Buffalo Trace Distillery

Hmmm, what to do while we wait for our upcoming event?  I know - visit a distillery!

Buffalo Trace has historically been known by several names, including the George T. Stagg Distillery and the Old Fire Copper (O.F.C.) Distillery.  The Buffalo Trace namesake bourbon was introduced in 1999.  The name Buffalo Trace refers to the ancient buffalo trackway that crosses the Kentucky River nearby.

Although we'd been here before, we hadn't taken a tour so I checked online but, unfortunately, there was nothing available the day we were there :-(  At this particular distillery guests need to check in on arrival - weren't we surprised when the host told us there was an available tour coming up with Jimmy.  Sign us up! 

The company claims the distillery to be the oldest continuously operating in the United States.  Records indicate that distilling started on the site in 1775 by Hancock Lee and his brother, Willis, who died in 1776.  The first distillery was constructed in 1812 and in 1886, steam heating was installed in the storage warehouses, the first climate controlled warehouse for aging whiskey in the country.

During Prohibition, a few distilleries were allowed to remain operational in order to make whiskey for medicinal purposes using a special government issued prescription pad.

photo by www.atlasobscura.com

Jimmy shared a fact that there were about 6,000,000 prescriptions written within the state - there were FAR fewer citizens than that at the time.  Must have been a happy place to be :-)

We started our walk outside, passing by some of the holding tanks.  

It was raining so Jimmy got us quickly into the barrel room.

He shared a lot of information but the one piece that stuck out was his explanation about the barrels.

The picture is too small to read the details but one thing that captivated us was the "red line" on the barrel slats.  This line is a caramelized layer of sugars that develop just beneath the "char" in the barrel.  The red line designates the depth at which the alcohol stopped penetrating the wood.

The interior of the barrels are "charred" which essentially opens the wood up, making it easier for bourbon to extract flavors.

Barrel "ends" waiting

He showed us an example of barrels holding bourbon.  As time goes on, the fill level diminishes as the bourbon ages.  The longer it ages and the liquid evaporates, the lower the liquid in the barrel. The nearly full barrel on the lower right represents what the alcohol looks like when it is initially introduced to the barrel and before it takes on the color and flavors of the wood.  The longer the bourbon is in the barrel, the less there is to bottle which means the finished product is harder to get and, thus, the higher price.

The barrel on the top left is an example of 18 year aged bourbon

Back outside for a walk to the Blanton Bottling Building.

It was shift change so it was interesting to see the next shift coming to work.  Jimmy told us it was one of the most coveted jobs at the distillery.

Unfortunately, another tour was coming up behind us so we weren't able to stay and watch them actually working.

Last stop was the tasting area.  

Wait - what's that on the left?  Amy, this one is for you!

Before we left we had a taste of Traveller, a first of its kind collaboration between Chris Stapleton and Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley.

In pursuit of the finest possible whiskey, over 50 blends were sampled before making Blend No. 40 the chosen combination.  It is the carefully crafted result of countless hours of testing and tasting and is described as "a whiskey that is easy to drink, hard not to love."  Okay, we bought one.

Big day tomorrow so we needed to rest up!