Rockwell Automation Technology Supports Modernization at New Heaven Hill Distillery – Company Announcement
When Heaven Hill—one of America’s last family-owned bourbon giants—decided to build a new distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky, it wasn’t just about getting back to its roots after a devastating fire.
It was about laying down a digital nervous system for the next century. And the technology chosen to wire it up? Rockwell Automation’s PlantPAx DCS, deployed by industrial partner Opus Integration.
The move signals a quiet but profound shift in an industry often romanticized for its copper pot stills and charred oak barrels. Here, the most valuable tool isn’t just a rickhouse—it’s a unified control system that turns every sensor reading into actionable intelligence.
From Whiskey Rows to Data Flows
Heaven Hill’s new facility, which opened in 2025, brings production back to its spiritual home. But this isn’t your grandfather’s distillery. The PlantPAx system acts as its central brain, giving operators a cohesive, real-time view of the entire plant. This isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about resilience. The tech slashes troubleshooting time by letting workers instantly see what’s preventing a piece of equipment from running—no more digging through code or making frantic support calls.
For a process that hinges on fermentation timing, temperature curves, and grain ratios, that visibility is everything. Operators can now analyze historical trends and compare production runs, setting the stage for anomaly detection and continuous improvement.
The Groundwork for a Digital Future
What’s especially telling is that Heaven Hill isn’t just using this for today’s operations. The company is actively building AI-focused roles to interpret the production data flowing through the PlantPAx system. As Rockwell’s Kris Dornan puts it, they’ve created “a unified control and data environment” that lays “the groundwork for more advanced analytics and richer insights in the future.”
This is the real story: a nearly 90-year-old bourbon maker is treating its new facility as a platform. The initial investment in a modern DCS isn’t just an operational upgrade; it’s a strategic bet that the future of craft spirits will be won by those who can harness data as skillfully as they blend whiskey. It’s a playbook for legacy manufacturers in any sector: modernize the backbone first, and the AI-driven insights will follow.