Sazerac Company – Buffalo Trace Distillery

In 1630s the Sazerac family established a vineyard and distillery in Cognac in France. A rich history followed with their cognac arriving in New Orleans in the early 1800s where its popularity grew especially in the new Sazerac cocktail, created with bitters made by Antoine Peychaud, an apothecary in New Orleans in the mid-1800s.

In 1885 Phylloxera hit French vineyards resulting in Brandy and Cognac being in short supply, so New Orleans bars replaced the brandy in the Sazerac cocktail with American Rye whiskey. By 1901 Thomas H. Handy & Co. was established and began marketing their bottled Sazerac cocktail. When the 18th amendment for Prohibition was ratified in January 1919 to come into effect a year later, Thomas H. Handy & Co. Inc. realised the threat to their survival and reincorporated as the Sazerac Company Inc. who would buy and sell groceries and run restaurants. After Prohibition was repealed in 1933 the Sazerac Company moved back into alcoholic drinks expanding beyond just its cocktail and into blending and bottling. In 1952 they launched a vodka which became hugely successful. In 1992 they acquired the George T. Stagg distillery which following lengthy restoration was renamed the Buffalo Trace Distillery and launched its bourbon in 1999. Then in 2006 Sazerac Rye Whiskey, also from Buffalo Trace, was released in a 1880s styled bottle, which is perfect for making the Sazerac cocktail. Sazerac continued to grow taking on more distilleries and ever expand their operation. With names such as Southern Comfort in their portfolio, Sazerac is owned by William Goldring and his family. Buffalo Trace Distillery is in Frankfort, Kentucky, and is named after the Buffalo Trace aka ‘Vincennes Trace’ a major buffalo migration trackway that ran though Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky, where it crossed the Kentucky River. Distilling here dates back to the 1700s; in 1869 it was known as Old Fire Copper distillery, then the George T. Stagg distillery from 1904 until being renamed again in 1992. It the oldest continuously operating distillery in America, and one of a rare few distilleries to remain open during Prohibition, with a federal permit to produce medicinal whiskey.