Blanton’s became the first “single barrel” bourbon brand when it was introduced in 1984. The brand’s genesis came in 1983 after two liquor executives, Ferdie Falk and Robert Baranaskas, purchased the Albert B. Blanton Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, and decided to start their own business. This distillery has had many names over the years, but was changed to Buffalo Trace in 1999. Elmer T. Lee, a longtime distillery employee who had worked under Albert Blanton, the outfit’s former namesake, guided the creation of the brand. Blanton had worked in the industry for over fifty years, starting in 1897, and was remembered for the practice—not uncommon among distillery executives of his era—of bottling whisky from a single, particularly appealing barrel for personal use or as gifts to industry insiders. Whisky to be sold under the Blanton’s name was chosen accordingly, from single barrels that had all aged in the same metal-clad warehouse and fell within a specific flavor profile. Blanton’s arrived on store shelves after a long slump in American whisky sales, when some market watchers began noticing an uptick in the popularity of niche offerings. This new higher-end market was particularly big in Japan, where drinkers gravitated toward whiskies perceived as more exclusive. Later that decade, the brand was sold to Japanese investor Takara Shuzo but continued to be made at the same facility.
See also whisky, bourbon; Buffalo Trace Distillery; and single barrel.
Apple, R. W., Jr. “Bourbons in the Cognac League.” New York Times, September 17, 1997.
“Buffalo Trace Master Distiller Emeritus Elmer T. Lee, Creator of Blanton’s, Passes at 93,” Business Lexington, July 16, 2003.
Fabricant, Florence. “Boutique Bourbons Win Prestige at Home and Sales Abroad.” New York Times, December 16, 1992.
Van Gelder, Lawrence. “Long Islanders; Catering to Shifts in Drinking Tastes.” New York Times, January 15, 1984.
Veach, Michael. Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2013.
By: Reid Mitenbuler