Heaven Hill Distillery has announced the completion of a $17.5 million expansion including new tasting rooms, interactive experiences, and more at their Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown, Kentucky.
The expansion, which is only phase one of a multi-year, multi-million dollar project, is marked by three new tasting rooms – The Fitzgerald Room, The Library, and The Founders Room, which all border a larger than life barrel and look out on the Kentucky countryside. Each room has its own decor paying homage to its namesake – The Fitzgerald Room has golden age, Victorian-style furnishings, and honors John E. Fitzgerald (the treasury agent of Old Fitzgerald fame). The Library, honoring preacher and educator Elijah Craig, has tufted leather chairs and a rolling library ladder, while The Founders Room honors the Shapira family, who have owned Heaven Hill for generations, with an industrial feel complete with galvanized steel chairs and copper light fixtures.
Two of the distillery’s best loved brands will also find new homes in the expansion. The Elijah Craig exhibit will tell the story of the man the distillery credits as The Father of Bourbon, where guests can get in-depth information about barrel char and build. In the Larceny exhibit, guests will be transported back to the time of John E. Fitzgerald and learn how to thief whiskey from a barrel, just like this famously thirsty tax man once did.
For guests looking to immerse themselves even further, an all-new “You Do Bourbon” experience will offer the chance to live the life of a “quality control” agent at Heaven Hill, looking at bourbon in a microscope, learning how to nose and taste bourbon. They’ll also bottle and label their own bourbon to take home as a keepsake.
Finally, the distillery has added a rooftop restaurant and bar with menus inspired by bourbon and southern cooking. The rooftop will overlook a picturesque scene of barrel warehouses in bourbon country – a can’t miss view for those stopping through.
To plan your trip to the Bourbon Heritage Center, click here.
