Buffalo Trace Distillery Tour

Being an inexperienced Bourbon drinker at the time, I had not even heard of Buffalo Trace distillery when we first scheduled our visit there. It’s not the kind of Bourbon that you see at a typical liquor store in our area. The liquor ‘Super Stores’ carry it though. We arrived at Buffalo Trace at 11:30 in the morning. As soon as we got out of the car, it was like we had taken a trip back in time. The buildings probably look the same as they did 100 years ago. Most of the buildings are brick, with unusual black patches, which turned out to be a harmless mold that grows on the buildings due to the high humidity level in the area. The high humidity of course is due to about a quarter of a million barrels of Bourbon sitting around.

Our second early impression at Buffalo Trace was unexpected. As we approached the visitor center, Blitz Jr. and I looked at each other and at the same time said “do you smell that?” It was an odor that I had never experienced before, but it was familiar. It smelled like Bourbon, but with a humid, woody accent. We would later learn that this smell is called the ‘Angels Share’. It’s the result of Bourbon evaporating through the oak barrels.
It is really something to behold.

Our tour began with our introduction to our guide, Freddie Johnson. We hit the jackpot with this guy. I don’t know what you get with the other tour guides, but I can’t imagine a guide to be more knowledgeable or entertaining. He basically grew up on the distillery, and had stories about himself and his family that would be difficult to replicate.

The tour begins with a video, which provides some good basic information on Bourbon making and history. Next we went through the warehouses and learned more about the aging process. We finished up in the bottling room. The tour was informative, especially in discussing the aging process and techniques.

After the tour, of course, there was a tasting session. We were offered Buffalo Trace, the flagship brand of the distillery, and Eagle Rare, a single barrel ‘rye recipe’ bourbon.

Buffalo Trace 'shots':

• Buffalo Trace offers a 'hard hat' tour of the distillation area in addition to the regular tour. We did not participate due to time constraints, but I am told it is worthwhile. You need to set this up ahead of time. Also, the hard hat tour is not for those who are afraid of heights or tight spaces.


• Buffalo Trace also produces a Vodka called 'Rain'. We were given a taste. I don't really know how good Vodka is supposed to taste, but I liked it. It's made from an Illinois farmers entire crop. I couldn't help but think about how he would answer the question 'what kind of corn do you grow?' He would say, 'Vodka corn, of course'. Funny.