Elmer T. Lee 40th Anniversary Edition Bourbon Arrives Uncut, and Only by Lottery

Four decades after the brand launched, Buffalo Trace Distillery will release Elmer T. Lee 40th Anniversary Edition this fall, the first version of the single barrel bourbon bottled without dilution or chill filtration. Suggested retail is $99.99, and it can only be purchased through the Buffalo Trace Bottle Draw lottery system.

The barrels run from 124.8 to 138.6 proof, wide enough that structure and intensity shift noticeably from one to the next. That’s markedly up from the regular Elmer T. Lee proof of 90, the Elmer T. Lee 15 year old Single Barrel Reserve proof of 93, and the Elmer T. Lee 100 Year Tribute at 100 proof.

As for the man behind the label, Lee joined what was then the George T. Stagg Distillery in 1949 as a maintenance engineer, arriving with a University of Kentucky degree and a stint in World War II behind him. Over the next four decades, he worked his way to master distiller, steering the plant through its postwar modernization. Lee had a habit of pouring guests bourbon drawn from single barrels in the middle tiers of the metal-clad Warehouse H, and in 1984 he formalized this practice when he introduced Blanton's, the first commercially marketed single barrel bourbon and the template for nearly every premium expression that followed. Two years later, the distillery put his name on a single barrel bourbon of its own.

Master distiller Harlen Wheatley, who worked under Lee early on, said he was "fortunate to learn from Elmer" and described the anniversary bottling as a privilege for the distillery. Erica Bovard, senior brand director for American whiskey, said the uncut format keeps the whiskey "true to the standards Elmer set." Buffalo Trace frames the choice as a nod to how Lee assessed barrels during Blanton's selection, tasting them straight from the wood. (No mention of how Lee famously liked to drink his whiskey mixed with Sprite.)

The 40th Anniversary Edition joins a short list of commemorative and allocated Elmer T. Lee bottlings: the 90th Birthday Edition in 2009, the Commemorative Bottle in 2013, the year Lee died at 93, and the 100 Year Tribute in 2019, marking what would have been his centennial. Standard Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel remains in ongoing limited production, released as individual barrels are ready.

Getting a bottle requires a trip to Buffalo Trace in Frankfort. The distillery is allocating the limited release through the newly minted Buffalo Trace Bottle Draw system, a lottery the gift shop built after visitor complaints about its previous first-come system. Registration opens at 10 a.m. ET on September 15 and closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on September 17, with one entry per person and no advantage to entering early. An independent partner draws names on September 22, and everyone who enters is notified either way. Winners have from September 28 through October 11 to come to the distillery during visitor hours and buy their bottle in person. Buffalo Trace has said it will collect feedback from participants and adjust the format for future drawings.

At $99.99, Elmer T. Lee 40th Anniversary Edition is a steal, given it’s an uncut single barrel. However, being part of the Buffalo Trace lineup, it will trade for several multiples of that figure the moment it leaves the gift shop. The lottery structure and in-person pickup mandate are the distillery's attempt to mitigate secondary market flipping, though neither does much for anyone who can’t drive to Kentucky within the two-week window.