There is a lot that goes into the production of a single barrel of Heaven Hill Bourbon or Whiskey. From the distillation process at the Bernheim Distillery to the quality checks, filling and storing the barrels and ultimately dumping them to be bottled and sold as one of our award-winning products – dozens of people touch this process from start to finish. One of these individuals is Brandon Boblitt, Cistern Room Warehouse Laborer.

Brandon has worked for Heaven Hill at the Bardstown facility for 17 years. His journey began when he was hired to work the bottling lines in the empty glass section. He operated a palletizer before transitioning to F line as a dumper and eventually joined the warehouse crew in the Cistern Room. Today he serves as a warehouse laborer in the barrel trailer and an auxiliary laborer, meaning he is also trained to cover as an Assistant Cistern Room Operator when needed. In his various roles, Brandon wo​rks in several areas of Cistern Room operation from where the empty barrels are unloaded to where the filled barrels are loaded into the shipping truck using grasshoppers. Brandon says his favorite memory of his time at Heaven Hill was the day he was hired.

“Being hired on at Heaven Hill was a huge blessing in my life and helped my family a lot,” says Brandon. “I’m proud to work for a great company in a county that I love and call home.”

One of the more exciting parts of working in the Cistern Room is taking part in the filling of milestone barrels like the recent 8.5 millionth barrel​. While Heaven Hill has filled numerous milestone barrels in his 17 years with the company, Brandon is proud to say he personally helped fill the eight millionth​​ and 8.5 millionth barrels in his current role.​

“It felt great to take part in those two important pieces of Heaven Hill’s history,” he said. “Assisting with the filling of those barrels made me even more Kentucky proud than I already was. It’s really an awesome experience.”

When he’s not at work, Brandon loves to spend time with his two kids and travel. His favorite Heaven Hill product to enjoy is Elijah Craig Small Batch – maybe someday one of those milestone barrels will turn out to be his pour after a hard day’s work.