Heaven Hill breaks ground on new $135 million distillery in Bardstown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Heaven Hill broke ground Monday morning on its new $135 million distillery in Bardstown.

The Heaven Hill Springs Distillery carries a name that harkens back to the original 1935 property "The Old Heaven Hills Springs Distillery." The new state-of-the-art distillery will sit on Old Bloomfield Pike off state Road 245 and help Heaven Hill meet a growing demand for bourbon worldwide.

"We're honored to celebrate this homecoming with a return to distilling in Bardstown to augment our overall bourbon-making capacity as well as continue to make an impact in the Bardstown community," Max Shapira, president of Heaven Hill, said in a news release. "I'm proud to salute our history and the many Bardstown men and women who helped build our brands over the years by naming our new facility in honor of the original Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery that my father and uncles founded in this community nine decades ago."

Here’s a look at the company’s original distillery compared to a rendering of the new one. The old distillery caught fire in the 90’s and wasn’t rebuilt in Nelson County. @HeavenHill1935 instead distilled in Louisville since the fire @WDRBNews pic.twitter.com/EfyYAQsmjt
— Monica Harkins WDRB (@MonicaHarkinstv) June 6, 2022

Heaven Hill Springs will eventually produce 450,000 barrels per year, which will add to the 450,000 annual barrels produced at the existing Bernheim Distillery in Louisville. It will continue to operate along with the Bardstown facility.

The new distillery will also be environmentally friendly.

"Heaven Hill Springs distillery has been engineered to minimize water use and reuse water when possible," Shapira said. "Existing vegetation has been preserved throughout the site and will use plants and natural systems to manage storm water runoff and preserve the habitat."

Master Distiller Conor O'Driscoll said it's critical to consider the environmental impact.

"We bring in nice dry grain, you got to add a lot of water to it to make whiskey," O'Driscoll said. "How do you reuse that water in sensible ways? We're looking very closely at that."

And there’s the ceremonial dirt throw to commemorate the ground breaking 🤗 pic.twitter.com/uFeqyBd7Qf
— Monica Harkins WDRB (@MonicaHarkinstv) June 6, 2022

Driscoll said he's looking forward to having a say in the design and construction.

"But to be master distiller, to build a distillery, to build Heaven Hill's homecoming distillery in Bardstown is — I pinch myself every day to be honest," Driscoll said.

Once the new facility is finished, it will mark the brand's return to distilling in Bardstown for the first time since a 1996 fire that destroyed its onsite distillery, seven rick houses and almost 100,000 barrels of whiskey.

Charlie Downs, a retired former master distiller at Heaven Hill, said he was a production manager at the time of the '96 fire and it was unclear what Heaven Hill would do next.

"With the fire, you know, things run all through your mind," he said. "First, safety, all right. Am I gonna have a job tomorrow morning? You know, what's the future of our company?"

Downs said he's in a minority of people who knew the original group of Heaven Hill founders and said they're liking looking down feeling proud of the expansion.

"They'd be proud like I am," he said. "They'd be grinning ear to ear."

The new distillery is set to open by the end of 2024 and will add 38 jobs to the 381 existing positions in Bardstown.

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