Category: Press Releases

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Heaven Hill Brands today presented the Coalition for the Homeless with a $16,512.67 donation benefiting efforts to end youth homelessness. Philanthropy is an important part of Heaven Hill’s mission to improve the local communities in which the business thrives by offering charitable support for education, cultural enrichment and health and well-being.

Each year Heaven Hill Brands is proud to host an employee-driven and collaborative fundraising project that benefits charities close to its employees’ hearts. The company looks to its employees to submit non-profit organizations to be considered as the recipient of a company-wide, employee-led fundraising effort, with matching funds from the company up to $5,000. Past recipients have included Feeding America, Portland Elementary, Flaget Memorial Hospital’s Project Hope, and Ronald McDonald House.

For the fourth Annual Philanthropy Project, Heaven Hill chose the Coalition for the Homeless, which was submitted by Betty Jo Boone, Bottling House Maintenance Technician at the Heaven Hill Bardstown Plant. This organization holds a special place in her heart because her daughter Erica Johns, a previous Heaven Hill employee, now works for the Coalition. Betty Jo chose the Coalition because she believes the current homelessness crisis in Louisville is heartbreaking, but ultimately preventable. When she was six years old, Betty Jo experienced a personal homelessness crisis when her childhood home caught fire leaving her family with nowhere to live.

“Back then we didn’t have organizations like the Coalition to help us through tough times,” said Betty Jo. “Luckily my father was a skilled builder and was able to rebuild our home fairly quickly. Many children, young adults, and families are not so fortunate, and I can’t imagine wondering where I’m going to sleep from night to night. This is why the work of the Coalition is so important.”

The Coalition for the Homeless is a nonprofit organization with a mission to prevent and end homelessness in Louisville. Since 2017, the Coalition and its partners have reduced homelessness among youth and young adults by 78 percent, with an ultimate goal of ending homelessness among young adults by 2020.

Together, through several fundraising initiatives between September and December 2019, Heaven Hill employees raised over $16,000 for the Coalition for the Homeless Louisville. In addition to this donation, the company hosted a collection of clothing and other items for the cause. In total, employees gathered over 20 large boxes and bags of items to donate.

“I was so thankful and inspired when I heard about this collaboration of time to collect both money and items for the Coalition,” said Natalie Harris, Executive Director of the Coalition for the Homeless. “Over the last decade we have worked really hard to try to end homelessness, and we have made great strides. However, if you live in Louisville you will see that there are still a lot of homeless individuals in our community and that is why it is so important for businesses and individuals to look for ways they can help join the effort and end homelessness in our city. I want to thank Heaven Hill for being such a great example of what that can look like.”

Heaven Hill is proud of its employees’ commitment to giving back to the community and excited to see the impact this donation makes in Metro Louisville.

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BARDSTOWN, Ky. – Heaven Hill Distillery today announced the completion of phase one renovations to the existing Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown and introduced new renderings for phase two of new construction, including the interactive “You Do Bourbon” space. The new visitor center renovation and expansion, a $17.5 million project first announced in November 2018, is part of a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment plan to expand production capacity and modernize facilities in Bardstown.

The completed space features three beautiful tasting rooms, each representing a pivotal Heaven Hill brand or story. Positioned around a larger-than-life barrel, the new tasting rooms overlook Heaven Hill’s main campus of rickhouses for spectacular views of Bourbon country. Prior to completing their designated tours, guests will join their bourbon host in the barrel for a 270-degree video about how barrels are made and their importance to the bourbon production process. Each tasting room is outlined below from the left side to the right side of the barrel:

• The Fitzgerald Room: Inspired by John E. Fitzgerald, the namesake of Heaven Hill’s Old Fitzgerald Bourbon and inspiration behind Larceny Bourbon, The Fitzgerald Tasting Room takes guests back to the time of Fitzgerald – The Golden Era. Upon entering the space guests will notice the attention to detail in features such as custom corbels, hanging acoustical panels trimmed in keyhole screens, Victorian trim detail, custom wallpaper with the Larceny key, and cut crystal decanter chandeliers all reminiscent of the Golden Era style.
• The Library: The Library Tasting Room perfectly represents a man said to be an educator, an inventor, a preacher, and most importantly The Father of Bourbon, Elijah Craig. This welcoming space features a 26-foot long, live edge walnut table flanked by tufted leather chairs. The cozy patterned carpet, wooden gridded windows, and library-style rolling ladder make guests feel as if they just stepped into Elijah Craig’s personal library. A custom barrel hoop art installation covers the ceiling and custom stave light fixtures above the table complete the space. All the hoops and barrel staves are from used Heaven Hill barrels. Finally, this room features a premium view of the Heaven Hill rickhouses just across the street.
• The Founders Room: Step through the double doors for a completely different vibe with The Founders Room inspired by our founders, the Shapira family, and the industrial landscape of the distillery. Concrete tile floors, galvanized steel furniture, stainless steel perimeter and back bar featuring distillery-inspired stencils transport guests to the production facility without even leaving Bardstown. Copper light fixtures mirroring a copper still and a 20-foot long reclaimed wood bar made of lumber harvested from ricks at Heaven Hill’s Glencoe Warehouse and finished with a waterfall edge complete the space.

In addition to these updates, the $17.5 million-dollar investment will also feature an enlarged footprint with Phase Two of the project. As previously announced, exhibits in this portion of the space will tell the story of Heaven Hill Distillery since its inception in 1935, the Shapira Family, iconic brands like Elijah Craig and Larceny, and offer visitors a multi-sensory showcase of the stories behind the evolution of Kentucky Bourbon. New details on these exciting spaces and experiences include:

• Elijah Craig Exhibit: As guests enter this space they will be greeted by a detailed retelling of Elijah Craig’s life and how he came to be known as the Father of Bourbon. They will also learn how the char on the inside of a barrel affects the aging process and flavor development of a whiskey and understand the nuances of each product in the Elijah Craig family.
• Larceny Exhibit: Enter the mysterious world of John E. Fitzgerald, a treasury agent with a very discerning palate for fine Bourbon who used his keys, committing Larceny to gain access to the best barrels, which became known as “Fitzgerald barrels.” Fitzgerald’s act of Larceny ultimately inspired the name and design of Larceny Bourbon featuring the signature skeleton key on the package design. Guests are invited to learn how to properly thieve whiskey from a barrel, interact with talking decanters detailing Fitzgerald’s ability to choose only the best barrels, and understand the key differences between Wheated Bourbon, like Larceny, and Rye Bourbon.
• “You Do Bourbon” immersive space: Guests are invited into a classroom style tasting room where a host will guide them through a tasting of unique products. To commemorate their visit, they will have the opportunity to bottle their favorite Bourbon or whiskey from their tasting, apply the label and personalize it in the adjacent Bottling Room. Finally, guests will experience a day in the life of a quality technician in the You Do Bourbon lab. Quality technicians ensure the consistency, quality, and integrity of all Heaven Hill products. Step into their shoes, inspecting through microscopes, gauging the proof of whiskey, and testing your sense of smell at the nosing station.
• The new rooftop restaurant will feature lounge-style seating and an upscale bar. Visitors can enjoy a quick meal inspired by Kentucky & Bourbon, craft cocktails and Bourbon tastings overlooking Heaven Hill rickhouses. Just off the restaurant, find a private event space perfect for corporate meetings, intimate dinners, and small celebrations.

This newest visitor center expansion will play a vital role in expanding tourism, not only in Bardstown, but across the Kentucky Bourbon Trail through Heaven Hill’s two historically driven stops. When it opened in 2004, the Heaven Hill Bourbon Heritage Center was one of the first visitor centers on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and has played an instrumental role in establishing Kentucky as a top tourist destination. The Bourbon Heritage Center is a multiple past winner of Whisky Magazine’s “Visitor Attraction of the Year” award at the magazine’s annual “Icons of Whisky” Awards, consistently ranked as one of the top tours in the Bardstown area, drawing 60,000 visitors per year. In Louisville, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience is dedicated to the story of Kentucky’s First Distiller and the world’s 2^nd largest Bourbon brand, Evan Williams. Hosting 100,000 visitors annually, it was the first distillery back on Whiskey Row in Downtown Louisville.

Heaven Hill reminds you to “Think Wisely. Drink Wisely.”

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BARDSTOWN, KY – Elijah Craig, a leading premium Kentucky Bourbon, today announced the launch of Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. The line extension affords experimenting whiskey fans the opportunity to challenge their palates with a new extra-aged Rye offering from the award-winning Elijah Craig family of Bourbons. 

Elijah Craig Rye is made as a traditional American Straight Rye Whiskey with 51% rye, 35% corn and 14% malted barley. This combination of grains, which relies heavily on corn as the secondary grain rather than a higher percentage of rye, has been the primary Rye mashbill used by Kentucky Bourbon distilleries since taking over virtually all American Rye production post-Prohibition; the same mashbill directly responsible for the Rye resurgence seen today. Extra-aging is a tenet of the Elijah Craig portfolio, and Elijah Craig Rye is no exception. The resulting taste carries a spicy sharpness from the rye balanced with sweetness from the corn. Packaged in the iconic Elijah Craig bottle, the Straight Rye is distinguished by new bottle decoration, face, side and neck labels with green features. 

“Elijah Craig was a larger-than-life innovator and the new Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey celebrates his bold reputation,” said Heaven Hill Master Distiller Conor O’Driscoll. “Heaven Hill Distillery has the privilege within its vast inventory and distilling expertise to create American Whiskeys consumers desire. Elijah Craig Rye celebrates the heritage of Rye Whiskey in Kentucky and adds another quality option to an award-winning lineup of specially crafted whiskeys.” 

Heaven Hill Distillery’s 84-year history of distilling and its 1.6 million barrel inventory of aging American Whiskey has allowed for the regular production of major styles of American Whiskey, such as Rye, even as they were out of vogue with consumers. These years of steadfast attention to detail give Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey, as well as the Elijah Craig Bourbons, the right balance of flavor and smoothness.  

Elijah Craig was known for his pioneering spirit, honored through the making of Elijah Craig Bourbon and, now, Rye. Having founded his own distillery in 1789, Elijah Craig is credited as the first to char oak barrels to make Bourbon. The Baptist preacher also founded many businesses in and around Georgetown, Kentucky, as well as a school, which still exists today as Georgetown College. This heritage and his long-standing impact on the community lives on today through the award-winning lineup of Elijah Craig Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Elijah Craig Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, and now Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey. 

With an SRP of $29.99, Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey will first launch in the limited markets of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Oregon in January 2020. 

About Elijah Craig Small Batch 

Elijah Craig Small Batch bears the name of the Reverend Elijah Craig, known as “The Father of Bourbon,” who established his distillery in 1789 on the banks of Elkhorn Creek in modern day Georgetown, Kentucky. He is credited with being the first distiller to age his wares in charred oak barrels. The clear, unaged corn liquor became transformed into a bold amber liquid with a distinctively smooth flavor that makes Bourbon what it is today. Produced by Heaven Hill Distillery, it is complemented by Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Elijah Craig Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, and Elijah Craig Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey in the portfolio.  

First brought to market in 1986, Heaven Hill Distillery’s Master Distillers were selecting a small number of barrels of the finest Bourbon to make Elijah Craig Small Batch long before the term “small batch” even existed. It is this attention to detail and superb craftsmanship that give Elijah Craig an ideal balance of age, robust body and rich flavor. The Elijah Craig accolades have included Whisky Advocate’s Whisky of the Year, Best Small Batch Bourbon and Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, and Excellent Highly Recommended honors at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge. For more information, please visit www.elijahcraig.com. 

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CONTACT:
Lauren Cherry
Heaven Hill Brands
lcherry@heavenhill.com  

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