Heaven Hill Makes ‘Challenging Decision’ to Shutter Bottling Operations at This Distillery
Heaven Hill announced that after much deliberation it will be closing the bottling facility for its Black Velvet Canadian Whisky brand. (Photo: Lane Southard/Whiskey Raiders)
On Tuesday, FoodBev Media reported that Heaven Hill is shuttering the bottling facilities at its Black Velvet whisky distillery in Canada. The distillery mainly functions as a bottling site for the brand, while producing additional vodkas, dry gin and Admiral Nelson’s spiced rum.
According to FoodBev Media, Heaven Hill intends to close the bottling site sometime in February.
Heaven Hill reports that distilling operations in the city will continue, and Heaven Hill claims the Black Velvet brand is still going strong.
“After extensive deliberation and a comprehensive financial analysis, Heaven Hill Brands has made the challenging decision that revitalizing on-site bottling operations is financially unfeasible,” Heaven Hill Brands Chief Operations Officer Debbie Morris said, according to FoodBev Media.
Heaven Hill intends to relocate Black Velvet Whisky’s bottling operations to its facilities in Kentucky.
According to FoodBev Media, employees at Black Velvet’s Alberta facilities will be provided with “free outplacement services.”
According to FoodBev Media, Heaven Hill claimed some of its reasoning behind the closure involved declines in production output, old equipment and “a lack of investment by the previous owners of the bottling facility.”
In November 2019, Heaven Hill purchased Black Velvet from Constellation Brands.
Black Velvet was meant to fill a gap in Heaven Hill’s imported whisky portfolio, according to a news release from the brand.
“Today we are proud to officially welcome this iconic brand and others into Heaven Hill’s historic portfolio,” Heaven Hill Brands President Max L. Shapira said in a statement at the time of the acquisition. “The Heaven Hill family is proud to continue the culture of Black Velvet and nurture the unique heritage of this great Canadian Whisky that has built a solid foundation for growth.”
Heaven Hill is known for whiskey brands like Old Fitzgerald, Elijah Craig and Larceny.
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