Heaven Hill, the Unity Bottle, and its final appearance.

[flahute]

In the young vs. 12yr Elijah Craig thread there's some questioning of Heaven Hill's motives. In the vatting thread, Gary is talking about a vatting of representatives from all the major distilleries.

This is a good time to talk about the Unity Bottle and a very cool and generous thing done by Heaven Hill.

 

If you are not familiar with the Unity Bottle, see here: http://www.unitybottling.com/

In short, when Parker Beam was diagnosed with ALS, all the major master distillers came together and donated whiskey to be used in a special blend. Jim Rutledge, Harlen Wheatley, Fred Noe, Chris Morris, Jimmy Russell, and Greg Davis all contributed. Parker took their donations and created a special blend that was placed into decanters and auctioned off in support of the Parker Beam Promise of Hope Fund.

 

Fast Forward to a couple weeks ago and the Jim Rutledge 50th Anniversary event. In addition to being an occasion to celebrate and recognize Jim's 50 years in the beverage alcohol industry, the event was also a fundraiser for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. Very few people know that Jim's daughter suffers from a severe case of Crohn's disease. This cause is dear to his family. To raise money for the cause, various individuals and distilleries donated very special bottles for both the tasting (included in the ticket price) and for auction.

 

Heaven Hill donated two bottles of EC23 for the tasting. The real star of the show however was the sample of the Unity Bottling that they donated. It wasn't in the decanter, but it was a full 750ml bottle. What makes it really special is that this is the last remaining sample that Heaven Hill had. There are many people in the company that want this bottle, but they gave it up for this cause because of how much respect they have for Jim. Larry Kass delivered the bottle and told the story of it before it was auctioned. In addition, Parker Beam recorded a video message for Jim that was played at the event. ALS has taken its toll, but his mind is still razor sharp. There were a few tears shed when this message played.

 

Heaven Hill really came through in support of Jim. There were two bidders who really wanted this bottle and it eventually sold for $5,000. (All told, more than $27,000 was raised.)

 

One thing that I love about this industry is how much they all respect each other and support each other. It's a rare thing.

[Paddy]

Nicely done Steve.  A history of proximity, shared work ethic, common background and interest, respect, and mutual support for one another are all virtues that have intermingled together to make the Kentucky bourbon industry (and I would be remiss to not include Tennessee and the other side of the river-Indiana here) what it is today... an American cultural icon!

 

I dare say, there is nothing else quite like it! 

Edited November 22, 2016 by Paddy

[GaryT]

Thanks for sharing this Steve!  I had no idea they made more than the 2 bottles they auctioned (although that makes sense with math, since they had a lot more than 2 bottles worth of raw material).  

 

I've been racking my brain to think of another industry in which there is this much mutual support among competitors, and I can't think of one (which doesn't mean there isn't one, but to underline the point of the rarity).  This unity bottling is one great example.  When HH lost their distillery to the fire in 1996, the industry supported them in a way I can't picture another doing.  If GM had one of their plants destroyed, I have a hard time believing that Ford would help them product GM products at their facilities until they rebuilt (and this isn't a slam of Ford, and understand that isn't a great analogy since it isn't like GM has "one plant").  

 

And the companies that comprise the bulk of the industry - their behavior has to come from somewhere.  It isn't from a mission statement, or a memo.  It's from the people - the character and traditions established that they continue to respect and support.  And it makes me proud to support them.  'Merica!

[LCWoody]

Thanks Steve for taking the time to post this. 

As said, I can't think of an industry that competitors have this kind of relationship. When I had the opportunity to meet Jimmy Russell, it happened to be Jim Rutledge last day at 4R's. And he talked about him with great respect. Then Mr Russell started talking about E T Lee and how good of friends they had been, and many others in the industry. Makes me love my obsession with bourbon that much more. 

[flahute]

17 hours ago, LCWoody said:

Thanks Steve for taking the time to post this. 

As said, I can't think of an industry that competitors have this kind of relationship. When I had the opportunity to meet Jimmy Russell, it happened to be Jim Rutledge last day at 4R's. And he talked about him with great respect. Then Mr Russell started talking about E T Lee and how good of friends they had been, and many others in the industry. Makes me love my obsession with bourbon that much more. 

I spent some time with Jimmy at the Bourbon Affair back in June. It started with me asking some questions and turned into him telling stories about the old days. He spoke with great reverence for Elmer and Booker and talked about how much fun they had. He said they used to get together regularly and that everyone would bring a bottle and the only rule was that nobody could drink from the bottle they brought. Those guys are a special breed.

[mosugoji64]

1 hour ago, flahute said:

Those guys are a special breed.

 

Amen!