Tales from the Hill

Heaven Hill Distillery
  • 4.9 (132)
  • FOOD
  • MONTHLY SERIES
Tales from the Hill

Heaven Hill Distillery has been distilling and patiently aging American Whiskey for more than eight decades. Now, it's time to share the stories behind those whiskeys and the people who make them on "Tales from the Hill." Must be 21+ to listen.

  1. Caretakers of the American Spirit

    EPISODE 1

    Caretakers of the American Spirit

    The history of American Whiskey lives in every one of our barrels. From the tradition established when Elijah Craig first used charred oak barrels for Bourbon, to Evan Williams founding the first licensed distillery in Kentucky, or the preservation of historic styles with Larceny or Rittenhouse Rye...you can't discuss American Whiskey without Heaven Hill.

    30 min
  2. The Spirit of the Distillery

    EPISODE 2

    The Spirit of the Distillery

    A Bourbon rickhouse is a magical place; one where wood, the elements, and time interact to take raw spirit and turn it into whiskey. The rickhouse is also where Heaven Hill’s whiskey makers watch over barrels of maturing whiskey over the years as each one reaches its fullest potential. There’s a connection across the generations at Heaven Hill, and those bonds have been tested in both good times and bad over the decades.

    30 min
  3. It Starts with the Grain

    EPISODE 3

    It Starts with the Grain

    For decades, we distilled, matured, and bottled our whiskeys in the city where we were founded—Bardstown, Kentucky. But after a 1996 fire devasted the campus, we moved distilling operations to the modern Bernheim Distillery in Louisville. We share what that fire meant to our history, and then check in with the team that makes every drop of our whiskeys to learn just how grain, water, and yeast come together in the distilling process. Master Distiller Conor O’Driscoll takes us on a tour of the Bernheim Distillery.

    20 min
  4. The Hands that Craft the Spirit

    EPISODE 4

    The Hands that Craft the Spirit

    Consistency has always been a hallmark for Heaven Hill, from our first Bourbon distilled in 1935 to our full portfolio of award-winning American Whiskeys. In this episode, we meet the expert tasting team in Bardstown, who explain how barrel placement is key to developing flavors across our different rickhouses and locations. They invite us into the tasting lab and show how they use those different barrels to find the exact flavors they’re looking for, mingling them in the small batch process to create our signature balanced and smooth taste profiles.

    25 min
  5. The Experience of American Whiskey

    EPISODE 5

    The Experience of American Whiskey

    Heaven Hill Distillery proudly offers two award-winning visitor’s centers in the heart of Bourbon country. In this episode, we learn how a passion for whiskey knowledge and education evolved into the Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown. Then, we visit the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, the first-of-its-kind destination on historic Whiskey Row that paved the path for redevelopment of Bourbon tourism in downtown Louisville. Jodie Filiatreau takes us behind-the-scenes at the artisanal distillery there, which produces one barrel of whiskey per day.

    20 min
  6. Preserving Traditions, Pioneering the Future

    EPISODE 6

    Preserving Traditions, Pioneering the Future

    The Shapira family reflects back on some of their favorite stories from growing up in the Bourbon business. Then, we take a look into how the industry is evolving, and hear how educated enthusiasts are helping us grow and innovate the future of American Whiskey. We explore what it means to be continually expanding our rickhouse facilities to keep up with demand, and go all the way back to the seed for our pioneering “Grain to Glass” project.

    20 min
  7. Grain to Glass: Born to Be Bourbon

    EPISODE 7

    Grain to Glass: Born to Be Bourbon

    Terroir... the element of Bourbon that reflects the environment where it is crafted. For Heaven Hill, this is where tradition meets innovation. The Grain to Glass project begins with a collaborative approach among three historic family businesses, who set out to create, farm, and distill unique mashbills that are maturing into Bourbons unlike any other.

    28 min
  8. The Handshake Barrel

    EPISODE 8

    The Handshake Barrel

    In 1986, Max Shapira and Leroy McGinnis shook hands and made a deal for Bourbon barrels. Today, McGinnis Wood Products still makes barrels for Heaven Hill, and that handshake still binds the partnership. In this episode, we’ll take a closer look at what goes into making a Bourbon barrel, and why responsibly-sourced, carefully-selected American White Oak trees make excellent Bourbon barrels.

    32 min
See All Season 1 (29)

Trailers

4.9
out of 5
132 Ratings

About

Heaven Hill Distillery has been distilling and patiently aging American Whiskey for more than eight decades. Now, it's time to share the stories behind those whiskeys and the people who make them on "Tales from the Hill." Must be 21+ to listen.

Information

  • Creator
    Heaven Hill Distillery
  • Episodes
    29
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Heaven Hill Distillery
  • Show Website
    Tales from the Hill

You Might Also Like

To listen to explicit episodes, sign in.

Stay up to date with this show

Sign in or sign up to follow shows, save episodes, and get the latest updates.
Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

Asia Pacific

Europe

Latin America and the Caribbean

The United States and Canada