Heaven Hill Phoenix Bourbon Blends 18-Year Whiskey With Pre-Fire Stock
Heaven Hill’s one-time Phoenix release pairs 18-year bourbon with whiskey laid down before the 1996 fire. It’s bottled at 107 proof and priced at $325.
Heaven Hill Phoenix brings together two parts of the distillery’s history: bourbon laid down in 2008 and whiskey that was already aging before the 1996 fire at its Bardstown site. The one-time release carries an 18-year age statement, but its blend also includes 30-year-old bourbon from the distillery’s pre-fire stock.
Heaven Hill DistilleryThat older component gives Phoenix a story that reaches beyond the age printed on the bottle. Heaven Hill has operated since 1935, and its remaining pre-fire whiskey connects the release to a period when the company lost a large share of its stored bourbon and had to rebuild its production. The blend’s proportions haven’t been disclosed, so the 30-year-old whiskey’s exact share is unknown.
A blend shaped by a turning point
On November 7, 1996, a fire destroyed the Old Heaven Hill Springs Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, and seven aging warehouses. The loss included nearly 100,000 barrels of bourbon, valued at $30 million in the source account. The event wiped out decades of accumulated inventory and forced Heaven Hill to rethink how it would continue distilling.
The company remained family-owned, retained its employees and eventually resumed distilling in Bardstown. Phoenix looks back on that history through its whiskey: the blend includes bourbon from before the fire alongside newer barrels, making the liquid itself a link between the distillery’s earlier inventory and its later production.
Heaven Hill’s 18-year-old straight bourbon was drawn from heavy-char barrels laid down in 2008. The age statement reflects the youngest whiskey in the blend; it doesn’t mean every component is the same age. In Phoenix, the older component is 30-year-old bourbon from stock laid down before the fire. Heaven Hill hasn’t shared how much of that whiskey went into the batch.
What’s in the glass
Phoenix is bottled at 107 proof, a figure chosen to represent Heaven Hill’s original barrel-entry proof from 1935. The tasting notes supplied by the brand describe oak, cinnamon, nutmeg and caramel on the nose. Butterscotch, caramel, cinnamon and baked apples follow on the palate, with what the brand calls “subtle oak tannins.”
The combination of an 18-year age statement and a 30-year-old component makes the undisclosed blend details part of the release’s appeal, though buyers won’t be able to assess the proportions from the label. The tasting notes offer a more direct guide to its profile: expect a mix of baking spice, sweet flavors and oak, at a proof that gives the whiskey a firm presence.
Price and availability
Heaven Hill Phoenix has rolled out to retailers, and it’s also available at the distillery for buyers in the Kentucky area. The suggested retail price is $325. A retailer listing included with the release showed the bottle at $300 at Fine Wine & Good Spirits, so prices may differ by seller. The batch is a limited-edition, one-time release, with no further production stated.
Heaven Hill DistilleryHeaven Hill Phoenix Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Phoenix’s defining detail is the blend across decades: 18-year bourbon from 2008 joined by a portion of 30-year-old whiskey preserved from before the 1996 fire. With its proportions undisclosed and the release limited to one batch, the bottle offers a specific snapshot of Heaven Hill’s surviving stocks and its long return to distilling in Bardstown.
Heaven Hill Distillery has been in operation since 1935.
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