Elmer Tandy Lee (Aug. 5, 1919 — July 16, 2013) was a

master distiller Master distiller is a title often used for a distilling expert or a key leader or owner at modern distilleries. The title doesn't have a fixed definition and can mean different things at different companies. Although the craft of distilling has exis ...

Buffalo Trace Distillery Buffalo Trace Distillery is a distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, owned by the Sazerac Company. It has historically been known by several names, including the George T. Stagg Distillery and the Old Fashioned Copper (O.F.C.) Distillery. Its namesak ...

, and master distiller emeritus after his retirement in 1985.

Biography

Lee was born in Peaks Mill, Kentucky in 1919. Lee is known for launching Blanton's in 1984, the first modern bourbon brand marketed as a single barrel bourbon. Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers' Association, credited the premium market that Mr. Lee pioneered as a major factor in the bourbon industry's turnaround in the last decade; sales reached 30 million gallons in 2012 for the first time since 1973, he said. He entered the University of Kentucky but withdrew to volunteer for the Army in World War II. He served as a radar bombardier in

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based in Guam. Mr. Lee returned to the university after the war to get his degree and began working at the distillery as a maintenance engineer when, under a different owner, it was called the George T. Stagg Distillery. He was promoted to plant superintendent in 1966 and to plant manager in 1969 and given the title master distiller in the early 1980s. After his retirement, Buffalo Trace honored Mr. Lee with a single-barrel brand of his own, the Elmer T. Lee Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, bottled from barrels he continued selecting himself into his 90s. The label won gold medals this year

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at both the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The journal Whiskey Advocate described its flavor as "elegant and complex." Lee was inducted in the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2001 and received lifetime achievement awards from both '' Whisky Advocate'' (2002) and '' Whisky Magazine'' (2012). Lee died in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States, and the seat of Franklin County. It is a home rule-class city; the population was 28,602 at the 2020 census. Located along the Kentucky River, Frankfort is the prin ...

, in 2013, at the age of 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Elmer T. 1919 births 2013 deaths American drink distillers People from Franklin County, Kentucky University of Kentucky alumni Whisky distillers