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A nyone who’s visited their local liquor store lately has heard of Buffalo Trace, the maker of Weller Special Reserve – also known as “Young Pappy” and “Weller Green Label” – an affordable bottle of whiskey that, dollar for dollar, is easily one of the best bourbons on the market. Aficionados also know that the Frankfort, Kentucky-based distillery is the architect behind Pappy Van Winkle, perhaps the most famous and beloved name in American whiskey, whose rare bottles easily command tens of thousands of dollars on the secondary market. Both whiskeys – as well as the William Larue Weller – use the same wheated recipe, with their differences being the age and which sections of the warehouse the bottles are aged in.
Such is the advantage that centuries of whiskey-making know-how can offer. The master distillers behind Buffalo Trace, which has history back to the 18th century, have perfected the craft of making exceptional whiskeys, bourbons and ryes that offer a superior sip at every price point.
Here we take a look at their most collectible offerings, from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection to Old Rip Van Winkle and more.
The list of accolades achieved by Buffalo Trace Distillery is nearly as extensive as its illustrious history, which dates to the 1770s. Located in Kentucky’s capital city, Frankfort, and named for its location along an old American bison migratory route, the distillery has won over 100 awards from various magazines, beverage industry organizations and domestic and international competitions. Not least of which includes becoming the first American distillery to win Whisky Advocate’s esteemed international award “Distillery of the Year” in 2000, only one year after rechristening the distillery name to Buffalo Trace. Notably, the distillery has garnered international recognition from Whisky Magazine for “Visitor Attraction of the Year,” “Brand Innovator of the Year” and “Distiller of the Year.”
Named a National Historic Landmark in 2013, Buffalo Trace produces many famous brands named for important contributors to the distillery’s history. Brothers Hancock and Willis Lee began distilling at the site in the mid-1770s, but there was no permanent infrastructure for a distillery until Harrison Blanton constructed one in the early 1810s. Hancock’s President Reserve is now a single-barrel product and Blanton has a whole line of whiskeys bearing the namesake – although technically the famed whiskey is named after his grandson, Albert Bacon Blanton, who would begin working as an office clerk at age 16 in 1897, and by 1921 would become president of the distillery.
Two former distillery owners also have prestigious modern-day brands bearing their namesakes, the “Father of the Modern Bourbon Industry,” Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr., and the person Taylor would later become business partners with, George T. Stagg. Colonel Taylor purchased the property in 1869, and in 1870 built a new distillery, naming the business O.F.C. Distillery in reference to the belief that the finest whiskey is produced in old-fashioned wood-fired copper stills. Taylor would sell the distillery at the end of the decade to Stagg, although Taylor remained at the distillery to oversee operations. Stagg & Taylor formed E.H. Taylor, Jr. & Co. with Stagg as the President.
E.H. Taylor (as the line of whiskeys named after him is known) was integral in legitimizing the bourbon industry and helped usher the first ever consumer protection law through Congress, the “Bottled-in-Bond Act” of 1897, which codified standards for barrel-aged spirits. Stagg has two releases named after him, one of which belongs to the celebrated Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, George T. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon, and the other being a limited cask strength release, Stagg, Jr. Kentucky Straight Bourbon. The distillery would be renamed as George T. Stagg Distillery in 1904, 10 years after his death.
Colonel Taylor’s influence is still felt today, as several of the storied warehouses he built in the 1880s are still aging whiskey. He was also technologically ahead of his time, installing the world’s first distillery warehouse steam-heating system in 1886, a process the distillery still uses. The company’s hiring of Albert B. Blanton under Taylor’s watch would prove to be one of the most invaluable decisions in whiskey history, as Blanton ended up directing the distillery to survive and even thrive during World War I, obtaining one of the coveted “medicinal licenses” during Prohibition and the Great Depression – not to mention navigating a devastating flood, World War II, an ownership transition when Schenley Distillers Corp. purchased the distillery in 1929 and numerous other challenges throughout the early 20th century.
The last of the famous namesake properties is Elmer T. Lee, named after the mind behind the creation of the Blanton’s brand. Elmer joined the company in 1949 and would eventually hold the dual title of plant manager and master distiller. He, too, has a single-barrel bourbon named after him, as well as a number of limited offerings that are highly collectible and coveted. Shortly after Lee’s retirement, but with him still acting as ambassador and master distiller emeritus, the distillery once again became a family-owned business after purchase by the Sazerac Company in 1992.
Finally, accompanying renovations in 1999, the distillery was renamed Buffalo Trace and launched its namesake flagship brand that same year. Three years later, in 2002, Buffalo Trace would enter a joint partnership and take over distillation of the Van Winkle line of whiskeys. Elmer T. Lee was inducted into the Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2001.
Buffalo Trace produces numerous whiskeys that are highly sought after on the secondary market. The Van Winkle Family of whiskeys is easily the most famous and includes six annually released whiskeys, five bourbon and one rye. The bourbons are called Old Rip Van Winkle for the 10-year age statement, Van Winkle Special Reserve for the 12-year age statement and Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve for the 15-year, 20-year and 23-year expressions; the lone rye is called Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye. No collector would consider their whiskey collection complete without a full set of the Pappys, which have been lauded by food and beverage professionals such as David Chang and Anthony Bourdain. Pappy Van Winkle has even been hand-delivered to Pope Francis as a gift, with the Pope reportedly decreeing: “Very good bourbon.”
Blanton’s is possibly the most gifted bourbon. The brand resulted from a partnership between Buffalo Trace and Age International Inc., a subsidiary of Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd., a Japanese beverage company. The Blanton’s portfolio includes the iconic Blanton’s Original Single Barrel, Blanton’s Gold, Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel, Blanton’s Special Reserve, Blanton’s Silver (discontinued duty-free only release), Blanton’s Black and Blanton’s Red Takara. Now available in the United States, Blanton’s Gold was formerly only available to international markets along with Straight from the Barrel and Special Reserve. Two versions are available only in Japan: Black (80 proof) and Red (93 proof).
Few bourbon releases are more highly anticipated than the annual Buffalo Trace Antique Collection – in the United States, liquor stores are known to develop lines overnight. This series consists of five whiskeys, three bourbon and two ryes, which garner a following of collectors trying to obtain a vertical of every year’s release. These whiskeys are George T. Stagg, which is always minimum 15 years old, Eagle Rare 17 Year, William Larue Weller, Sazerac Rye 18 Year and Thomas H. Handy Sazerac, a no-age-statement, cask-strength rye whiskey.
While these whiskeys are known for their remarkable world-class consistency, the E.H. Taylor collection is perpetually evolving to offer expressions that are as unique as they are rare. There are three different regular release Colonel Taylor’s, and so far Buffalo Trace has released 19 limited-release expressions under the Colonel E.H. Taylor brand, including 11 barrel-strength releases. The most coveted of this series is the 2011 Old Fashioned Sour Mash bourbon.
Buffalo Trace has mastered the art of the ultra-limited release with the likes of Double Eagle Very Rare, Elmer T. Lee 90th Birthday, Eagle Rare 25, O.F.C. Vintages and the newly announced Weller Millenium.
Since 2023, Sotheby’s has auctioned the Double Eagle Very Rare for over $13,000, O.F.C. 1980 for over $27,000, O.F.C. 1982 for over $32,000 and Colonel E.H. Taylor Old Fashioned Sour Mash for $20,000. In January 2024, Sotheby’s auctioned a case of Pappy Van Winkle’s 20 Year Old Family Reserve Single Barrel distilled in 1986 for $160,000. The limited releases from Buffalo Trace prove time and again to be among the most prized whiskeys on the market, regardless of style.
Buffalo Trace has a storied history, and the property on which it sits has long produced some of the best American Whiskey ever made. With more unique limited offerings than perhaps any other American distillery, Buffalo Trace’s portfolio of bourbon, rye and American whiskey offers the widest variety of flavor, experience and value. The Buffalo Trace team is led by Executive Chairman Mark Brown of Sazerac Company, Master Distiller Harlen Wheatley, Master Blender and Director of Quality Drew Mayville and the first James Beard Award winner from Kentucky, Julian P. Van Winkle III.
