Buffalo Trace Distillery

On a bend of the Kentucky River in Frankfort sits the oldest continually operating distillery in America, producing bourbon on the same ground for more than two centuries. Buffalo Trace Distillery takes its name from the ancient buffalo migration paths that once crossed the property, and its whiskey now anchors some of the most sought-after names in American whiskey, from Blanton's Single Barrel to Pappy Van Winkle.

History & Heritage

Distilling activity on this site dates to 1775, when Hancock Lee and Willis Lee began production along the riverbank. The first formal distillery building rose in 1812. The site's defining chapter began in 1870, when Colonel Edmund H. Taylor Jr. purchased the operation and renamed it the O.F.C. (Old Fire Copper) Distillery, bringing modern production methods and architectural ambition to bourbon making. George T. Stagg purchased the distillery in 1878, and it operated under the Stagg name from 1904 onward.

The distillery was one of the few in the country permitted to keep operating through Prohibition, producing whiskey for medicinal purposes under federal license. Ownership passed to the Schenley Distillers Corporation before the Sazerac Company acquired the property. In August 1999, the site was officially renamed Buffalo Trace Distillery, the name it carries today. The distillery remains owned and operated by the Sazerac Company as of July 2026, with production continuing on grounds that include warehouses dating to the 1800s.

The Whiskey

Buffalo Trace draws hand-selected grains from Kentucky and Indiana farms and pure limestone water for mashing and fermentation. Whiskey is distilled through a combination of a column still and a copper pot still doubler, following a traditional sour mash process in which residual liquid from prior distillations is carried into new mash to aid fermentation. A proprietary yeast strain drives fermentation over four to five days.

The distillery works from four primary mash bills, closely guarded but generally understood: a low-rye recipe (roughly 89.5% corn, 7% rye, 3.5% malted barley) behind Buffalo Trace Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey and Eagle Rare; a higher-rye recipe used for Blanton's; a wheated bill (roughly 76.5% corn, 20% wheat, 3.5% malted barley) behind the Weller line and Pappy Van Winkle; and a rye-forward bill (roughly 55% rye) behind Sazerac Rye. New make spirit goes into new, charred American white oak barrels with a #4 "alligator char," roughly an eighth of an inch deep, and ages in historic warehouses fitted with steam heat so aging continues through Kentucky winters rather than pausing in the cold.

Why It Matters

Buffalo Trace's flagship bourbon carries the distillery's own name, but its reach extends across some of the category's most recognized labels: Eagle Rare's 10-year low-rye bourbon, Blanton's Single Barrel (widely credited as the world's first single-barrel bourbon), the E.H. Taylor, Jr. line honoring the Colonel who transformed the site in the 1870s, Sazerac Rye, and the wheated Weller and Pappy Van Winkle expressions that built the modern allocated-bourbon market. More recently, Traveller Blend No. 40 Whiskey brought the distillery into a new collaboration with musician Chris Stapleton and Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley. The distillery has collected more than 1,000 awards for its spirits, including Global Distiller of the Year and American Distiller of the Year from Whisky Magazine's Icons of Whisky in 2022, along with earlier Distillery of the Year honors from Whisky Advocate and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Visiting the Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery offers complimentary tours and tastings seven days a week at 113 Great Buffalo Trace in Frankfort, Kentucky. Reservations are recommended, though limited walk-up availability is offered daily. Visitors can choose from the introductory Trace Tour, the production-focused Hard Hat Tour, or the historic Old Taylor Tour, and complimentary guided tastings are available at the Distillery Gift Shop without a reservation. A cafe and gift shop operate on-site.

The Sentinel Room's Reserve Whiskey Library carries 4 expressions from Buffalo Trace Distillery, including Buffalo Trace Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey and Traveller Blend No. 40 Whiskey, for those who appreciate good whiskey looking to explore the distillery's range.