Following the Trace A Journey Into The Heart Of Bourbon Country

In a market dominated by local whiskies and Scotch, bourbon is still playing catch-up in India. A visit to the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky, where 95 per cent of the classic American drink is produced, reveals that one of the biggest companies in the business has plans to change this.

- By Yamini Reddy

Sazerac Company, the largest American distiller and owner of classic bourbon brands like Buffalo Trace, Weller, and Eagle Rare, is on a mission to raise the profile of American whiskey to the level of Scotch in India.

India is the world's largest brown spirit consumer, but sales of American whiskies (including Bourbon, Tennessee whisky, Rye whisky, etc.) currently constitute less than 1 per cent of the market, far behind Indian, Scotch and Irish whiskies.

Sazerac has been strengthening its presence in India considerably in recent times, having acquired a 60 per cent controlling stake in John Distilleries, the makers of the award-winning Single Malt Paul John and the popular blended Indian whisky Original Choice. And as part of an effort to familiarise Indians with the nuances of bourbon, the company recently flew down local whisky writers to the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky, the heart of American bourbon country, and Man's World was on hand.

Driving into Frankfort, Kentucky, feels like entering a postcard: lush green fields, elegant stud farms, and picture-perfect barns stretch across the horizon. The Buffalo Trace Distillery sits tucked among these rolling pastures — 400 acres of history that only comes from doing something for over two centuries. Its history dates back to 1775, when Hancock Lee set up a small still along the Kentucky River. Since then, it has worn many names— O.F.C., George T. Stagg, and today, Buffalo Trace, under Sazerac ownership — and has survived fires, floods, Prohibition, and even a tornado, earning its title as the oldest continuously operating distillery in the United States.