The Heaven Hill Distilleries Bourbon Heritage Center has opened in the middle of the Bourbon Capital of the World, and across the street from over forty open air rickhouses that house the world's second-largest supply of aging Bourbon.

The new building incorporates into its design the key natural elements from the Bourbon-making process -- copper, limestone and white oak -- and echoes the form of the open rickhouse. The center is dedicated to the history of Bourbon and its dramatic effect on the growth of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, as well as its legacy as America's Native Spirit.

Highlights inside the Bourbon Heritage Center include:

• A series of interactive and educational exhibits that demonstrate the Bourbon-making process and Bourbon history, including information on Evan Williams, Kentucky's first distiller, Elijah Craig -- the father of Bourbon -- and other Bourbon pioneers whose names are immortalized in some of Heaven Hill's most famous Bourbon brands.
• The Evan Williams Theater will show "A Portrait of Heaven Hill," a short informative film on the history of Bourbon, the Bourbon-making process, and Heaven Hill Distilleries.
• A one-of-a-kind barrel-shaped Taste of Heaven tasting room, which gives visitors a dramatic environment in which guided samplings of the company's world-renowned whiskeys will be conducted.
• Eye-catching display items such as old advertisements, photographs, and even a sample of the very first white dog (new, unaged Bourbon) that was distilled at Heaven Hill in 1934.
• One wall re-creating a rickhouse, complete with various Heaven Hill Bourbon -- branded barrels stacked up to the ceiling. The company's milestone barrel heads, beginning with the first barrel filled, up to the 4.5 millionth barrel, are also on display on this wall.
• The center's gift shop will have Kentucky crafts, branded merchandise and a special bottling of Evan Williams Master Distillers' Select Bourbon available for purchase and customized personalization.

Bourbon Heritage Center is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sundays; last tour starts one hour before closing, the center is closed on Mondays.

Heaven Hill is the nation's largest independent, family-owned marketer and producer of distilled spirits products.