Elmer Tandy Lee (Aug. 5, 1919 — July 16, 2013) was a

master distiller Master distiller is a title often used for a distilling expert or a key leader or owner at modern distilleries. The title doesn't have a fixed definition and can mean different things at different companies. Although the craft of distilling has exi ...

Buffalo Trace Distillery Buffalo Trace Distillery is a distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, United States, owned by the Sazerac Company. It has historically been known by several names, including the George T. Stagg Distillery and the Old Fire Copper (O.F.C.) Distillery. I ...

, and master distiller emeritus after his retirement in 1985.

Biography

Lee was born in Peaks Mill, Kentucky in 1919. Lee is known for launching

Blanton's Blanton's is a brand of bourbon whiskey produced and marketed by the Sazerac Company. Though it does not own the brand, it has exclusive distilling rights. It is owned by Age International, Inc. It is distilled in Frankfort, Kentucky at the Buffa ...

in 1984, the first modern bourbon brand marketed as a single barrel bourbon. Eric Gregory, president of the Kentucky Distillers' Association, credited the premium market that Mr. Lee pioneered as a major factor in the bourbon industry's turnaround in the last decade; sales reached 30 million gallons in 2012 for the first time since 1973, he said. He entered the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

but withdrew to volunteer for the Army in World War II. He served as a radar bombardier in

B-29 bombers The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...

based in Guam. Mr. Lee returned to the university after the war to get his degree and began working at the distillery as a maintenance engineer when, under a different owner, it was called the George T. Stagg Distillery. He was promoted to plant superintendent in 1966 and to plant manager in 1969 and given the title master distiller in the early 1980s. After his retirement, Buffalo Trace honored Mr. Lee with a single-barrel brand of his own, the Elmer T. Lee Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, bottled from barrels he continued selecting himself into his 90s. The label won gold medals this year

013 013 is a music venue in Tilburg, the Netherlands. The venue opened in 1998 and replaced the ''Noorderligt'', the ''Bat Cave'' and the ''MuziekKantenWinkel''. 013 is the largest popular music venue in the southern Netherlands. There are two concer ...

at both the Los Angeles International Wine and Spirits Competition and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The journal Whiskey Advocate described its flavor as "elegant and complex." Lee was inducted in the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in 2001 and received lifetime achievement awards from both ''

Whisky Advocate ''Whisky Advocate'' is a quarterly print magazine that focuses on whisky. It is a publication of M. Shanken Communications. History and background In 2010, ''Malt Advocate'' was acquired by M. Shanken Communications, which then renamed the publi ...

'' (2002) and '' Whisky Magazine'' (2012). Lee died in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

, in 2013, at the age of 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Elmer T. 1919 births 2013 deaths American drink distillers People from Franklin County, Kentucky University of Kentucky alumni Whisky distillers