Heaven Hill expanding with return of whiskey distillery in Bardstown

BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WAVE) - Heaven Hill announced its distillery return to Bardstown with a new multi-million dollar facility scheduled to open by 2024.

The Kentucky-based company said it will build a new American Whiskey distillery in Bardstown to meet increased global demand and to deepen its bourbon roots, according to a release.

Heaven Hill said the new distillery marks a return to Nelson County after a 1996 fire burned down the company’s onsite facility, seven rickhouses and nearly 100,000 barrels of whiskey.

After the fire, Heaven Hill moved distilling to Louisville at its Bernheim Distillery, the company said. However, bottling, whiskey aging and other functions continued in Bardstown.

“The people of Bardstown have helped us create and build our brands over all these many years, so it’s a special homecoming to bring distilling back to this community,” Max Shapira, President of Heaven Hill said in a release. “Our new distillery will honor our long-time Bardstown roots while applying state-of-the-art equipment and processes to produce the highest quality American Whiskey and build upon our meaningful partnership with Bardstown and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

The $135 million distillery will be built on a vacant 61-acre site at 1015 Old Bloomfield Pike, off of KY 245, Heaven Hill confirmed. The construction is scheduled to begin in Spring 2022 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024.