A maximum of 10 points will be available for each distillery visit…with 2 points available for “presentation” (basically the first impression the place puts on based on the sites, sounds, friendliness, etc), 3 points for the “experience” (whatever tour or tasting we did…which can include just doing a flight at the bar), 3 points for the Gift Shop (this will encompass all the gift shop has to offer EXCEPT for the final category), and 2 points for bottles exclusive to the distillery.
Heaven Hill is the largest family-owned and operated distillery in the country, producing such bourbon stalwarts as Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, Larceny, and Old Fitzgerald. After a large fire in their Bardstown distillery in the 1990s, the actual production of the whiskey was moved to another facility of theirs in Louisville, so the Bardstown campus is more dedicated to bourbon education. There is also a massive amount of aging going on in all the rick houses surrounding the main center.
PRESENTATION
I’m somewhat surprised by how Heaven Hill has regularly upgraded the experience you get at their location. It used to be fairly low key with some videos and historical artifacts, then they added a tasting room, and now they have all the museum pieces, tasting room, bar, and just a very well-appointed facility. Being as it is not a working distillery, the visitors center is about all you are going to see, so it’s great that they take care in making it attractive.
2/2
EXPERIENCE
If you’re not going to see how bourbon is made, you have to make things interesting in some other way. We went on the “Bottled In Bond Tour,” which is mostly an educational walking tour to talk about the rules of bonded whiskies and a discussion on why Heaven Hill has such a great reputation in the Bonded “niche.” Our tour guide walked us across the back garden trail, across the street, and into a rick house while explaining the different criteria about what makes a Bourbon Bonded…and at various stops we got to taste samples of different bonded whiskies that Heaven Hill produces, including JTS Brown, Henry McKenna, and their signature Bonded Bourbon. Our tour guide was chatty and informative…overall we found it quite enjoyable.
2.5/3
GIFT SHOP
I have long enjoyed the range of products that Heaven Hill keeps in their gift shop. I have an Evan Williams coffee mug that I got there a decade ago and still use once or twice a week. They do have a lot of different items…so much so that it’s almost hard to choose something. They had a great selection of different adult beverages they produce, too, including ones that fall in the “hard to find” category more than “exclusive.” I picked up a bottle of JTS Brown, a Bonded Bourbon that isn’t sold in Tennessee. Prices overall seemed fair.
3/3
EXCLUSIVES
When we were there in April, I didn’t see a single store exclusive in the Heaven Hill gift shop. In October we just stopped in to see if they had anything new and I saw a Larceny Barrel Proof pick that was exclusive to them…but even that is not something that’s unusual. While it was nice that they have easy access to the Grain to Glass series and other hard to find items, and I understand they aren’t going to be able to have Parker’s Heritage or William Heavenhill bourbons sitting around every day, it still felt like they were lacking something a little extra special that would have caused me to pop for a bottle.
1/2
If Heaven Hill is one of your favorite producers, then it doesn’t make sense NOT to stop here if you are in Bardstown. While they may not have a bunch of exclusives, they do have easy access to harder to find items like JTS Brown or JW Dant, as well as tons of branded merch.
Total 8.5/10 – Fun Place To Visit At Least Once
