Every year, bourbon collectors and enthusiasts wade through a flood of “limited editions.” Some are genuinely special, others are flashy packaging and familiar whiskey dressed up to command higher prices. But every so often, a release comes along that feels instantly bigger—a whiskey that tells a story worth remembering and bridges the culture of bourbon’s past with its future.
Heaven Hill’s newly revealed Master Distillers Unity easily qualifies as the latter.
Crafted to commemorate the grand opening of the new Heaven Hill Springs Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, the new release is a once-in-a-generation bourbon that ties together three decades of the distillery’s history—and harkens back to one of the most fascinating and soul-affirming moments in modern American whiskey distilling history.
An echo to an epic collaboration
The “Unity” name first appeared in 2013 in the form of a project that qualifies as one of, if not the most remarkable, collaborations in bourbon production.
At the time, Heaven Hill Master Distiller Parker Beam—one of bourbon’s most beloved figures—had been diagnosed with ALS. Beam’s illness inspired an industry-wide response in many ways. But none were as intriguing from a whiskey release POV than the creation of the so-called Master Distiller’s Unity bottle.
What made Unity extraordinary wasn’t just that it was explicitly designed to raise funds for the Parker Beam Promise of Hope Fund, which funds research and patient care for those with ALS; it was how the bottling came together.
