{BARDSTOWN, KY} What a journey. On Wednesday, August 2nd, Heaven Hill Distillery celebrated a very worthy milestone in filling its 10,000,000th barrel of whiskey. That comes to over 500,000,000 gallons of juice. It would take 100 of the largest made rickhouses, housing 50,000 barrels each, to play good host to all that whiskey. A full barrel weighs around 500 lbs. That’s 5B lbs of whiskey (barrel included).
Family Ties. Bourbon Legacy.
The very first barrel goes back to 1935 when the distillery doors were first opened by the Shapira family – Ed Shapira and his four brothers. The family biz has certainly held its own as Heaven Hill (HH) is currently the largest privately held family owned Bourbon company in the business. Max Shapira officially started at HH in 1970, taking the company reigns after his father Ed passed in 1986. A decade later, he would carry the official title of President.
Last year, Max passed the presidential torch to his daughter Kate Latts (third generation) and her husband Allan Latts, each serving as Co-President. Kate and Allan have each been with HH for over twenty years.
That’s what made the ceremony so special. So endearing. You could feel the emotion and the joy beaming from Max, Kate, and Allan as they addressed the audience. It meant something deeper.
Bleak Adversity. Bright Future
You don’t achieve such heights without successfully overcoming adversity. In 1996, a scorching fire devoured HH’s Bardstown distillery campus. It would ravage the company, destroying its onsite spirit production, seven rickhouses, and nearly 100,000 barrels of liquid. Post fire, all distilling moved to their Louisville based Bernheim Distillery.
The future is looking brighter than the actual fire that could not conquer HH. Last year, the family run company announced plans for a $135M new distillery, slated for its hometown in Bardstown.
As the Bourbon industry continues to thrive and grow, HH is at the forefront and has been a major force to be reckoned with. Here’s to many many many more barrels being filled and to the bright future ahead of this family run business.
For more brand info, visit www.heavenhilldistillery.com
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The post Heaven Hill Distillery Hits Tremendous Milestone. Fills 10,000,000th Barrel. first appeared on The Bourbon Review.