The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
In 1935, Friday the 13th was anything but unlucky for Heaven Hill, for on that date 80 years ago the fledgling distillery filled its first new oak barrel with new make Bourbon, marking the beginning of a business that has grown to become the largest family-owned and -operated distilled spirits producer in the U.S., as well as the second-largest holder of maturing Bourbon stock.
To mark this anniversary, Heaven Hill is produced a special run of Bourbon on Saturday, December 12, filling all barrels that day at the company’s original 1935 entry proof of 107. Heaven Hill, like most of the larger distillers, adopted the practice of filling their barrels with 125 proof new make decades ago. The lower entry proof increases the rate of sugar absorption from the wood and of formation of flavorful congeners. In addition, a portion of the day’s production, approximately 280 barrels, will be entered into special heavy char barrels, while the balance will go into barrels at Heaven Hill’s traditional #3 char level.
A number of these barrels will receive special commemorative barrel heads, and will be put up to age on the first floor of Rickhouse Y, where visitors to Heaven Hill’s Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown will be able to view them. The remainder of the barrels will be split between three of Heaven Hill’s oldest Rickhouses E, F and G, all located on the Heaven Hill campus and constructed in 1947 and 1948. The barrels will be bottled in the future when the master distiller determines that they are at their peak of maturity.
“We thought there could be no better way to recognize and commemorate the filling of our first barrel in 1935 than to replicate it as faithfully as possible,” noted Heaven Hill President Max L. Shapira. “We still use the same 7-generations old yeast strain, the same basic mash bill or grain recipe, and the same traditional process as we used when our first barrel was filled prior to World War II. Filling these barrels at our original entry proof makes them a unique memento of our 80th anniversary.”
