Heaven Hill: Evan Williams and Elijah Craig

Type: Owner group

Heaven Hill is the Shapira family-owned whiskey business behind Evan Williams and Elijah Craig, bourbon brands launched in 1957 and 1986 respectively. Its modern history begins in Bardstown in 1935, not with the eighteenth-century distillers whose names appear on those bottles. [1][3]

What Heaven Hill is known for

Heaven Hill brings together a family-owned company, distilling expertise associated with the Beam family, and brands named after earlier Kentucky whiskey makers. These are different histories: the Shapiras founded and own the business, while members of the Beam family worked there as distillers. Heaven Hill is not a Beam family company. [1][2][3][9]

Joe and Harry Beam were early distillers; Earl Beam joined in 1946, served for 29 years and retired in 1975. Parker Beam and his son Craig became important figures in the company's distilling history, with Craig starting in 1982. [2][9] For related histories, see the Jim Beam profile, the Maker's Mark profile and the Four Roses profile.

Heaven Hill's timeline identifies Denny Potter as its sixth Master Distiller in 2013 and Conor O'Driscoll as its seventh in 2019. It records Kate and Allan Latts becoming co-presidents in 2022. [1]

The Bardstown beginnings

Story box: A family business takes shape

The original distillery stood on William Heavenhill's land. The Shapiras later bought out their partners, making the family connection one of ownership as well as founding involvement. [2][3]

The fire and the yeast that survived

On 7 November 1996, fire destroyed the Bardstown distillery and seven rickhouses, the warehouses used to store barrels. About 92,000 barrels were lost, but no one was injured. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the losses represented about 14% of Heaven Hill's stock. [2][4]

One survival story concerns the house yeast. During the fire, yeast remained in a refrigerator on the fifth floor, and Charlie Downs recovered it using a cherry picker. Both Heaven Hill's account and the newspaper's retrospective record the recovery. [2][4]

Verdict: Documented

• Claim: Charlie Downs recovered Heaven Hill's house yeast from a fifth-floor refrigerator during the 1996 fire.
• What the record shows: The producer's history and the Herald-Leader retrospective support the recovery story.
• Evidence against or gap: None found in the supplied record. The earliest source is not established.
• Sources: Heaven Hill, Our Distilleries; Lexington Herald-Leader, fire anniversary retrospective.
• Last checked: November 2026.

Phoenix, a release linked to the fire, appeared in October 2026. [4]

Louisville production and the return to Bardstown

The 1999 Bernheim acquisition included Old Fitzgerald and Christian Brothers, according to Heaven Hill's timeline. At Bernheim, the producer describes three column stills and 17 fermenters, and credits Parker Beam with adding copper mesh to the site's two doublers. [1][2]

Heaven Hill records the opening of Cox's Creek Barrel Preserve in 2016, with rickhouses holding 56,000 barrels apiece. Its August 2023 announcement reported more than two million barrels held in more than 70 warehouses; those are historical figures, not a current inventory. [2][6]

Heaven Hill Springs Distillery opened in Bardstown on 4 September 2025. The producer describes a single 60-foot Vendome copper column still and 10 fermenters. Plans for three columns and up to 450,000 barrels annually describe expansion intentions, not established output. [1][2][5]

Charlie Downs filled the first barrel at the new distillery. Heaven Hill identifies him as the only employee to have worked at all four of its distilleries, connecting the new site with the older production history and the yeast recovery. [5]

Evan Williams: the brand and the historical distiller

Evan Williams bourbon launched in 1957. The 1783 date associated with the brand refers to its namesake's historical story, not the beginning of continuous production of today's branded bourbon. [1][10][13]

The Kentucky Historical Society records that Williams was born in Wales and came to Kentucky around 1780. It recounts that he is said to have built a distillery beside the Ohio River in 1783, at what is now Fifth Street in Louisville. Its record also documents an indictment for selling whisky without a licence in 1788. [13]

Heaven Hill calls Williams Kentucky's first licensed commercial distiller. That priority is disputed: the historical discussion reproduced by GoBourbon says the claim cannot be proved, and historian Michael Veach cautions that the identity of Kentucky's first distiller may never be known. [10][11]

Verdict: Disputed

• Claim: Evan Williams was Kentucky's first licensed commercial distiller.
• What the record shows: Heaven Hill makes the claim, while the historical discussion says Williams's priority cannot be proved.
• Evidence against or gap: Veach says the identity of Kentucky's first distiller may never be known; early tax records are absent. The earliest source is not established.
• Sources: Heaven Hill, Evan Williams 1783 announcement; GoBourbon, Kentucky and Bourbon.
• Last checked: November 2026.

The surviving record gives Williams substance without requiring that title. He was elected to Louisville's Board of Trustees in 1797 and served as harbormaster. In 1802, city officials condemned his distillery's waste while he held responsibility for the wharf's cleanliness. The indictment and waste episode are documented by the Kentucky Historical Society. [13]

For the modern brand, Heaven Hill's published specification for Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch gives a mash bill, the grain recipe, of 78% corn, 12% malted barley and 10% rye. The announcement describes bourbon aged six to eight years and bottled at 90 proof. These details apply to that expression, not automatically to every Evan Williams bottling. [10]

Elijah Craig: a modern brand with an older story

Heaven Hill launched Elijah Craig in 1986 and describes it as pioneering the Small Batch category. That is the producer's account of the brand's significance, rather than an independently established claim of priority. [1]

The namesake was a Baptist preacher, educator and businessman. The brand's own history credits him with building Georgetown's first paper and wool mills and acknowledges that he enslaved people. It dates his distillery to 1789. [7]

The charred-barrel story

Verdict: Legend

• Claim: Elijah Craig was the first distiller to char barrels deliberately for ageing whiskey.
• What the record shows: Craig built a distillery in 1789, but the historical discussion reproduced by GoBourbon finds no proof that he intentionally charred barrels.
• Evidence against or gap: The brand recounts versions involving a barn fire and reused sugar barrels; neither establishes invention. The earliest source is not established.
• Sources: Elijah Craig, Our History; GoBourbon, Kentucky and Bourbon (Part 1): Pioneer through Prohibition.
• Last checked: November 2026.

On 22 January 2016, Heaven Hill announced that Elijah Craig Small Batch would lose its 12-year age statement and move to bourbon aged eight to 12 years. Calling the expression simply a 12-year-old bourbon therefore carries an earlier specification into a later period. [14]

Visiting the two brand experiences

Heaven Hill's Bardstown visitor centre opened in 2004 as the Bourbon Heritage Center and is now called the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience. The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience opened to the public at 528 West Main Street, Louisville, on 15 November 2013. [1][12]

The 2013 opening announcement described the Louisville experience as including an artisanal distillery with copper pot stills. Before travelling, check official visitor information for current arrangements and activities. [12]

Where to go next

• Jim Beam: explore the separate company associated with another branch of the Beam distilling story.
• Maker's Mark: continue through another Kentucky distillery and brand profile.
• Four Roses: read another American distillery and brand history.

Sources

1. Heaven Hill. Through the Years. Producer's account, undated web history, checked November 2026. https://heavenhill.com/through-the-years/
2. Heaven Hill. Our Distilleries. Producer's account, undated web page, checked November 2026. https://heavenhilldistillery.com/our-distilleries.php
3. Heaven Hill. Meet the Shapira Family. Producer's account, undated web page, checked November 2026. https://heavenhilldistillery.com/meet-the-shapira-family.php
4. Lexington Herald-Leader. Heaven Hill fire anniversary and Phoenix release. 2026 retrospective, checked November 2026. https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article317937051.html
5. Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill Brands Celebrates Grand Opening of Heaven Hill Springs Distillery in Bardstown. Producer's announcement, 2025, checked November 2026. https://heavenhill.com/news-and-notes/heaven-hill-brands-celebrates-grand-opening-of-heaven-hill-springs-distillery-in-bardstown/
6. Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill Distillery Celebrates Filling of 10 Millionth Barrel. Producer's announcement, 2023, checked November 2026. https://heavenhill.com/news-and-notes/heaven-hill-distillery-celebrates-filling-of-10-millionth-barrel-of-kentucky-straight-bourbon-whiskey/
7. Elijah Craig. Our History. Producer's account, undated web history, checked November 2026. https://elijahcraig.com/our-history
8. Whisky Magazine. Sharpest tack: Max L. Shapira. Undated edition in the supplied record, checked November 2026. https://www.whiskymag.com/articles/sharpest-tack-max-l-shapira/
9. Heaven Hill. Evan Williams Bourbon Announces Major Redesign of Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch. Producer's announcement, publication year not supplied, checked November 2026. https://heavenhill.com/news-and-notes/evan-williams-bourbon-announces-major-redesign-of-evan-williams-1783-small-batch/
10. GoBourbon. Kentucky and Bourbon (Part 1): Pioneer through Prohibition. Excerpt from Carla Carlton's Barrel Strength Bourbon, publication year not supplied, checked November 2026. https://www.gobourbon.com/kentucky-bourbon-part-1-pioneer-through-prohibition/
11. Heaven Hill. Opening of the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. Producer's announcement, 2013, checked November 2026. https://heavenhill.com/news-and-notes/opening-of-heaven-hill-distilleries-evan-williams-bourbon-experience-brings-bourbon-back-to-louisvilles-whiskey-row/
12. Kentucky Historical Society. Evan Williams, 1755 to 1810 (Historical Marker 2445). Undated web entry, checked November 2026. https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/516
13. Heaven Hill. Elijah Craig Small Batch Age Change. Producer's announcement, 2016, checked November 2026. https://heavenhill.com/news-and-notes/elijah-craig-small-batch-age-change/

This desk-researched article uses the site's verified fact sheet, distinguishing producer histories from historical interpretation and preserving its story verdicts.

Last checked: November 2026