A recent family reunion afforded me the opportunity to meet interesting, distantly related people and discover some common interests and connections. In the small world department, I discovered that one of my second cousins was a business-school classmate of one of my partners at Trinity Ventures, and the two of them had socialized extensively in the past. Who knew? Another great epiphany was that a different second cousin had married a senior executive at Buffalo Trace Distillery, makers of a wide range of celebrated bourbons. Making fast friends with my newfound Kentucky kin, I learned that Buffalo Trace is one of the most celebrated of distilleries (over 50 medals and awards since 1990, only distillery to be named both "Distillery of the Year" by Malt Advocate and "Distiller of the Year" by Whisky Magazine, etc.). The Buffalo Trace Distillery is a family-owned business more than a century old, best known for producing Blanton's -- the world's first commercial single barrel bourbon. Buffalo Trace Distillery, in Kentucky's Franklin County, is America's oldest distilling site. Among Buffalo Trace Distillery firsts were: first to ship whisky down the Mississippi River, to use steam power for distilling, and to use reverse osmosis water.
Imagine my delight when I received on my doorstep a generous gift from my second-cousin-in-law of not one but two bottles of fine bourbon: Eagle Rare Single Barrel, and the flagship Buffalo Trace variety. Though I'd enjoyed a bourbon in bars from time to time, and keep several varieties of scotch whisky at home, these were the first two bottles of bourbon to grace my liquor collection. I sat down to enjoy a mini bourbon tasting. The Buffalo Trace had a powerful bouquet which hinted at the vanilla I was to taste along with flavors of fruit and butterscotch. Delightful! The Eagle Rare was more subdued in the nose, but packed a tasty punch of anise plus the charred white oak barrels in which the whisky was aged, followed by a somewhat fiery kick in the finish.
Buffalo Trace is still working on getting retail distribution in California, but I can report that the cocktail lounge at Zibibbo in Palo Alto stocks Blanton's. Coincidentally the same day I met my second-cousin-in-law and learned all about his bourbon business, which made me crave a taste, I happened to have cocktails at Zibibbo and was able to experience instant gratification when I spotted it on the drink menu. Now thanks to my well-stocked liquor bar at home, I can experience that flavor regularly (though I need to make it last until Buffalo Trace finds its way to our local stores!).
Tom:
We're delighted that you enjoyed the gift and thank you for the well researched commentary. Your site is lots of fun (your KY cuz enjoys it=). We'd love to give you a 'hard hat' tour of The Trace, so come on out - it's truly beautiful here. All he best. rtw
Posted by: Richard | September 27, 2006 at 07:28 AM