Honor Tradition, Embrace Change | Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery is one of the many bourbon distilleries in Central Kentucky (However, it is not on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail). Buffalo Trace is located in Frankfort, Kentucky. It has historically been known by other names, including the George T. Stagg Distillery and the O.F.C. Distillery. The Buffalo Trace brand was introduced in August 1999. Buffalo Trace claims the distillery is the oldest continuously-operating distillery in the United States. It is claimed that the location of Buffalo Trace was once an ancient buffalo crossing on the banks of the Kentucky River, so they then in return named the distillery after the American bison. Honor Tradition, Embrace Change is Buffalo Trace’s slogan, and if you look at how they came to be what they are starting at the beginning in 1771 until present day. Since Lexington is only about 35 minutes away from Frankfort, it wasn’t a big deal to take a spontaneous trip.

My husband and I decided to visit Buffalo Trace, because we love bourbon (duh!). We started the tour with getting a brief introduction to bourbon and Buffalo Trace. We were then led into a room, where we watched a short video on how Buffalo Trace became to be. Afterwards, we were led into another room via a secret door that was disguised as a bookcase. We then able to see some barrels aging in one of their rickhouses. We began looking around and saw a few that were labeled ‘experimental.’ It’s important to remember that ALL of these barrels are NEW and will stay aging, until essentially they are ‘ready’ (which depending on what specific product it is, will determine the length. For example, Buffalo Trace Straight Bourbon is a 7-Year). Last but not least, we ended the tour with a tasting. We tasted Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare, along with their Bourbon Cream (I’ll have a recipe to go along with that later this month!).

Note: With this tour, you don’t get to see the fermentation or distillation process with the tour that I went on. If you want to see that aspect, you would need to choose the Hard Hat Tour. Like I’ve mentioned in my previous distillery tour posts, each distillery has their own way of handling tours and some offer various tours based on tailored interests. With the Hard Hat Tour, you’ll get to see where the E.H. Taylor, Jr. Microstill is located, and will get to see where the Distillery’s unique and award-winning Experimental Collection whiskies are made.

Buffalo Trace offers The Trace Tour, The Hard Hat Tour, National Historical Landmark Tour, Bourbon Barrel Tour, and Ghost Tour.

Some other important dates (see more from 1771 to 1899 and 1900 to present)

• 1881: Warehouse A and Warehouse B are built; still standing today.
• 1883: The newly rebuilt distillery included a large mashing and fermenting wing which remains intact today as the Dickel Buildin
• 1885: The Construction of Warehouse C, still standing today, completes Taylor’s vision for his ‘Model Distillery Plant of the World.
• 1935: Warehouse H, the Distillery’s only ‘metal clad’ warehouse,  is the first of seven massive new warehouses built before World War II
• 1953: Warehouse ‘V,’ the world’s only ‘single barrel’ warehouse, is built in celebration of the two millionth barrel
• 1984: The Distillery introduces Blanton’s, the world’s first single-barrel bourbon.
• 1992: The Distillery is finally returned to a family-owned business, being purchased by the Sazerac Company
• 1999: Distillery renovations are completed and rechristened as THE BUFFALO TRACE Distillery. The Distillery’s new flagship brand – BUFFALO TRACE – is launched.
• 2000: The Buffalo Trace Distillery is awarded Whisky Advocate’s ‘Distillery of the Year’ – the first American distillery to win this prestigious international award.
• 2008: The Distillery produces the six millionth barrel after Prohibition.
• 2013: Buffalo Trace Distillery named a National Historic Landmark.
• 2015: Distillery purchases land and expands to over 400 acres.

So, you may be wondering what happened to the recovered Pappy? It was destroyed in fear of contamination or tampering.

FYI: A filled bourbon barrel weighs over 500 pounds!!

{Blanton’s in the process of being bottled at Buffalo Trace}

• Blanton’s Single Barrel (Introduced in 1984, Blanton’s namesake bourbon was the first ever Single Barrel Bourbon sold commercially). The barrels are dumped by hand without using machinery. There are eight different stopper designs and each of them are with a different letter of the alphabet molded into it and topped with a figurine of a racehorse and jockey. When placed in order, it spells ‘B L A N T O N’ S.’ The horse and jockey’s poses display eight different scenes of a horse race, from standing at the gate, to crossing the finish line with a win. There are displays you can purchase, so you can place each stopper on it, so you will have a complete scene of a horse race (For those that don’t know, horse racing is a huge deal in Kentucky. In fact, where I live in – Lexington, is the Horse Capital of the World).

Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon is typically aged for 9 years. It is aged in Warehouse H at Buffalo Trace, which is the only metal-cladded warehouse at Buffalo Trace and was commissioned for construction by one of the distillery’s early leaders, Albert B. Blanton, shortly after the end of the Prohibition era. Being metal, the warehouse transfers heat quicker than brick warehouses, which allows for more rapid aging.

• Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel
• Sazerac Rye
• W.L. Weller (Special Reserve, 12 Year, and Antique)
• Old Charter (Old Charter and Charter 101 Proof)
• Benchmark
• Ancient Age (Ancient Age and Ancient Ancient Age 10 Star)
• White Dog (Mash #1, Wheated Mash, Rye Mash)
• Bourbon Cream
• They also make vodkas too! (Wheatley Vodka, Platinum, Rain, and CLIX)

Just to be noted: You won’t find all of this information on the tour, but you will find some of it. I just don’t want to set any expectations to anyone that may be looking to learn all of this information. Tours are relatively short (around one hour), so it would be impossible to learn everything that you need to know about bourbon and/or that specific distillery. You can learn a lot about bourbon by visiting the distilleries, drinking bourbon, reading bourbon blogs, talking to fellow bourbon lovers, and being from Kentucky (okay, okay, I just had to include that one, since we basically invented it! But in all seriously, just by living here, you definitely learn a lot, especially if it is something you are interested in!).

This is also something that my husband and I enjoy – drinking bourbon and visiting distilleries. Just about every weekend, we are going to different events, traveling to distilleries, trying out new restaurants, going downtown, etc. That’s just how we want to live our life. I want to take advantage of the opportunities out there, since there is a ridiculous amount of stuff to do out there. I don’t think it is any fun sitting at home watching the world pass you by!

I’m super excited to go back in October for another tour and to have brunch at the distillery with The Bourbon Social! {another Bourbon Social event that I attended was the Beer, Bacon, and Bourbon Garden Party}. How cool is that? Brunch at the distillery! If the last event was any indicator, then I just know it is going to be a blast!