Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace is an absolute legend in the whiskey community. There's no doubt about that. But, that legend is one that's been earned through a long and historic relationship with whiskey, not one that was built through a marketing campaign.

Even the name "Buffalo Trace" has historical context harkening back to the pioneer days. However, Buffalo Trace's roots started as a three story stone warehouse on the Kentucky River.

After that, in 1870, Colonel E.H. Taylor purchased the warehouse and dubbed it OFC (Old Fashioned Copper) Distillery, then that distillery was purchased by George T. Stagg in 1878. In 1921 its name officially changed to the George T. Stagg Distillery.

In 1984, they produced the world's firstsingle barrel bourbon, Blanton's.

The distillery was purchased in Sazerac in 1992, and in 1999, the distillery had been completely overhauled and was renamed "Buffalo Trace" after the ancient buffalo traces that led through the wilderness and to the Kentucky River.

Driving through Frankfurt was beautiful. It's a picturesque rural town full of quaint shops and mom & pop restaurants.

For all the size of the Buffalo Trace distillery, it's tucked away. Nestled in a hilled thicket of trees. You can smell the cooking mash in the air before you see the distillery, speaking to the sheer size of their operation and the amount of whiskey they produce.

You're immediately greeted by ancient red brick rickhouses. You can see the barrels aging in the open windows, exposed to the elements to influence the flavor of the whiskey resting within.

When you start the distillery tour, its like walking though a glitch in time. There is a nearly seamless integration of the historic foundation upon which the distillery is built, and modern means of production layered upon it in unintrusive ways so as to not detract from the aesthetic.

There is a short video you watch on the history of the distillery, and then, you're led into one of the aging warehouses. It was incredible seeing the place where so much of that delicious and highlyallocated juice resting.

We saw OFC barrels and Weller barrels aging right in front of us. It's one thing to see it in a bottle, its another to see over one hundred of those bottles worth of whiskey aging in person.

The bottling plant seemed incredibly small for the sheer scale of Buffalo Trace's operation. However, when you sit and watch you understand how incredibly efficient each of the members of their bottling line is.

Everything is done by hand with textbook speed and precision. Each person dutifully and skillfully completing their individual task to make the entire line run smoothly.

We were fortunate enough to be there on Blanton's bottling day. In the 10 minutes or so we spent in the line, we saw hundreds upon hundreds of bottles of Blanton's filled, labeled, packed, and boxed. It was surreal seeing case upon case of such a highly sought-after whiskey sitting right there.

When the tour is over, you're taken up to a bar to sample some whiskey and learn some whiskey tasting techniques.

Each of the Buffalo Trace tour guides is highly knowledgeable in the art of whiskey tasting and more than willing to share their knowledge and preferences with you upon request.

You get to taste Wheatly vodka, Buffalo Trace, and Eagle Rare. If you have trouble findig some of these in your state, it's a great way to try some very hyped bourbons.

One of the tasting samples is a "buffalo trace root beer float." They take Buffalo Trace bourbon cream and mix it with root beer 50/50 in a small cup.

I will admit, for such a simple cocktail it's absolutely delicious.

If you're around Frankfort, heading to Buffalo Trace is completely worth the time.