Heaven Hill Celebrates 90 Years of History With A Well-Aged Bourbon

This year marks the 90th anniversary of Heaven Hill’s founding, and the distillery has been celebrating with a slew of memorable releases. In June, we exclusively reported that Old Fitzgerald, one of the distillery’s most sought-after collectibles that usually releases two batches per year (in spring and fall), added a budget-friendly 7 year old that will be available year-round. Just two months later, the distillery rolled out its fourth Old Fitz VVS—a rarer “Very Very Special” batch, aged 11 years and identified by its maroon label. The following month, Heaven Hill commemorated the opening of its new Bardstown distillery with Master Distillers Unity, a bourbon blend that contained some of the distillery’s last “pre-fire” barrels. Just weeks later, the distillery announced news that its popular Elijah Craig Barrel Proof series was receiving a rye expression, with three batches dropping annually alongside its bourbon counterpart.

As 2025 nears its end, Heaven Hill is closing out the year with yet another interesting release. This one, which specifically pays homage to the distillery’s 90th anniversary, is a well-aged bourbon that examines maturation and char.

History in a Bottle

Heaven Hill 90th Anniversary Bourbon represents a blend of 204 barrels that were distilled on December 13, 2015. All of these stocks have the same mashbill, the distillery’s signature recipe of 78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% rye. (This mashbill is also used for Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond, and Henry McKenna bourbons.) The key difference between these barrels is the char levels, with some 70% of the blend using the distillery’s typical No.-3 char and the other 30% using a heavier No.-4 alligator char.

The barrels were aged in Rickhouses G and H—both located on Heaven Hill’s main Bardstown campus, on the 4th and 6th floors. They were dumped and blended just short of 10 years old, with the whiskey carrying an exact age statement of 9 years and 8 months. This newcomer was bottled at 53.5% ABV as a nod to the barrel entry proof of 107 historically used at the distillery. It’s currently available in limited quantities nationwide, with a suggested retail price of $125.

Unlikely Path to Glory

Considering just how prominent it is now, some readers would be surprised to hear that Heaven Hill came from humble beginnings. It was founded in 1935 by the Shapira brothers—Ed, David, Gary, George, and Mose—who at the time were running a family-owned chain of department stores in Kentucky. Joseph L. Beam—first cousin of Jim Beam—was also briefly a partner, looking to get back into the family trade after the end of Prohibition. The venture was a gamble for the Shapiras: a $17,000 investment (around $401,000 in today’s money) in little more than an idea, with no distillery or warehouses, no inventory to speak of, and an empty stable of brands.

It took a lot of hard work getting the project off the ground—in the early days, Heaven Hill bottled 2 year old whiskey under the Bourbon Falls label and sold casks of unaged whiskey to its distributors, just to keep the lights on. But as more of its inventory came of age, it eventually introduced the now-iconic Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond, which served as a flagship and growth engine for many years. Riding a wave of popularity from Bottled in Bond, over the years Heaven Hill grew its portfolio by tacking on other sister labels: popular offerings like Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, Larceny, and Bernheim Original, while acquiring and revitalizing others like Old Fitzgerald (originally a Stitzel-Weller product), Henry McKenna (a cast-off from Seagram), and Rittenhouse Rye (purchased from erstwhile Pennsylvania rye maker Continental Distilling Corp.). Over the years, Heaven Hill has also expanded into other spirits, most notably Deep Eddy vodka and Lunazul tequila, the latter of which has earned high marks from our tasting panel.

Fast forward to 2025, and now Heaven Hill is one of the top producers of American whiskey and holds the distinction of being the largest family-owned and led American whiskey maker. Ed Shapira's son Max worked with his father and served as the long-time president of the company starting in 1996. He became executive chairman in 2022, and his daughter Kate Latts and son-in-law Allan Latts were named co-presidents. Its whiskeys are now giants in their own right, with two of them counted among the 10 biggest bourbon brands in the country, including Elijah Craig (No. 8, with just shy of 6.5 million bottles) and Evan Williams (No. 3, with just north of 33.1 million bottles), according to our research arm Impact Databank. Larceny is also very much in the game, the 22nd largest bourbon brand overall, hovering around 2 million bottles.

Heaven Hill 9 year old 90th Anniversary Kentucky Straight Bourbon

ABV: 53.5%
SRP: $125
Availability: Limited, but nationwide.