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Heaven Hill President Max Shapira Earns 2014 Market Watch “Industry Executive of the Year” Award
BARDSTOWN, KY. – Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., President Max L. Shapira was recently awarded “Industry Executive of the Year” by Market Watch magazine, a highly influential information leader in the drinks industry that provides analysis and coverage of industry trends and news.
Shapira was honored for taking the family-owned and operated company “beyond its traditional Bourbon roots and transforming it into the nation’s sixth-largest spirits player, with a diversified portfolio of whiskies, liqueurs, vodkas, rums and other spirits.”
The company has enjoyed marked success in whiskeys lately, with its core bourbon brand Evan Williams rising 15.3 percent last year to 1.65 million cases. Specialty whiskeys such as Larceny Bourbon, Rittenhouse rye and Bernheim wheat whiskey are also growing rapidly. Other categories within the company have shown strong returns as well. Burnett’s Vodka, one of the top-selling vodkas in the nation and the 12th-largest-selling distilled spirits brand in the U.S., was up last year by 15.3 percent. Blackheart Premium Spiced Rum sales were up 18.2 percent.
Shapira proudly notes that in his tenure, Heaven Hill has opened two visitor centers: the Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown, Ky., and the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience in Louisville, Ky.
“I’m honored to receive this award and proudly accept it on behalf of our employees,” he said. “Together, we work hard to deliver products our consumers value for their quality, craftsmanship and integrity.”
Shapira became president in 1996, following the death of George Shapira, the last of five founding brothers, including his father, Ed Shapira. Since then, Shapira has ushered the company through an era of tremendous expansion, with focus on developing existing products and acquiring new, exciting, market-leading ones. Heaven Hill is now America’s largest independent, family-owned and operated distilled spirits company and the world’s second-largest holder of aging Bourbon stocks. Exports have grown significantly in recent years, with brands now shipping to more than 60 countries.
At Heaven Hill, he works shoulder-to-shoulder with the third generation of family leadership: daughter Kate Shapira Latts is the Vice President of Marketing, son Andy Shapira is Director of Corporate Analysis and son-in-law Allan Latts is Chief Operating Officer.
Shapira has served on the Board of Trustees of the Bernheim Foundation, the board of Liberty National Bank/Banc One Kentucky, the board of Wilson & Muir Bankcorp and has served as past Chairman and member of the Executive Committee of the Kentucky Distillers Association. He was inducted into the Kentuckiana Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame in 2013 and resides in Louisville with his wife Ellen.
About Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc: Founded in 1934, Bardstown, KY-based Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. (www.heavenhill.com) is the nation’s largest independent, family-owned and operated spirits producer and marketer and the world’s second-largest holder of Kentucky Bourbon. Heaven Hill’s diversified portfolio of brands includes Evan Williams Bourbon; Larceny, Elijah Craig and Henry McKenna Bourbons, Burnett’s Vodkas and Gin; Admiral Nelson’s and Blackheart Rums; HPNOTIQ Liqueur; The Christian Brothers Brandies; PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur; Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur; Lunazul Tequila; Cinerator Hot Cinnamon Flavored Whiskey and Rittenhouse Rye Whisky.
Heaven Hill reminds you to “Think Wisely. Drink Wisely.”
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CONTACT:
Josh Hafer
Communications Manager
Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc.
(502) 413-0219
jhafer@heavenhill.com
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