The Iconic Brand That Might Be Behind Trader Joe's Bourbon

When you think of the alcohol offerings at Trader Joe's, it's probably their legendary "Two Buck Chuck" bottles of wine that cost only a few dollars. But cheap wine isn't the only cocktail party trick TJs has up its sleeve. Drinks lovers can also get some great deals on basic and barrel-aged spirits, including their Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, which is rumored to be made by the iconic brand that also makes Buffalo Trace.

Trader Joe's largely sells everything under their own house brand, but the truth is that there's no Trader Joe's factory somewhere churning out brownie-elevating Cookie Butter and Mandarin Orange Chicken — most of the items are made by other national brands and packaged with Trader Joe's labels. Even the beloved Charles Shaw wines are actually made by Franzia. The company tends to be pretty tight-lipped about where things come from, but it's always been a bit of a game for eagle-eyed (and budget-minded) shoppers.to figure out where their pistachios come from, for instance, and it didn't take long for whiskey drinkers to start speculating as to who distilled their bourbon. 

Trader Joe's did drop a major hint as to the origins of some of its bourbon right on the website, which says, "The distiller of Trader Joe's Kentucky Bourbon Straight Whiskey actually makes one of the best branded Bourbons on the market." That was enough to get the aficionados interested, and we have done some deep dives on the origins to find the source.

One major clue to the origins of Trader Joe's bourbon is a matter of public record. Gear Patrol reported in 2021 that the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's label registry feed listed the Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky in the brewer section for Trader Joe's Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. This obviously got a lot of tongues wagging, as Buffalo Trace is often hard to find. But that's perhaps not the whole story.

Buffalo Trace is actually a label that's owned by Sazerac Brands, which also owns more than 450 other brands of spirits. A more likely scenario, since Buffalo Trace has a hard time keeping up with demand on just its own products, is that the Trader Joe's version is being made by Barton, which is also owned by Sazerac and is located about 60 miles away from Buffalo Trace in Bardstown, Kentucky. Why do people think that? Well, Costco also recently inked a deal with Barton to make bourbon, plus they make all of the 1792-branded spirits, so it stands to reason that Barton is better equipped to bottle multiple private-label bourbons (since they're already doing it). Trader Joe's isn't saying much else, however, so really the only way to know for sure is to taste for yourself if you see it on the shelves.