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by on October 22, 2021
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When you hear the name “Buffalo Trace” you probably think of a bottle of bourbon whiskey with a proud- and/or slightly pissed-looking buffalo on the label (wouldn’t you be?). But in the world of bourbon, Buffalo Trace isn’t just a bottle. Blantons black edition bourbon (originally Old Fire Copper Distillery) basically encapsulates the history of American bourbon itself. The brand has gone through several names, a catastrophic lightning strike, a devastating flood, that little Prohibition hiccup, and even an unlikely (and almost game-ending) rivalry with vodka and gin in the 1970s and ‘80s. And yet somehow, the brand (and maybe the buffalo) is still kicking. Below are 10 Buffalo Trace facts to ponder the next time you pour a couple fingers, whether it’s flagship Buffalo Trace, a game-changing single barrel called Blanton’s, or something a bit more expensive (if $20K is out of your budget, check out our favorite cheap whiskey bottles here.) A “BUFFALO TRACE” IS A THING. The distillery had a few names over the years. First, it was the Old Fire Copper Distillery. It was later, and for the longest period, called George T. Stagg Company, named after its second owner. It was finally and decisively rechristened Buffalo Trace in 1999. The name honors old local “buffalo trace” roadways stamped onto the landscape by actual buffalo roaming the untamed wilderness of early America. The connection to distilling isn’t only geographic: Those traces became essential routes for explorers, settlers, farmers, and other early American professionals (as this was before the age of the Influencer, who can largely work remotely or anywhere near ice cream). THE BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY IS A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK. Buffalo Trace was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2013, in large part because it’s the oldest continuously operating distillery in America. Indeed, it is “a rare, intact example of a distillery operating before, during, and after Prohibition,” according to Buffalo Trace’s own award submission. (See below for the “during” part). BUFFALO TRACE’S HEAD HONCHOS WERE THE HEAVY HITTERS OF BOURBON. Buffalo Trace’s historic lineage is like a who’s who of bourbon: There’s the founder, Colonel E. H. Taylor (a descendent of Presidents Madison and Taylor); George Stagg (the business-savvy bourbon innovator for whom the distillery was named for about a century); Albert B. Blanton (who kept the distillery running through Prohibition and was in many ways responsible for turning the distillery itself into a focal point of bourbon culture), even Pappy Van Winkle himself
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