Adams: We’re excited to be able to meet visitors needs and give them another way to connect with Buffalo Trace and connect with each other. So step in here, take a break, relax, maybe have a cocktail, and enjoy some really good food at the same time.

Miller: You talked in your ribbon cutting remarks about hospitality. Tell me about that.

Adams: Hospitality is just such an important part of Buffalo Trace. Of course, we’re a distillery. But we also offer free tours and tastings, and they’ve really been doing that here longer than anyone. I’ve looked at the history and really it goes back…even E.H. Taylor was excited to show this distillery off to visitors. There was even a passenger rail line that came in here and brought visitors in here to see the distillery. So to know that myself and my team is part of this legacy of hospitality at Buffalo Trace. I mean, it’s an honor for me, but I’m just so excited to be able to welcome even more visitors here and connect with them on a different level.

Miller: I think the last time I talked to you in person was probably standing out in that parking lot with giant puddles all around, after the big flood. Recovering from that flood and starting this brand new operation, what went into that?

Adams: A little over a year ago, we would have been underwater standing right here. About five feet of water was inside where the cafe is now. And as you mentioned, in the distillery, we had water everywhere. And I think that goes back to when we were talking about hospitality. Within a week (after the flood waters receded) we were welcoming visitors back. This project was already in the works for before that flood. If anything, it just kind of accelerated our efforts and made us a little bit more passionate. 

And this kind of gave us that drive and opportunity to really showcase what Buffalo Trace can do. The same way we recovered from the flood.

Yeah, stepping inside and then seeing what it looks like and knowing that the water was five feet a year ago, that’s something I’m extremely proud of what this team has done over the past year.

Miller: This whole area, the arboretum, gardens, and Blanton’s original home, is an area that some people don’t see when they visit. The new cafe gives them an excuse to come back here and see even more of the beauty of the Buffalo Trace campus.

Adams: I’m so glad you mentioned that, because the Clubhouse here is right here next to the Albert B. Blanton Botanical Garden as well. There’s so much to explore, It’s really just a chance to take a moment, to take a breath, and relax. Gardening was such a passion of Albert Blanton. So we like to honor that here. His statue and original home are right out there.  Albert loved gardens. He loved birds and he loved bourbon.

And we’re really proud of our gardens. We’re really proud that we’re an accredited Arboretum and we want folks to take a moment to enjoy it. We’re, of course, super proud of the bourbon and the tours, but you can come here without a tour reservation. You can explore the grounds, do a free tasting, come in here and have lunch. And hopefully just kind of take a moment to relax.

The grounds here are just spectacular. It’s a great juxtaposition. So we’ve got that industrial site where we’re making the world’s best bourbon, the most award-winning distillery. And then right across the way, some beautiful gardens.

Miller: John G. Carlisle is not one of the most well-known names in Buffalo Trace history. How did his name end up on this new cafe.

Adams: John G. Carlisle was a politician, and really was one of the pioneers of food safety. He and Taylor worked together to pass the Bottled-in-Bond act. Really that was the first food quality safety act. It gave the integrity to bourbon as we know it today. And Taylor, at the time, named one of the distilleries here after him. So it was the Carlisle Distillery. And then once that got dismantled, we were thinking about this space and how to lean into our history, we talk about honoring tradition and embracing change. Carlisle was such a pivotal person in the bourbon industry. So we had that opportunity now to name it after him.  We even have one of the stones from the distillery building, right at the entrance way of the cafe. So we love the idea of honoring Carlisle by naming the Cafe for him.

Miller: Last question. What’s on the menu?

Adams: It’s all good. We’re really focused on fresh made-to-order items. So you’ll see sandwiches, soup, salads, some amazing flatbreads, some really good desserts as well. There are some delicious cookies and cheesecake. And then what you’ll see as we evolve is some seasonal rotations as well. We’ll be bringing in some new cocktails, some new food items. So there’s a reason to keep checking back to see what we’re up to.

Now you can imagine during our holiday and evening events being able to open this space, do some seasonal food items as part of that, and just expand the opportunity for visitors to hang out with us. That’s all we wanted for them to come and spend some time with us, enjoy what Buffalo Trace does best: bourbon and hospitality.

Miller: Is there anything that we didn’t cover, that you’d like to wrap up with?

Adams: I’ll touch on the mechanics:  The John G. Carlisle Cafe is open every day of the week from 11 to three. You don’t need a tour reservation.

Anyone’s welcome to stop by and do lunch and enjoy the grounds. Do a free tasting while you’re here. And of course, our tours and tastings are always free. We’d love for you to book a tour, but if you can’t, you stop by, do a tasting, enjoy lunch. Just enjoy a great day here at the distillery. 

Final thought: I’m really proud of the Carlisle Cafe. I think the team did an amazing job.