Buffalo Trace
Buffalo Trace (1857-1869 OFC Distillery , 1873-1952 George T. Stagg , 1952-1969 Blanton's Distillery , 1969-1992 Ancient Age ) is a Whiskey - Distillery in Frankfort , Kentucky . It belongs to the Sazerac Company from New Orleans. None of the other American distilleries produce such a variety of whiskeys as Buffalo Trace. The distillery mainly produces bourbon whiskeys , but also has some of the most famous rye whiskeys on offer.
Buffalo Trace argues with Maker's Mark about being the longest running whiskey distillery in the United States. The company survived the prohibition era as one of only six licensed distilleries allowed to produce medicinal whiskey for pharmacies. The company site has been a National Historic Landmark since 2013 .
history
The oldest building on the company's premises that is used for whiskey production dates back to 1792. Buffalo Trace itself can prove a continuous distillery activity since 1857. The first owner was Benjamin Blanton, who soon sold the distillery to Edmund Taylor. Taylor named the distillery OFC (for Old Fire Copper, according to the then used pot stills of copper . Taylor renovated the building in 1873 with George T. Stagg, who took over the distillery end of the 19th century and gave her his name.
From 1929 to 1983 the George T. Stagg Distillery belonged to Schenley , a forerunner of Diageo . In the bourbon crisis years since the 1970s, Schenley ran the George T. Stagg Distillery and the Bernheim Distillery in Lexington , Kentucky (now part of Heaven Hill ), so that Schenley whiskeys could come from different distilleries depending on the season. In 1983 Schenley sold the distillery to Ferdie Falk and Robert Baranaskas, who founded the new company Age International (AI) and produced, among other things, the Ancient Age (produced as AA or for the ten-year version AAA by the Ancient Age Distilling Company from 1869) , but also unlabelled whiskey, which served as the basis for blended whiskey and the branded products of other manufacturers.
Buffalo Trace was the first American distillery to discover the trend towards high-priced single malts from Scotland and began to implement the concept with its own products. At that time, single malt was particularly successful in Japan, so they produced their first product of this type for the Japanese market: The Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon developed by Elmer T Lee was the first bourbon whiskey that was ever made from a single barrel in the warehouse and wanted to address a new premium audience. Blanton's itself was a moderate success, but the concept prevailed, so that today there dozens of Single Barrel and Small Batch (dt. Small amount ) -Whiskeys are - among other things, on the strength of Buffalo Trace himself.
In 1992, Falk and Baranaskas sold their company and distillery to Takara Shuzo from Japan. Takara Shuzo immediately sold the distillery to Sazerac, but retained ownership of the brands and Age International itself. All Age International whiskeys will continue to be produced by Buffalo Trace.
whiskey
Buffalo Trace
Eagle Rare
George T. Stagg
Pappy Van Winkle
Old Rip Van Winkle
Sazerac Rye
Buffalo Trace produces a whole range of different whiskeys, from inexpensive items for supermarkets like Ancient Age and McAfee's Benchmark, to a whole range of high-priced premium whiskeys that regularly win awards. Buffalo Trace produces for its own brands as well as for third-party manufacturers. The as teuerster Bourbon in the world applicable Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve is produced, for example, in Buffalo Trace for the Van Winkle family. Buffalo Trace also makes the first whiskey brand for the A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Virginia. Buffalo Trace produces its whiskey from several different basic mashes, each of which is either more corn- or rye-heavy. The storage times are between four years and 23 years. The Sazerac Rye is one of the most famous rye whiskeys from Buffalo Trace .
In addition to the eponymous Buffalo Trace Whiskey and Blanton's, Ancient Age Whiskey is also part of the distillery's range. Other brands include Eagle Rare Single Barrel, Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel, George T. Stagg, Hancock's Presidents Reserve, McAFee's Benchmark, Old Charter, Proprietor's Reserve, Rock Hill Farms Single Barrel, and WL Weller . Buffalo Trace operates the "Experimental Collection" whiskeys, of which only one barrel is produced and possibly sold. If successful, the variety may be included in the standard program. Buffalo Trace currently has around 2000 of these experimental kegs.
Buffalo Trace also produced the George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey until 1958 , as Tennessee itself was still in county prohibition. That is why there was also a system on the distillery site in which the Lincoln Country Process, a filtration through charcoal, could be carried out.
In addition to whiskey, Buffalo Trace also makes bitters and vodka .
Remarks
- ↑ a b Ian Buxton: 101 Whiskeys to Try Before You Die , Hachette UK, 2011 ISBN 0-7553-6298-5
- ^ A b Franz Brandl: Whisk (e) y Südwest Verlag 2013 ISBN 978-3-517-08335-3 p. 198
- ↑ a b Erhard Ruthner: Buffalo Trace - Home of Many Good Whiskeys ( Memento of the original from December 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Eye for Spirits March 14, 2011
- ^ Gilbert Delos: Les Whiskeys du Monde. Translation from French: Karin-Jutta Hofmann: Whiskey from all over the world. Karl Müller, Erlangen 1998, ISBN 3-86070-442-7 , p. 130 ( Ancient Age ).
- ↑ a b c Chuck Cowdery: The Failure of Diageo's Orphan Barrel Project , The Chuck Cowdery Blog, November 18, 2014
- ^ A b Whiskey Nations, Dorling Kindersley Ltd, 2008 ISBN 1-4053-3624-2 p. 189
- ↑ a b Buffalo Trace in: Ron Givens: Bourbon at Its Best: The Lore and Allure of America's Finest Spirits Clerisy Press, 2013 ISBN 1-57860-404-4
