Colonel Albert Bacon Blanton - Frankfurt, Kentucky - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

Colonel Albert Bacon Blanton was a master distiller at Buffalo Trace Distillery, it changed names during his time, but the quality has seemingly never strayed. 25 years after his death, the distillery produced a bourbon named after him. Today it is one of the sought after drinks around the world.

Depending on timing, the statue may be much darker due to the residue that comes from the distillery. It can be seen on all the trees as the bark as been blackened from this process.

Statue:
An older Blanton stands upright wearing a suit and glasses with a cane in his right hand. He is looking at the distillery. His statue stands on a 2 foot base with the following text:
Loved and respected master distiller and true Kentucky gentleman. He dedicated 55 years of his life to the service of his community and his company. That his leadership may live in the minds of those with who follow. This memorial is erected with gratitude and honor.

History from Wikipedia (visit link)
Blanton's bourbon was named in honor of one of the distillery's early leaders, Albert B. Blanton, who the company claims spent most of his life preserving the tradition of handcrafted bourbon. Blanton worked at the facility now known as the Buffalo Trace Distillery for approximately 55 years. He was born and raised on a farm just outside Frankfort, Kentucky, and he began working at the distillery (then called the O.F.C. Distillery or Old Fire Copper Distillery) in 1897 as an office boy when he was 16 years old. Over the next few years, he reportedly worked in every department, and in 1912 he was appointed superintendent of the distillery, its warehouse, and bottling shop – at the same time that the distillery was renamed to become the George T. Stagg Distillery. He became president of the whiskey plant in 1921. Blanton died in 1959.

The company refers to him as "Colonel Blanton", as he held the honorific title of Kentucky Colonel (a relatively common honorific bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky). The distillery had several owners during its history, and was renamed by its current owner, the Sazerac Company, to become the Buffalo Trace Distillery in 2001.

Elmer T. Lee, the originator of Blanton's, was hired by the distillery by Blanton in 1949. He introduced the Blanton's brand in 1984, a year before he retired, as the first modern brand of bourbon marketed as single barrel bourbon. Lee continued to act as an ambassador for Buffalo Trace until his death in 2013.

URL of the statue: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
You must have visited the site in person, not online.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.