Heaven Hill Distillery Honors a Storied Legacy with Heaven Hill Deatsville 13-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskey
Heaven Hill Distillery Honors a Storied Legacy with
Heaven Hill Deatsville 13-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskey
Limited-edition release marks one of the final
opportunities to experience Bourbon fully matured at the historic Deatsville
campus as it transitions out of active aging
Bardstown, Ky. — (February 26, 2026) Heaven Hill
Distillery announces the release of Heaven Hill Deatsville 13-Year-Old Bourbon
Whiskey, a limited-edition expression drawn from one of the most distinctive
aging sites in the distillery’s 90-year history. Bottled from just 17 barrels
aged on the third floor of Rickhouse AA, this release represents one of the
final few opportunities to experience Bourbon fully matured entirely at the
Deatsville campus before the site transitions out of active aging.
The Deatsville campus, originally home to the shuttered T.W.
Samuels Distillery, has been an enduring part of Heaven Hill’s heritage since
the early 1980s, when the company first assumed stewardship of the rickhouses.
Today, the site encompasses nine Heaven Hill owned rickhouses with capacity for
aging a total of 167,000 barrels. It is the only Heaven Hill barrel aging
campus constructed with tiered roof architecture, a distinctive design that
promotes a natural stack effect, allowing warm air to rise and escape while
drawing cooler air inward through lower openings. This airflow dynamic creates
subtle differences in maturation, contributing to Deatsville’s signature
influence within Heaven Hill’s aging inventory. Heaven Hill ages whiskey
across six distinct warehouse sites in Kentucky, each
imparting its own character based on structure, airflow, and environment.
Crafted from a traditional mashbill of 78% corn, 10% rye,
and 12% malted barley, Heaven Hill Deatsville 13-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskey
reflects thirteen years of maturation within this unique structure. The MSRP
for this limited release will be $199.99.
“For nearly a century, Heaven Hill has believed that great
Bourbon is made by giving barrels the time, space and natural airflow they need
to become themselves,” said Susan Wahl, Vice President, American Whiskey. “This
release pays tribute to the barrels, brands, and people who brought those
rickhouses to life.”
Over the decades, Deatsville barrels contributed to multiple
Heaven Hill expressions and played a meaningful role in a large portion of the
Parker’s Heritage Collection lineage. The acclaimed 7th Edition ‘Promise of
Hope’ and the widely celebrated 11th Edition Single Barrel release both drew
from Parker Beam’s favorite rickhouse site. Those selections reflected Parker’s
instinct for the site’s aging character and further cemented its place in
Heaven Hill’s history.
As part of Heaven Hill’s long-term stewardship of its aging
assets, all nine Deatsville rickhouses will transition to regauge-only status
over the next 12–24 months, marking the gradual aging out of the campus from
active maturation. The buildings will remain standing and secure. Heaven Hill
continues to invest in new rickhouses across the Commonwealth which will impart
their own unique characteristics to our aging barrels. Most barrels currently
aging at Deatsville will be relocated to other Heaven Hill sites and may be
referenced in future releases as having spent a portion of their maturation at
Deatsville. This 13-Year-Old release is the first chapter in a multi-year
tribute to the Deatsville site, with additional releases and commemorative
moments planned through 2027.
In a rare opportunity, guests will be able to access the
private Deatsville rickhouse campus through a Deatsville Tour & Tasting
experience. The tour includes visits to two rickhouse sites, allowing guests to
see firsthand how structural differences—including Deatsville’s tiered roof
design—impact maturation and flavor development. Early access to the Deatsville
13-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskey will be exclusively available through this tour
experience. Tickets for this tour will be available beginning on March 15
through the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience website.
Heaven Hill maintains more than two million barrels aging
across Kentucky and holds the second-largest inventory of aging American
Whiskey. As the company continues to steward its extensive aging portfolio, the
Deatsville campus stands as a singular and distinctive chapter—one whose
influence will continue to live on in the whiskey it helped mature, leaving a
lasting legacy even after these rickhouses transition out of active aging.
Heaven Hill Deatsville 13-Year-Old Bourbon Whiskey invites enthusiasts to experience
that chapter while it can still be poured.


