which became Kentucky's best-selling bourbon.3,5 Bottled-in-bond whiskey comes from one distillery and one distilling season, ages at least four years and is bottled at 100 proof (50% alcohol).3,5 Operations paused in 1942 to support the Second World War effort.1 In 1946 Ed Shapira hired Earl Beam as master distiller, and the company added capacity and rickhouses, the warehouses where its barrels age.3
New brands and a new generation
Heaven Hill launched Evan Williams bourbon in 1957.1 In 1967 it finished a bottling plant in Bardstown, which still handles its bottling today.1 Ed Shapira's son Max joined the family business in 1970.1,6 In 1975 Earl Beam retired and handed the master distiller's job to his son, Parker Beam, who had joined Heaven Hill in 1960.3,7,8 Max Shapira succeeded his father as head of the company in 1986.6 That year Heaven Hill launched Elijah Craig, a bourbon brand Parker Beam created.1,3 In 1993 it bought Rittenhouse rye, Philadelphia Whiskey, the J.W. Dant trademark and a few other brands.9,10,11
Fire and the move to Louisville
On 7 November 1996 a fire that started in an ageing warehouse destroyed the Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery and seven rickhouses.1,2,3 Its yeast, a proprietary recipe handed down for generations and used for the first batch in 1935, survived in a fifth-floor refrigerator.1,2,3 For several years, neighbours such as Brown-Forman and Jim Beam made spirit for Heaven Hill.1,3,5 In April 1999 Heaven Hill bought the Bernheim Distillery in Louisville from United Distillers, along with the Old Fitzgerald brand.1,3,5 Distilling moved to Louisville, while ageing and bottling stayed in Bardstown.1,3,5
New leaders, sites and brands
Max Shapira's daughter, Kate Latts, and her husband, Allan Latts, joined the company in 2001.1,6 In 2013 Parker Beam passed the master distiller's job to his son, Craig Beam; one source dates this to around 2014.8,12,13 On 14 November 2013 Heaven Hill opened a working pot still distillery that visitors can watch, inside an Evan Williams Bourbon visitor centre on Louisville's Whiskey Row.1,14 In December 2014 Heaven Hill named Denny Potter, manager of the Bernheim Distillery, co-master distiller alongside Craig Beam.15,16,17 Potter was the first master distiller at Heaven Hill not named Beam.15,16,17 Craig Beam later moved to a consultancy role, leaving Potter as sole master distiller; one source dates Craig's step back to late 2014.12,13,17 Also in December 2014, Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. took the name Heaven Hill Brands, to reflect its wider range of spirits.18 In September 2018 Potter said he would leave to return to Maker's Mark.17 In 2019 Conor O'Driscoll, who had worked at Brown-Forman, Woodford Reserve and Angel's Envy, became the seventh master distiller.1,19 In November 2019 Heaven Hill bought Black Velvet Canadian Whisky from Constellation Brands, along with the Black Velvet Distillery in Lethbridge, Alberta.1,20,21 In February 2022 it bought Samson & Surrey, owner of Widow Jane and Few Spirits, with its distilleries and tasting rooms.1,11,22 Later that year Kate Latts and Allan Latts became co-presidents, and Max Shapira became executive chairman.1,6
Back to Bardstown
In April 2025 Heaven Hill filled the first barrel at its new Heaven Hill Springs Distillery, the first distilling in Bardstown since 1996.2,3,4 It officially opened on 4 September 2025.2,3,4 Its name honours the original distillery that burned in 1996.2,3,4
Releases by year
Bottles in Peated sold as Heaven Hill, by release year.
| Year distilled | Bottles |
|---|---|
| 2011 | 2 |
| 2014 | 4 |
| 2015 | 1 |
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2022 | 3 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2024 | 6 |
| 2025 | 10 |
| 2026 | 6 |