Heaven Hill Phoenix Honors the 1996 Fire With 18-Year Bourbon and 30-Year Reserves

Bourbon Lens tastes the commemorative release on the eve of the fire’s anniversary

Heaven Hill has released Heaven Hill Phoenix, a special vintage bottling created to commemorate the November 1996 fire that destroyed its original Bardstown distillery and several warehouses. Bourbon Lens host Jake Lewellen tasted the release on this week’s episode of Five Minute Fridays, recorded on the eve of the fire’s anniversary.

Phoenix is crafted from 18-year-old bourbon fully aged in heavy-char barrels and enriched with a rare touch of 30-year-old bourbon reserves distilled at the original Heaven Hill distillery. It is bottled at 107 proof with a suggested retail price of $325 for a 750 ml bottle.

Remembering the 1996 Fire

The fire swept through the distillery Heaven Hill built in 1935, shortly after Prohibition ended. Burning bourbon flowed down the campus, and smoke plumes were visible for miles. Every employee was given a role to return to the next day.

“But what I remember the most is not the liquid or the structures lost that day, I remember how we responded. Not one life was lost,” wrote Executive Chairman Max Shapiro in an excerpt shared with the release.

“The fire of 1996 did not define us by what we lost, it defined us by what we chose to do next,” Shapiro wrote.

According to Heaven Hill, “the determination that carried us through the fire lives on in the Phoenix.”

Tasting Notes

Heaven Hill’s official notes describe polished oak, cinnamon, nutmeg and caramel on the nose. The palate offers butterscotch, caramel, cinnamon and baked apples balanced by subtle oak tannins. The finish is warm and long, with sweet apple pie and peppery spice.

On Five Minute Fridays, Lewellen found tobacco, leather, brown sugar, caramel, maple and stewed red apple on the nose, followed by rich baking spice, char, tobacco and crème brûlée on the palate.

The Bourbon Lens Take

“It is bold. It’s dark. It’s rich, but it’s sweet at the same time,” Lewellen said. “This has rocketed right to the top of my favorite whiskies of 2026.”

“This is a whiskey I will not soon forget. Just like we will not soon forget what happened in 1996,” he added.

Listen now

The full Five Minute Fridays episode is available on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Subscribe for weekly bourbon discussions, tastings and industry insights from the Bourbon Lens community.

About Bourbon Lens

Bourbon Lens is a weekly bourbon and whiskey podcast and community hosted by Jake Lewellen and Scott. It features distiller interviews, tastings and bourbon insights. Visit www.bourbonlens.com.