Buffalo Trace Bourbon—the namesake and flagship of the distillery—is one of the more famous bourbons out of Kentucky. It uses a distinct mash bill of Indian corn, rye, and barley. They take especial care in their barrel selection using "center ring" wood from trees between 70 and 80 years old. They claim to have the highest rejection rate for barrels in the industry. The whiskey chill-filtered and bottled for a taste that "pleasantly sweet" with a "long dry finish."

2016 Update: with their gold award at the 2015 and double gold in 2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, this bourbon solidifies its standing as one of the top-rated bourbons on our website, which makes it stand out from more famous and greatly more expensive scotch and similar whiskey. For more about our scoring methodology, a lot of answers are here. But seeing this humble bourbon among such luminaries, it draws questioning glances at its score. For that reason, it's worth reiterating: this is a bourbon that has, year over year, consistently received very high ratings from a number of critical bodies; our system at Proof66 is designed to reward that fact.

One doesn't often think of buffalo in Kentucky but the distillery takes its name from the buffalo path (or "trace") that led to the banks of the Kentucky River in Franklin County. Buffalo Trace Distillery takes pride in the limestone water (being notably free of iron) and good soil conditions for grain. The site has had a working distillery since 1787 but the official Buffalo Trace first began operation in 1857. It obtained one of only four permits offered during Prohibition to maintain production for "medicinal purposes." Today, the distillery sits on a picturesque 119 acres and produces several labels of bourbon. 
Buffalo Trace was named Distillery of the Year by the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. It was named a national historic landmark in 2013.