Heaven Hill Time Line

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Heaven Hill Time Line

Unread postby bourbonv » Sat Aug 06, 2005 9:17 am

Here is a time line for Heaven Hill.

Heaven Hill History

1783 - William Heavenhill is born (Ky.'s Historic and Cultural
Pathways, p.12).

1870 - William Heavenhill dies (Ky.'s Historic and Cultural
Pathways, p.12).

1827 - At a memorial dinner in Frankfort, Kentucky, Lewis
Sanders, a distiller, remembers Elijah Craig as having
"the first fulling mill, the first paper mill and the
first rope walk in Kentucky" but has no mention as to
making the first bourbon (Crowgey, Kentucky Bourbon,
p.136).

1892 - Reuben Durret writes about Evan Williams that "his
product a good medicine for chills and fever, though a
very bad whisky." (Crowgey, Kentucky Bourbon, p.137).

1935 - Heaven Hill Distillery is founded. It is named for the
Kentucky pioneer William Heavenhill who owned the farm
on which the distillery is built, but legend has it
that a typing error made the first labels come out with
a two word name (World Guide to Whiskey, Jackson).

o - The company was founded by the five Shapira brothers;
David, Ed, Gary, George, and Moses (Annual Guide to
Kentucky's Historic and Cultural Pathways, p.10).

o - The company started with 12 employees (Hist. Nelson
Co., Distilleries).

1938 - Heaven Hill builds a bottling house at its Nelson
County distillery (Ky.'s Historic and Cultural
Pathways, p.12).

circa 1943 - During the Second World War, the Shapira brothers
become the sole investors in the distillery (Ky.'s
Historic and Cultural Pathways, p.12).

1957 - Evan Williams Bourbon is introduced (The Book of
Bourbon..., Gary and Mardee Regan, p. 144).

1966 - Heaven Hill is listed as having a capacity of 350
barrels per day and only eight bourbon brands (1966 Red
Book, p.33).

1967 - A new bottling house which can produce 2.5 million
cases per year (Ky.'s Historical and Cultural Pathways,
P.12).

1976 - Heaven Hill purchases the Henry McKenna brand from
Seagrams (The Book of Bourbon..., Gary and Mardee
Regan, p.159).

1993 - United Distillers sell Heaven Hill a variety of brands
including Yellowstone, Ezra Brooks, Cabin Still and J
W Dant Bourbons (M Veach, 28/1/93).

1994 - Evan Williams Single Barrel Bourbon is introduced (M.
Veach, 10/1994).

1995 - Heaven Hill creates the Henry McKenna and Elijah Craig
Single Barrel Bourbons (M. Veach 10/95).


Mike Veach
Mike Veach
"Our people live almost exclusively on whiskey" - E H Taylor, Jr. 25 April 1873
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