2 Jun 2022 - Buffalo Trace Distillery

 2 Jun

Today we drove about 35 minutes west to the Kentucky state capital Frankfort to tour the Buffalo Trace Distillery.  It occupies over 440 acres in the heart of Kentucky's bourbon country.  .

The Buffalo Trace Distillery's history can be traced back to around 1858 when Daniel Swigert  developed a distillery here.  Various people were involved including Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, E.H. Taylor Jr., George T. Stagg and Albert B. Blanton.  Prohibition came and went and the distillery evolved into an award-winning bourbon distillery and a national landmark.   The buildings and grounds are absolutely awesome - so much history!

The name "Buffalo Trace" comes from "the trails, or traces the buffalo carved as they led early explorers westward in search of new adventures." 

So our interest in this distillery brand came from bourbon tasting events during the last two Alliance RV Rally's.  I've always liked the taste of good bourbon, but never really knew all that much about it until the first Rally.  The hosts of the tasting event taught us about bourbon, what it takes to be called a bourbon,  and the tasting event allowed us to try many different types of bourbon and believe me there are many, all with unique tastes.  One Buffalo Trace bourbon really stood out on my palette as exceptional.  It is called Eagle Rare.  So not only did we come in search of a tour and tasting event but we came in search of the opportunity to purchase some Eagle Rare bourbon.  

We arrived at the visitor center and got checked in quickly.  When you check in you either have a reservation for a tour (or not) and are given a wrist band accordingly, or you are just there to go to the store and get a different wrist band.  

This is the visitor center later in the morning.  When we first arrived this was packed, but because we had a tour reservation we went to the front of the line.

We were told to get here early in hopes of scoring some Eagle Rare.  Well that did not happen.  Yes, we arrived fairly early, and we had a reservation for the Trace tour and tasting, but each day they feature a different select bourbon to offer in the gift shop and today was not the day for Eagle Rare.  Instead the featured bourbon was Col E.H. Taylor Jr.'s Small Batch Bourbon.  This bourbon is outstanding so we were not disappointed.  You are limited to one bottle per person per 90 days!!  So Doreen and I both bought one along with a bottle of the Buffalo Trace and the Bourbon Creme.  More about that later.  The nice part is we were early enough to shop and get some and take it to the truck before the tour started.  It is a good thing we did because at the conclusion of our tour there was no Col E.H. Taylor Jr.'s Small Batch Bourbon in the store!  Sold out for the day!

The gift shop was crazy

The bourbons for sale today

 So our tour time came and we assembled outside with our guide, a retired Kentucky State Trooper.  He took us building by building telling us about the history and the process of distilling, aging and bottling Buffalo Trace bourbon.  

The barrel receiving building

The charred staves that give bourbon it's flavor and color

Barrels in the background

Overhead piping that flows steam for heating as well as distilled alcohol heading for the barrels

One of the old warehouses that was damaged by a tornado.  

Bourbon that was barreled 1/15/07, so it is about 15 years old.

This bourbon was barreled in 2014

The colors to the right depict the amount of liquid that enters the barrels and how much is lost to evaporation.  Almost 80% can be lost depending on the age!

Next we toured the Albert B Blanton bottling hall.  Here they hand-bottle single barrel batches  of bourbon.  This can be a special run by a distributor, for instance.  

From here we proceeded to the tasting room.  Each person was presented with six different samples plus a chocolate!  Each is distinct and everyone's palette is different.  They teach you to look for a different flavor or taste from each different bourbon.  

We are glad we drove over to the Buffalo Trace Distillery for this tour.  In 2016 we did a tour at Jim Beam and it was different.  Bourbon is a unique American treasure.  You may not be a bourbon fan but we appreciate the history of this American treasure!

Tomorrow we will investigate Lexington KY and prepare to head south to Nashville on Saturday!!