Buffalo Trace Distillery is a

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

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 ...

, owned by the

Sazerac Company Sazerac Company, Inc is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by billionair ...

. It has historically been known by several names, including the George T. Stagg Distillery and the Old Fashioned Copper (O.F.C.) Distillery. Its namesake bourbon brand, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight

Bourbon whiskey Bourbon () is a type of barrel-aged American whiskey made primarily from corn. The name derives from the French Bourbon dynasty, although the precise source of inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County in Kentucky and Bourbo ...

, was introduced in August 1999. The company claims the distillery is the oldest continuously-operating distillery in the United States. The company says the name "Buffalo Trace" refers to an ancient buffalo crossing on the banks of the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 13, 2011 in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentuc ...

Franklin County, Kentucky Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,541. Its county seat is Frankfort, the state capital. The county was formed in 1795 from parts of Woodford, Mercer and Shelby cou ...

. The Sazerac Company purchased the distillery in 1992. Under its old name, George T. Stagg Distillery, the property was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on May 2, 2001, and designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

on March 11, 2013.

History

The company claims the distillery to be the oldest continuously operating distillery in the United States. Another distillery with similar historical extent is Burks' distillery, now used for production of

Maker's Mark Maker's Mark is a small-batch bourbon whisky produced in Loretto, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is bottled at 90 U.S. proof (45% alcohol by volume) and sold in squarish bottles sealed with red wax. The distillery offers tours, and is part of ...

. According to its citation in the registry of

s, Burks' Distillery's origins extend to 1805, and Burks' Distillery is listed in the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the oldest operating bourbon distillery. Records indicate that distilling started on the site that is now the Buffalo Trace Distillery in 1775 by Hancock Lee and his brother Willis Lee who died in 1776. The first distillery was constructed in 1812 by Harrison Blanton. In 1870 the distillery was purchased by Edmund H. Taylor and given its first name, the Old Fire Copper (O.F.C.) Distillery. Taylor sold the distillery eight years later to George T. Stagg along with the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery. This second distillery was sold within the year to James Graham, in order to add more land to the O.F.C. Distillery. In 1886, Stagg installed steam heating in the storage warehouses, the first climate controlled warehouse for aging whiskey in the nation. During

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

, the distillery was allowed to remain operational, in order to make whiskey for "medicinal purposes". Buffalo Trace residence

In 1972 Gary Gayheart became the master distiller. After his retirement in 2005, he was succeeded by Harlen Wheatley. In 2016 Buffalo Trace Distillery announced plans to expand operations with a capital investment of $200 million. In October 2016, during renovations to convert a building to a meeting and event space, workers discovered the foundation of the original 1873 distillery building, which burned down in 1882, along with the remains of fermenters from that same year. The original distillery foundation was left in place after the fire and an expanded distillery building was built as a replacement. The site is now open for visitors to Buffalo Trace. In March 2022, Buffalo Trace Distillery announced the creation of six-litre OFC Vintage Bourbon Whiskeys, distilled in 1982, and their accompanying NFTs. The NFTs were sold on Blockbar, with the highest bid of $60,000. The sale was part of the distillery’s mission to raise US$2 million for charity by donating 2,022 bottles of whiskey to fundraising causes.

Production

Buffalo Trace Distillery Barrel Aging Warehouse (inside)

Production capacity at Buffalo Trace is estimated at about of whiskey per year. This is carried out at a beer still with a capacity of .

Spirits

While Buffalo Trace Distillery is mainly known for its bourbon, it also produces other spirits such as

rye whiskey Rye whiskey can refer to two different, but related, types of whiskey: * American rye whiskey, which is similar to bourbon whiskey, but must be distilled from at least 51 percent rye grain * Canadian whisky, which is often referred to as (and o ...

and

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...

. "Buffalo Trace" is also a bourbon brand made by the distillery that was introduced in August 1999, two months after the distillery changed its name from the George T. Stagg Distillery. The following spirits are produced by Buffalo Trace Distillery: *Self-produced brands ** Buffalo Trace –

straight Straight may refer to: Slang * Straight, slang for heterosexual ** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype * Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture Sport and games * Str ...

bourbon (the namesake brand for the distillery, also used for branding of an Experimental Collection, Single Oak Project, White Dog (unaged spirit with mash bills for bourbon, wheated bourbon, and rye), and Bourbon Cream (a cream

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond ...

) **

Col. E. H. Taylor Old Taylor Bourbon is a brand of straight bourbon whiskey produced at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Franklin County, Kentucky by the Sazerac Company. It was named in honor of the historic distiller Col. Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. Col. E. H. Taylor ...

– small batch, single-barrel, and barrel proof straight bourbon and rye **

Eagle Rare Eagle Rare is a brand of bourbon whiskey distilled and distributed by the Buffalo Trace Distillery. Eagle Rare is 90 proof bourbon, aged for either 10 or 17 years, depending on the variety. It was introduced in 1975 and is distilled in Frankfort, K ...

– straight bourbon and 17 year antique collection ** George T. Stagg –

barrel-proof Cask strength (also known as barrel proof/barrel strength) is a term used by whiskey (often spelled "whisky" outside of Ireland and the United States) and rum producers to describe a whiskey or rum that has not been substantially diluted after its ...

straight bourbon (with a prior name for the distillery) ** Stagg Jr. – barrel proof straight bourbon **

McAfee's Benchmark McAfee's Benchmark is a brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey produced by the Sazerac Company at its Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. The full name of the brand that appears on the bottle is "McAfee's Benchmark Old No. 8 Bran ...

– straight bourbon **O.F.C. – straight bourbon (with a prior name for the distillery) **

Old Charter Old Charter is a brand of bourbon whiskey distilled in Frankfort, Kentucky at the Buffalo Trace Distillery, a part of the Sazerac Company. The whiskey is no longer aged 8 years, despite the claim on the label that it "is gently matured for eigh ...

– straight bourbon **

Old Charter Oak Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

– straight bourbon **

Old Taylor Old Taylor Bourbon is a brand of straight bourbon whiskey produced at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Franklin County, Kentucky by the Sazerac Company. It was named in honor of the historic distiller Col. Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. Col. E. H. Taylor ...

– straight bourbon **

Peychaud's Bitters Peychaud's Bitters is a bitters distributed by the American Sazerac Company. It was originally created between 1849 and 1857 by Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a Creole apothecary from the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) who traveled to Ne ...

**Platinum 7X/Platinum 10X – vodka **

Sazerac The Sazerac is a local variation of a cognac or whiskey cocktail originally from New Orleans, named for the ''Sazerac de Forge et Fils'' brand of cognac brandy that served as its original main ingredient. The drink is most traditionally a combi ...

– straight rye and Sazerac antique collection ** Thomas H. Handy –

straight rye ** W. L. Weller – special reserve, antique 107, and barrel proof William Larue Weller antique collection straight bourbon (with a wheated

mash bill Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, or grain bill are the materials that brewers use to produce the wort that they then ferment into alcohol. Mashing is the act of creating and extracting fermentable and non-fermentable sugars and flavor co ...

very similar or identical to that for the Van Winkle brands) **Wheatley – vodka *Brands produced in partnership with Age International (a former owner of the distillery, now part of the Japanese company

Takara Holdings is a Japanese company based in Kyoto. The company is mainly involved in the production of beverages, food, printing and medical supplies. Divisions Takara Bio Clontech Laboratories was acquired from BD Biosciences in 2005. In 2007, Clontech wa ...

): **

Ancient Age Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

– straight bourbon **

Blanton's Blanton's is a brand of bourbon whiskey produced and marketed by the Sazerac Company. Though it doesn't own the brand, it has exclusive distilling rights. It is owned by Age International, Inc. It is distilled in Frankfort, Kentucky at the Buffalo ...

single-barrel Single barrel whiskey (or single cask whiskey) is a premium class of whiskey in which each bottle comes from an individual aging barrel, instead of coming from blending together the contents of various barrels to provide uniformity of color and t ...

– straight bourbon **

Hancock's President's Reserve Hancock's President's Reserve Bourbon Whiskey is a single barrel bourbon whiskey produced in Frankfort, Kentucky by the Sazerac Company at Buffalo Trace Distillery. The brand is sold as a straight Straight may refer to: Slang * Straight, slang ...

– single-barrel straight bourbon **

Elmer T. Lee Elmer Tandy Lee (Aug. 5, 1919 — July 16, 2013) was a master distiller at Buffalo Trace Distillery, and master distiller emeritus after his retirement in 1985. Biography Lee was born in Peaks Mill, Kentucky in 1919. Lee is known for launchi ...

– single-barrel straight bourbon **

Rock Hill Farms Rock Hill Farms is a single barrel bourbon whiskey produced in Frankfort, Kentucky, by the Sazerac Company. The brand is sold as a straight bourbon. It comes from Buffalo Trace Distillery's mash bill Mash ingredients, mash bill, mashbill, ...

– single-barrel straight bourbon *Brands produced in partnership with the Van Winkle family (under an agreement established in June 2002): **

Old Rip Van Winkle Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon Whiskey is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon whiskey produced by the Sazerac Company at its Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. It is sold in 750ml glass bottles. The primary brand expression is aged 10 year ...

– straight bourbon (wheated) **

Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve is the flagship brand of bourbon whiskey owned by the "Old Rip Van Winkle Distillery" company. It is distilled and bottled by the Sazerac Company at its Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Pappy Van ...

– straight bourbon (wheated) **Van Winkle Special Reserve – straight bourbon (wheated) **Van Winkle Family Reserve – straight rye Buffalo Trace also produces spirits for private bottlers and

store brand A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

History

Production

Spirits

See also

References

Bibliography

External links