Heaven Hill Phoenix is a one-time, limited-edition release that combines 30 year old bourbon that survived the iconic 1996 fire at Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery with 18 year old bourbon. But exactly how much pre-fire Heaven Hill is in there?
“It’s more than one drop, but less than 50%,” smiles Conor O’Driscoll, Heaven Hill’s master distiller. O’Driscoll understands drinkers will ask, especially given the bottle’s $325 suggested retail price, and says that while the brand won’t disclose precise amounts of the blend, “we’re talking about enough [pre-fire bourbon] to be a layer in there, to open the symphony, if you will.”
Phoenix commemorates the November 7, 1996, fire at Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery, believed to have started from a lightning strike. The fire destroyed the distillery and seven of its 44 rickhouses, consuming nearly 100,000 barrels. Fortunately, there were no injuries. Heaven Hill’s proprietary yeast survived, maintaining a connection between the whiskey made before the fire and what followed.
That’s the same yeast that was used to make the 18 year old that the Phoenix was built around. Distilled in March 2008 and fully matured in heavy-char barrels, these ultra-aged stocks could’ve otherwise been used in Heaven Hill’s Heritage Collection or Elijah Craig 18 or perhaps 21.
The team always knew Phoenix should have a high age statement to reflect the brand’s legacy and its rise after the fire that could’ve ended it. “Given our two-million-barrel inventory, we have a lot of big age options,” says O’Driscoll, adding that his team earmarks choice barrels early in the maturation process but doesn’t always have a designated label in mind.
As for the 30 year old pre-fire bourbon, it was dumped from barrels into stainless steel tanks in 2020 to prevent it from becoming overly tannic. “If I’m tasting pre-fire whiskey, that’s always exciting for me, too,” says O’Driscoll. “It’s always, ‘Wow, that tastes great.’” And yes, Heaven Hill still has more pre-fire whiskey. “I don’t know the volumes, but we do have some, all in stainless, some of different ages,” O’Driscoll says. “It’s not all 30 years.”
Phoenix is bottled at 107 proof. “We were zeroing in around 110, which is where the whiskey tasted great,” says O’Driscoll. “It tasted awesome at 107, and that’s also a nod to what original whiskey [from Heaven Hill] was proofed at when the distillery was founded in 1935, so there’s a nice resonance with the history there.”
Phoenix is an incredible bourbon. In the glass, I immediately clock the pre-fire Heaven Hill on the nose, along with mature Elijah Craig: dark cherry syrup, rickhouse funk, nutty brown butter, orange zest, dry cocoa, and dried tobacco. A little dill and an earthy, geosmin note emerge between sweeter aromas. It’s musty and dusty in all the ways I want, the kind of pour you can spend half an hour nosing and still find something new.
Cherry hits first on the palate, followed by baking spices, salted caramel, dark stone fruit, and some herbaceousness. The whiskey settles on the mid and back palate and stays there. Rich, oily, and coating, it balances sweetness against tannins with precision, approaching dryness without tipping into it. I prefer Elijah Craig 15 year to the 18 year, and to me, Phoenix takes all the fantastic qualities I love in the 15 year and turns the dial up to 11. The long finish is mint chocolate ice cream with cherry syrup drizzled over it.
O’Driscoll says, “When you taste Phoenix, enough 30 year is in there to do it up properly,” and he’s right. The precise percentage of pre-fire whiskey can remain a secret; I’m less interested in doing the math than in getting another pour.
Phoenix is available in select markets and at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience in Bardstown.
