Buffalo Trace Distillery Planning $1.2 Billion Expansion; Tourism Up 18%

Buffalo Trace Distillery - National Historic Landmark, Buffalo in Front of Visitor Center

That bourbon boom we often hear about just got a bit louder as Buffalo Trace Distillery has announced its first large scale structural expansion since the 1950s. The expansion is part of the $1.2 billion (Yes, that’s a ‘B’ for Billion) dollars Buffalo Trace plans to spend in the next ten years to accommodate not only more visitors, but more bourbon barrels and more bottling lines.

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Albert B Blanton's Bottling Line — Buffalo Trace Distillery – Albert B. Blanton’s bottling line.

“We are bursting at the seams, so to speak, in all areas, distillation, bottling and tourism, so we’re looking forward to our new expansion,” said Meredith Moody, Marketing Services Director.

Buffalo Trace will also expand its distilling operation, which includes new mash cookers, a boiler and fermenters. In order to make room, the existing bottling hall will be moving to another area on site starting this spring/summer and the bottling lines will be modernized to allow for more efficiency and better capacity.

As previously announced, Buffalo Trace is building new barrel warehouses on the farm it owns adjacent to the Distillery, at a rate of one new warehouse every four months for the next ten years. These new warehouses will hold 58,000 barrels, and construction on the first one is nearly complete.

58,000 Capacity Barrel Warehouse Construction Site

Buffalo Trace Distillery - Aerial Photo of 58,000 Barrel Warehouse — Aerial photo of 58,000 capacity barrel warehouses under construction. (Click to enlarge.)

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Buffalo Trace Distillery Tourism Up 287% in Just 10 Years

Buffalo Trace Distillery Tour with Freddie Johnson 815 — Buffalo Trace Distillery tour led by 3rd generation employee Freddie Johnson.

Bourbon sales continue to grow, and bourbon tourism is growing at an equally rapid pace. In 2017, this National Historic Landmark Distillery set a new record for visitation, ending the year with 201,491 guests. This is an increase of 18% in visitation over last calendar year, and a total increase of 287% since 2010.

“It took us 15 years to get to 100,000 visitors, but only three years to get to 200,000, so the momentum just keeps going,” said Moody. Buffalo Trace is already looking at ways to expand its Visitor Center, which was just expanded in 2015 to accommodate its ever-increasing needs.

Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Kentucky. The Distillery’s rich tradition dates back to 1773 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee.