"Heaven Hill, our American Cousins"

In the early 1930's, Americans, like many others, struggled to survive The Great Depression. Fourteen years of Prohibition only deepened the effects in Kentucky, due to the devastation to the distilling industry. The repeal of Prohibition in 1933 brought new hope for the reopening of Kentucky's distilleries, but the Depression meant there was no money to do so. Several bourbon men, who needed financing to open a new distillery in Bardstown, approached the five Shapira brothers for capital and the family financed the building of the new distillery.  The bourbon men built the Old Heavenhill Springs Distillery in 1934 with the understanding that they would manage all the distilling aspects, and the Shapira family would act purely as investors.  But plans often change, and the Shapira brothers later bought out all the other investors and became sole owners of what became Heaven Hill Distilleries.

Their range of brands expanded after World War II with several bottlings taking the name of early bourbon distillers. And in 1986, quick to respond to the growing interest in America for single malt Scotch whiskies, the distillery released their Elijah Craig whiskey (a small batch 12yo).  

This started and advanced the trend of bottling "small batch" bourbons consisting of older whiskeys with a distinctive flavour profile chosen from a small number of selected barrels.

Heaven Hill's momentum continued releasing distinctive single barrel bourbons, vintage bourbons with a specific distillation date, and longer aged whiskeys. The bourbon industry captured the public's interest with some extraordinary whiskeys that had subtle nuances and complex layers of flavour after years in charred, oak barrels.

In 1996, the same time that interest increased for Heaven Hill's stock, lightning struck and a river of burning alcohol engulfed the distillery.  Despite the fire, the people at Heaven Hill simply got on with it and never lost a day of production or a single order.
 
Heaven Hill quickly contracted with other distilleries to continue producing bourbon, while the original Bardstown location gave rise to a new visitors' centre.   Most importantly, Heaven Hill later acquired the existing Bernheim distillery in Louisville from United Distillers in 1999 and carefully re-established the existing distilling practices, so that the traditions transferred from Bardstown to Louisville. The distiller continues to seek locally grown grain for the recipe or mashbill (a mixture of corn, rye and malted barley) and uses the cultivated yeast that has existed for seven generations.

Unique to Heaven Hill, the distiller adds backset or sour mash (the liquid left in the bottom of the column still after the first distillation) while the grains cook in the mash tubs, as well as adding it to the fermentation cycle.  This addition allows continuity from the previous batch of bourbon to the next and raises the acidity of the mash.  The first distillation occurs in a column still before the condensed vapours travel into a doubler for its second distillation. As with Scotch malt whisky, the clear, newly distilled bourbon whiskey, called "white dog" takes on much of its character from the barrels used for aging.

 By law, bourbon must age in new charred oak casks, but the local climate is equally essential to the development of the bourbon's character. Kentucky experiences vast seasonal differences, with temperatures ranging between 70 and 80 degrees, which force an interaction between the bourbon and the wood. As it moves back and forth through the charred layer into the caramelised red layer, the distillate acquires its distinctive caramel flavour and colour. The only climate control in the seven storied rickhouses at Heaven Hill consists of opening the windows in summertime and closing them in wintertime. Interestingly, most of the single barrel bourbons come from barrels on the upper three floors which experience more extreme temperatures and the best air flows. Small batch bourbons mature in barrels located on the top five floors.   

It is from these dark corners under the rafters that the Society acquired five new barrels of bourbon, two of which are offered in the Summer List.  It would seem remarkable that these bourbons made their way to Edinburgh and to a society devoted to Scotch malt whisky.  Rather it is a much more natural relationship than a remarkable one.

The last bottling of Society Heaven Hill bourbon sold out quickly to an appreciative audience, and history seems destined to repeat itself with these bottlings from some very good barrels indeed.