Distillery
Elijah Craig
In 1789, a Baptist preacher named Elijah Craig ran a distillery in Georgetown, Kentucky, not far from where Heaven Hill makes bourbon today. Legend credits him with the first use of charred oak barrels for aging whisky, a discovery that became the foundation of true Kentucky bourbon. Historians still debate whether Craig truly invented the method or simply popularized it, since other distillers were working in Kentucky around the same time. Either way, Heaven Hill named its flagship bourbon after him and calls him the Father of Bourbon. Elijah Craig Small Batch ages eight to twelve years in new charred oak, giving it notes of vanilla, spice and toasted wood. The brand waited until 1960 to trademark his name, then didn't release a bottled bourbon until 1986, decades after his death.
