Buffalo Trace Is Doubling Bourbon Production — What That Means for Pappy, Weller & More

During the bourbon boom of the past several years, a lot of our favorite bottles have become nearly impossible to find — at least without paying highly inflated prices on the secondary market. And it just so happens that many of the hardest bottles to track down come out of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, with bourbons such as Weller, Blanton’s, Eagle Rare and especially anything from Pappy Van Winkle all reaching near-mythic status. But that could soon change, as Buffalo Trace recently doubled production of its whiskeys.

How is Buffalo Trace doubling whiskey production?

Back in February of 2023, the brand opened a new stillhouse that’s 40 feet tall and capable of producing 60,000 gallons of whiskey a day. It’s a duplicate of the distillery’s existing still, and Buffalo Trace itself said in a press release that this will allow them to double production on “Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Weller, Blanton’s, E.H. Taylor Jr. and the rest of the whiskeys in its portfolio.”

The new stillhouse is perhaps the most impressive achievement thus far in an ongoing $1.2 billion expansion at the distillery that began in 2015 and had already resulted in a 50% increase in supply over the five years preceding the opening of the duplicate stillhouse last year. Now, those numbers will be pushed considerably higher, as the new stillhouse is resulting in all-time-high levels of whiskey production at Buffalo Trace.

Buffalo Trace Distillery

There’s more to the expansion than just the stillhouse

In the year since the new stillhouse opened, work has continued on the distillery’s expansion and Buffalo Trace is currently building a new boiler house that will feature two new steam boilers and eight 95,000-gallon fermenters, a 33 percent increase in the distillery’s total number of fermenters.

A rep from the brand tells me that 75 percent of the expansion project has been completed as of March 2024, and they’re currently in the third and final phase of the expansion, with plans to finish entirely by early 2025.

In addition to the new still house and new boiler house, the expansion thus far has seen the production of a new distribution center, a new bottling operation, a new dry house, a new mill house, four new cookers, new process cooling systems, a new wastewater treatment facility, an expanded visitors center, an upgraded cistern room with three new 75,000-gallon cistern tanks and, last but absolutely not least, 19 new aging warehouses — all of which are currently at full capacity and aging 58,800 barrels of whiskey each.

Will Pappy Van Winkle be easier to find?

Pappy Van Winkle was notably absent from the brand’s original quote about which whiskeys are seeing their production double at Buffalo Trace when the new stillhouse opened, but it does technically fall under “the rest of the whiskeys in its portfolio.” I reached out to a representative from the brand to confirm that Pappy’s production is being doubled as well, and received confirmation that it is.

However, it’s still going to take a while before the ramped-up production levels make a difference in the amount of Pappy (and all of Buffalo Trace’s other coveted whiskeys) on the shelf, due to the long periods of time it takes to age the bourbon. “While we are increasing production of all of our whiskeys, including Pappy Van Winkle, keep in mind that when factoring in aging (the youngest Van Winkle is 10 years of age, the oldest is 23 years of age), it will be at least a decade before we see production increases from the new still that are ready for bottling,” a rep from the brand told me.

How soon will Buffalo Trace start making twice as much whiskey?

Once the new still got up and running, Buffalo Trace didn’t waste any time in putting it to work, as bourbon was being distilled at full production levels in the facility just days after opening last year. But again, that doesn’t mean you can head to the liquor store next week and grab a bottle of Weller 12 off the shelf at MSRP.

All bourbon, not just Pappy, needs to age for years after it is distilled, so it’s going to be some time before consumers feel the effects of Buffalo Trace’s production increase. “We’re really looking forward to having more bourbon for our thirsty fans in a few years, now that we’re doubling production,” Buffalo Trace Distillery Homeplace GM Tyler Adams said in a statement.

In other words, more great whiskey is coming — twice as much, to be exact — but it’s going to take some time to make it to your glass, especially for the most aged varieties.