Buffalo, Barrels, and Bourbon: The Story of How Buffalo Trace Distillery Became The World's Most Awarded Distillery

by F Paul Pacult

Learn about one of the most impactful distilleries in American history in this comprehensive tale

Buffalo, Barrels, & Bourbon tells the fascinating tale of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, from the time of the earliest explorations of Kentucky to the present day. Author and award-winning spirits expert F. Paul Pacult takes readers on a journey through history that covers the American Revolutionary War, U.S Civil War, two World Wars, Prohibition, and the Great Depression.

Buffalo, Barrels, & Bourbon covers the pedigree and provenance of the Buffalo Trace Distillery:

The larger-than-life personalities that over a century and a half made Buffalo Trace Distillery what it is today Detailed accounts on how many of the distillery's award-winning and world-famous brands were created The impact of world events, including multiple depressions, weather-related events, and major conflicts, on the distillery Belonging on the shelf of anyone with an interest in American spirits and history, Buffalo, Barrels, & Bourbon is a compelling must-read.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Business

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 8, 2021

Reviews

[Dom Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad (listened for work)

Pretty dry, but a good history.

Enjoyed the 20th century history especially, going through distillers and the boom/bust of the markets.

Wish segregation was covered, as I wonder how civil rights affected the distillery. Contrasting titbits didn’t really fill this in.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little history book for a bourbon fan. I purchased this book at the distillery and was excited to read it as soon as I saw the cover. In this book likes history of the region before the distillery as well as how the bake Bufallo Trace came to be. F Paul Pacult writes with enthusiasm about the history behind one of the most award winning distilleries. Side note, I only read this book while sipping bufallo trace to further appreciate the reading. If you get this book and are a bourbon fan…read it that way

[Garrett Wooldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giving this book 3 stars because of the history and bourbon, but this book has way too many tedious details about individual people who bought the distillery and their competitors. Hard to get through, for someone who loves history and whiskey.

That being said, I can’t wait to visit the distillery some day!

[Larry Gandle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book starts out slow- it goes a bit too far back in time to get across the message that over a half million buffalo wondered through this particular region of the Kentucky River for eons creating the fertile land known as the buffalo trail or trace. However, once the distillery is built, the story becomes fascinating as we learn about Col EH Taylor, George T. Stagg, Albert Blanton, Pappy Van Winkle and Elmer T. Lee - names that adorn the bottles of some of the world's finest bourbons. It is truly compelling reading for the bourbon aficionado and a well recommended read.

[Tab Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fan of many Buffalo Trace products (and I fully admit some are dramatically overrated) I loved this book. It made bourbon approachable and was provided a great foundation for how the industry came to be and how Buffalo Trace has grown - thanks to Sazerac's ownership.

Also, given the craze now, it is surprising to learn how down and out bourbon was in the 1980s. Something to remember.

This book was just the right length, with just the right detail. I will probably read Pacult's other works given how much I enjoyed this book. Overall, an excellent book on Buffalo Trace and a very good book on the bourbon industry.

[Davis Orr · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 - I found this book quite enjoyable overall. The first 50 pages or so were extremely slow, but it picked up nicely. The author was able to describe scenes in a way that threw me back in time as if I was visiting the distillery with Taylor, Stagg, or Blanton. I also appreciated the breadth of vocabulary and picked up a couple new phrases along the way.

Make no mistake of this being a book about bourbon tasting, bourbon distilling, etc. It is true history and does its intended job quite well.

[Dave Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed like a blog post stretched out into a full-length book.

You would think that the book would focus on Buffalo Trace as a company, but no. They start the story at the time of the dinosaurs. Yes. The actual history of the modern-day company doesn't even begin until you are 75% into the book. And then it's just a boring history of corporate buyouts.

Dumb.

[Perry Ping · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a very hard read especially the first 55 pages about ice ages and Buffalo migrations. It does become more interesting, but there are some major assumptions that you know the major players, towns and distilleries before you read this book.

[Asher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Last couple of chapters were okay. Very bland historical survey of the brand/distillery.

[Thomas Chaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy and interesting read for any bourbon efficianado. The book starts slow with some arcane history but picks up in time to retain your interest.

[Mike McGrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved learning about life in late 19th century Kentucky as much as the corporate history of the world’s finest bourbon distillery!

[BLESK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short history on Kentucky and the crown jewel of its bourbon industry. But Pacult isn’t much of a writer ir he’s lazy.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting to learn about the history of Buffalo Trace

[Daniel Burch · Rating 3 out of 5]

In order to appreciate this book, two things are required: bourbon and love of history. This book is NOT about the culture or tasting or manufacturing of bourbon. It is the sheer history of ONE, albeit an enormous, distillery. Pecult goes VERY in depth into brands, land exchanges, acquisitions, and the characters of that are remember through their namesake brands like Blanton, Weller, and Taylor. This book caters to a certain clientele and to the skeptical reader, most of the information is pointless. This is an interesting read but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you were specifically seeking certain information on Buffalo Trace Distillery or it’s products.

[Patrick Macke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps understandably, because I'm a drunk, someone thought I would like a book about the cult of bourbon drinking ... not so much ... there are some interesting historical tidbits here about the geology of Frankfort, Kentucky and the international ownership of booze makers, but even if I aspired to full membership in the club that is obsessed with finding the perfect gulp of bourbon, the book is a journey down a rabbit hole seems silly ... barkeep, I think I'll have another