On November 7, 1996, a fire destroyed our original Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery and seven rickhouses in Bardstown. The next day, Max Shapira, Executive Chairman and second-generation family owner, told our employees that no one would lose their job and that everyone should keep coming to work as usual.

We got through it with a little help from our friends. Fellow Kentucky distillers, who were barely hanging on themselves at the time, offered to shift some of their own production to support us.

“It should have put the company out of business,” says our Master Distiller Conor O’Driscoll. Instead, he says, it’s a story of “how we’ve risen from the ashes, literally and figuratively, and continued to thrive.”

“We’re in this for the long haul,” O’Driscoll reflects. “This is multi-generational.”

Years later, the project that became our Heaven Hill Springs Distillery was named Project Phoenix, and in 2025 it brought our distilling back to Bardstown. As we mark 30 years, we’re sharing the full story through our partnership with Whisky Magazine.

Whisky Magazine’s feature tells the full story, from the night of the fire through the 30 years that followed.

Read the full feature in Whisky Magazine

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