Where: Bardstown, Kentucky
When: year-round
If you like: dining and drinks
Why you should go: On November 7, 1996, a suspected lightning strike sparked a blaze in a warehouse at Heaven Hill’s distillery in Bardstown. Fueled by whipping winds, the fire spread to neighboring rickhouses, igniting barrels of aging bourbon and sending a “river of flaming whiskey” toward the production plant. When the smoke cleared, the Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery and seven rickhouses—holding more than 92,000 barrels—were destroyed. Nearby distilleries stepped in to help, and Heaven Hill shifted distillation to the historic Bernheim plant in Louisville, where operations have remained for more than twenty-five years.
That changed late in 2025, when the family-owned outfit cut the ribbon on its new Heaven Hill Springs Distillery. The gleaming $200 million Bardstown facility was built for efficiency, sustainability, and ease of operation. Together with Bernheim’s output, it will eventually double production capacity. “The weight of history was upon us,” says master distiller Conor O’Driscoll. “This is a working distillery that visitors can come to, not a visitor attraction that happens to make whiskey.”
G&G tip: The Kentucky Bourbon Trail website lets you build your own itinerary. Keep an eye out for personalized experiences such as Heaven Hill’s Heritage Rising tour, where you can see the full process, sample the results at an on-site tasting bar, and, occasionally, purchase Heaven Hill Master Distillers Unity. The commemorative spirit includes bourbon distilled by past distillers and O’Driscoll, and he might be a bit biased, but he describes the blend simply: “It’s really stinking good.”
Tom Wilmes is a journalist based in central Kentucky, specializing in bourbon and other spirits. A contributor for Garden & Gun, he has also written for Whisky Advocate, The Local Palate, Southbound, and various other publications. Follow @kentuckydrinks on Instagram.
