Buffalo Trace Distillery Virtual Tour

Take a virtual tour of the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky, and here’s the link and a history of the oldest continually-operating distillery in the USA.

The Buffalo Trace Distillery claims to be the oldest continuously-operating distillery in the USA, as there has been distilling on the same site since 1775. That’s when brothers Hancock and Willis Lee first started distilling, though a distillery building wasn’t constructed till 1812. That’s why the Burk’s Distillery (now used by Maker’s Mark) claims to be the oldest US distillery, as that was built in 1805. However, the distillery hasn’t operated continuously since then, whereas Buffalo Trace has just kept on going without a break, even staying open during Prohibition for the making of medicinal whiskies.

Buffalo Trace Distillery Virtual Tour

Below you’ll find a link to a virtual tour of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, but before that here’s a brief history of the distillery and some of the awards it’s won.

Buffalo Trace Origins

The Buffalo Trace was a historic buffalo migration route that ran through Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. In 1771 the pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone passed through what became Lee’s Town, which was along the Buffalo Trace. Two years later, Hancock Lee arrived, settled, gave the place its name, and among other things immediately began distilling whiskey.

The distilling became a successful business and in 1811 a three-story stone warehouse was built by the nearby Kentucky River, holding barrels ready to be shipped downstream to suppliers, as far afield as New Orleans.

New Warehouses

In 1881 two new warehouses were built, called Warehouse A and Warehouse B, and you can still see those historic warehouses when you tour the Buffalo Trace Distillery today. In 1885 they needed another warehouse so Warehouse C was constructed, and that too is still standing. In 1886 they installed steam heating in the warehouses, the first distillery in the USA to do that.

Prohibition

Between 1920 and 1933 when Prohibition was in place in the USA, Buffalo Trace was one of the few distilleries allowed to keep operating, for the production of medicinal whiskey. Incidentally – fun fact – more alcohol was consumed in the USA during Prohibition than had been before Prohibition, so that worked well. When Prohibition ended in 1933, Buffalo Trace was one of only four commercial whiskey distilleries remaining in business in Kentucky.

More Warehouses!

It’s a sign of how successful Buffalo Trace became that by 1935 they were building Warehouse H (that’s number 8, to save you counting), with six more being added over the next few years. By 1942, the distillery had produced its one millionth barrel since the end of Prohibition. Again, to save you the math, that’s an average of well over 100,000 barrels a year. By 1953 they’d done two million barrels and were now building Warehouse V.

Buffalo Trace Awards

In 2000 Buffalo Trace became the first ever US distillery to be named “Distillery of the Year” by Whisky Advocate magazine. Over the years they’ve won so many awards it’s impossible to list them all. For example, in 2019 alone their bourbons won eight different awards in various global competitions, including three Gold Medals and one Double Gold Medal. In the same year their vodka – yes, they do make a vodka too – won four awards of its own, including a Double Gold in the New York Spirits Competition. Buffalo Trace was also named Distillery of the Year by Tasting Panel Magazine at 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Buffalo Trace Virtual Tour

Until you can tour the distillery yourself for real, you can enjoy this Buffalo Trace Distillery Virtual Tour.
You can check on real distillery tours here. You can buy a range of Buffalo Trace spirits at Caskers.