This year marks 85 years of our historic, family-owned and operated company. As we commemorate this milestone, our A Day in the Life Series will focus on retirees pivotal to Heaven Hill’s evolution to becoming the country’s fifth-largest distilled spirits supplier. 

Charlie Downs retired as Artisan Distiller for the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience in 2017, after over 40 years with Heaven Hill. Starting out in the Bardstown production plant, Charlie was a production supervisor when the facility burned in 1996 and in the Bernheim plant, through multiple expansions in the years that followed. 

Charlie talks to us about how Heaven Hill’s investment both in technology and in its people helped shape the company’s culture and growth over the many years he worked there.

Tell us about a typical day for you at Heaven Hill. 

At the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience we had three other guys, and we all came in at 4:30 a.m. We started the equipment up to make our mash and produced American whiskeys until 3 or 4 in the afternoon. That included following the production schedule and ordering the grains we needed to produce our product. 

We were also a visitors center, so we accommodated visitors all day long. We would visit with them and answer any questions they had about our company. We often operated seven days a week. Some weeks were five days a week.  

It was quite a bit different from my job at Bernheim. We were producing on a smaller scale, so I went from making 1,200 barrels a day at Bernheim to one barrel per day at Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. 

What was your favorite thing about working here? 

There are all kind of things, but the thing I enjoyed the most was working with a family-owned company. It’s not like a big corporation that doesn’t know who you are. You would walk down the office hallway, and Max would slap you on the arm and say, ‘how are you doing, Charlie?’ You take pride in working for a company like that. It makes you want to stay. That’s the reason I stayed 41 years. 

The Shapira family takes pride in their family values. They brought up their children with the same work ethic they had. They grew the company, not only for the family, but for the employees, also.

What are some contributions you and your team made during your time at Heaven Hill that you are particularly proud of? 

I’m proud of all the advancements myself and my team helped to bring to Heaven Hill and Bardstown and Bernheim, working with Parker Beam. We went down to this distillery that we had no knowledge of at Bernheim and transitioned it to making bourbon whiskey the way we did in Bardstown. Through the years, myself and the team saw three different expansions on the Bernheim plant.  

What first attracted you to Heaven Hill?  

I was looking for a job, and I had several friends who had worked at Heaven Hill and still do. They relayed to me that it’s a great company to work for. I applied, and in 1976 I was hired. I figured it would be a great company to work for.

What is your favorite Heaven Hill memory? 

I remember clearly the day Parker Beam came and offered me a management job. I was always watching management and respecting what they did. For someone to come in and ask you to be part of that team – that was very memorable to me. 

Also, until the time I retired, I did several events with Max, where we signed bottles together. It was special for me to be recognized as part of the team, getting to sit down and sign bottles with the president of the company.  

Which Heaven Hill corporate value do you feel your work best represented and why?  

In my career at Heaven Hill we were passionate about making the most superior product we could, through continuous improvement.  

Tell us about your life in retirement and how you like to spend your time today. 

My wife is still working. She calls me sometimes and says, ‘what are you doing?’ I say, ‘Whatever I want to.’ I knew it was the right time. I have two grandchildren – a nine-year-old grandson and a 2 ½-year-old granddaughter. I take my grandson to school and pick him up every day. He plays basketball and football and is part of a traveling baseball team. I take him to his practices. 

Sometimes I say I wish I had done this 10 years earlier. Retirement is a great thing, as long as you keep busy. I have two daughters who keep me busy, and I have a honey-do list.