For those in other industries, other states, or other countries, it was just a news headline that came and went. In Kentucky, it was a 9/11 moment: a generation of Kentuckians, particularly those who were in the bourbon industry, remember where they were when they heard the news of the Heaven Hill fire and saw the ghastly images on TV. Quieter, and less talked about, is how the company’s competitors rallied round to make sure it survived after the fire.
7 November 1996 was an unseasonably warm and blustery day in Bardstown, with passing thundershowers and wind gusts of 50mph (80kmph).
“It was just like a normal day, nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary, phone calls to return, meetings to attend. It was just like a normal day at the office, working on a variety of projects,” says executive chairman Max Shapira, whose father and uncles founded the
