Distillery
Evan Williams
In 1783, a Welsh immigrant opened what is remembered as Kentucky's first commercial distillery, on the banks of the Ohio River in Louisville. His name was Evan Williams, and he was a busy figure in the young town. He served as an early city trustee and as Louisville's wharf master. The bourbon that carries his name today is a different story. Heaven Hill launched the brand in 1957 and now distills it in Bardstown, Kentucky, just blocks from where Williams once worked. It has grown into one of the best selling Kentucky straight bourbons in the world. In 2013, Heaven Hill brought whisky making back to Louisville's Whisky Row. The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience opened on West Main Street with a working pot still and a five story bottle on its facade. It became the first stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail inside the city itself.
