Sazerac Company
Type: Owner group
Sazerac Company is a privately held, family-owned American spirits business whose whisky interests include Buffalo Trace, Barton 1792 and A. Smith Bowman. The producer dates its founding to 1850, but its history brings together several different strands: a French Cognac name, New Orleans drinking establishments, a cocktail and a company that later acquired distilleries.[1][7]
At a glance
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Ownership | The Goldring family of New Orleans, according to a trade account. The current legal ownership chain and ultimate parent are not reliably established.[6] |
| Listed or private | Privately held, according to the producer.[1] |
| Founded | 1850, the producer's stated founding year.[1] |
| Selected American distillery acquisitions | George T. Stagg, 1992; A. Smith Bowman, 2003; Glenmore and Barton 1792, 2009; Garrard County Distilling, 2026.[7] |
| Other international interests | Old Montreal Distillery joined in 2011; a shareholding in John Distilleries followed in 2017.[7] |
| Selected whisky names in its history | Benchmark, Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace and Sazerac Rye.[7] |
| Ownership list checked | November 2026. This is a selected historical list, not a complete corporate register.[6][7] |
What Sazerac Company is known for
For whisky readers, Buffalo Trace is a useful starting point. Sazerac acquired the Frankfort, Kentucky distillery under its earlier George T. Stagg name in 1992; the Buffalo Trace name and Buffalo Trace Bourbon followed in 1999. Its wider American distillery history includes sites in Virginia and elsewhere in Kentucky, rather than one production address behind every name.[7]
The distinction between company, distillery and brand matters especially here. Sazerac Company is the owner group; Buffalo Trace is a distillery name and a bourbon name; Sazerac Rye is a whiskey brand launched in 2006. The Sazerac cocktail belongs to another part of the story, with roots in Cognac rather than rye.[7]
Reading those names as interchangeable obscures the history. A brand acquisition, a distillery purchase, a production arrangement and a shareholding are different relationships, as Sazerac's record repeatedly demonstrates.[7] For the broader framework, see how distillery ownership changes.
From Cognac to New Orleans
The trade history traces the Sazerac family's vineyard and distillery activity in the Cognac region to the 1630s. It records Bernard Sazerac buying the Logis de Forge estate in 1781 and beginning Sazerac Cognac production in 1782, with barrels ageing in Angoulême. After Bernard's death in 1791, his son Laurent Sazerac De Forge took control.[7]
The American connection developed through merchants and bars. The first known US advertisement for Sazerac de Forge et Fils Cognac appeared in Philadelphia's National Gazette in 1839. In New Orleans, Sewell Taylor obtained a five-year lease on the Merchants Exchange Coffee House in 1845, then established a Royal Street liquor business promoting Sazerac brandy exclusively in 1849.[7]
Antoine Peychaud had opened his apothecary at 123 Royal Street in 1834. By 1857, he was advertising that his bitters were used at the Sazerac House. These are useful dated connections between the people, drink ingredients and establishments, without requiring one person to be made the inventor of the whole story.[7]
Story box: a name crossing from Cognac to whiskey
- Founding story: The producer dates Sazerac's founding to 1850. The founder and first company licence or record are not documented in the supplied sheet. A trade history separately records the Sazerac House and proprietor Aaron Bird in the local press in 1852, and the firm's reincorporation as Sazerac Company, Inc. in 1919.[1][7]
- Turning point: In 1948, Magnolia Liquor Co. Inc., owned by Malcolm Woldenberg and Stephen Goldring, bought the company.[7]
- Documented record: The founding year, first press appearance of the establishment and corporate reincorporation are separate milestones, not alternative dates for a single event.[1][7]
- Sources and claim mapping: The producer's founding claim comes from Sazerac, Our Story. The 1852, 1919 and 1948 events come from East Texas Bourbon Society, History of Sazerac.
- Last checked: November 2026. The exact day requires verification.
The Sazerac House and the cocktail
The establishment's early naming needs care. The supplied record gives 1852 for the Sazerac House's appearance in the local press, while also recording a cocktail writer's placement of the Sazerac Coffee House name in the late 1850s. That disagreement should remain visible rather than being compressed into a confident opening date.[7]
Claim: Accounts differ on when the Sazerac House or Coffee House began.
Verdict: Disputed
What the record shows: The producer dates the Sazerac House to 1852; a cocktail writer places the Sazerac Coffee House name in the late 1850s.[7]
Evidence against or gap: The accounts use different names, and the original press citation is not identified in the sheet.
Earliest known source: Not reliably established.
Sources: East Texas Bourbon Society, History of Sazerac, undated.
Last checked: November 2026. The exact day requires verification.
The business changed hands several times. J.B. Schiller took over in 1860 and hired Thomas H. Handy as a clerk; Handy and colleagues bought the Sazerac House in 1869. Vincent Micas bought out Handy in 1878.[7]
Claim: The Handy and Micas feud led to two rival Sazerac bars in 1882.
Verdict: Documented
What the record shows: The trade history records the two rival bars.[7]
Evidence against or gap: The underlying contemporary records are not identified in the supplied sheet.
Earliest known source: Not reliably established.
Sources: East Texas Bourbon Society, History of Sazerac, undated.
Last checked: November 2026. The exact day requires verification.
The cocktail was not always a rye drink: it began with Sazerac de Forge et Fils Cognac.[7]
Claim: Phylloxera disrupted brandy supplies and prompted a move to American rye in 1885.
Verdict: Documented
What the record shows: The trade history reports this as the producer's explanation of the change.[7]
Evidence against or gap: The sheet does not identify an independent contemporary account of the change.
Earliest known source: Not reliably established.
Sources: East Texas Bourbon Society, History of Sazerac, undated.
Last checked: November 2026. The exact day requires verification.
Building the modern spirits business
After Handy's death, William McQuoid re-established Thos. H. Handy & Co. in 1893. National marketing of bottled Sazerac Cocktails began in 1901, followed by reincorporation as Sazerac Company, Inc. in 1919. The company re-entered the New Orleans liquor trade in December 1933 and obtained a rectifier's licence for blending and bottling during 1935 to 1940.[7]
The 1948 purchase by Magnolia Liquor marks the Goldring family's entry into this chronology. Subsequent additions included Herbsaint in 1949, the launch of Taaka vodka in 1952 and the reacquisition of Peychaud's Bitters in 1970. These milestones explain why an account concerned only with bourbon would miss much of Sazerac's development.[7]
Whiskey acquisitions became particularly significant in the later record. In 1989, Sazerac bought seven Seagram brands, including Benchmark Bourbon and Eagle Rare Bourbon. Three years later came the Kentucky distillery purchase that would lead to Buffalo Trace.[7]
The distillery and brand timeline
This timeline separates purchases from renamings, launches and production arrangements. It is a selection of verified milestones, not a claim that every brand involved was distilled at every site listed.[7]
| Date | Event | Relationship recorded |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Sazerac acquired Leestown Co. and George T. Stagg Distillery under a deal with Takara Shuzo. | Distillery acquisition.[7] |
| 1999 | George T. Stagg Distillery became Buffalo Trace; Buffalo Trace Bourbon launched. | Renaming and brand launch.[7] |
| 2002 | Buffalo Trace began producing Van Winkle bourbons with Old Rip Van Winkle. | Production arrangement.[7] |
| 2003 | Sazerac bought A. Smith Bowman Distillery, Fredericksburg, Virginia. | Distillery acquisition.[7] |
| 2009 | Glenmore and Barton 1792 were bought from Constellation Brands. | Distillery acquisitions.[7] |
| 2011 and 2018 | Old Montreal Distillery joined in 2011; Canadian whisky distillation resumed there in 2018 after decades. | Joining date and later production milestone.[7] |
| 2017 | Sazerac took a shareholding in John Distilleries, maker of Paul John. | Shareholding, not a stated outright purchase.[7] |
| 2022 and 2025 | A distillery began at Hazelwood Estate, County Sligo, in 2022; it was renamed Hawk's Rock in 2025. | Development and renaming.[7] |
| 2026 | Sazerac completed its purchase of Garrard County Distilling, Lancaster, Kentucky. | Completed acquisition.[7] |
Garrard County Distilling opened in 2024. The trade account reports a site of about 85 hectares (210 acres) with two column stills in connection with the 2026 acquisition; it does not give annual output.[7]
Sazerac also bought Southern Comfort and the Breuil de Segonzac Cognac distillery in 2016, followed by 19 brands from Diageo in 2018. Together, these events show expansion through both production sites and brand portfolios.[7]
Common mistakes about Sazerac
Sazerac and Age International are not one company. In the 1992 transaction, Sazerac bought the distillery while Takara Shuzo bought Age International and its brands, according to the trade account. Their involvement in the same transaction makes the distinction easy to overlook.[6]
Buffalo Trace has not always carried that name. The distillery was George T. Stagg until the 1999 renaming. Earlier references to George T. Stagg in this ownership history therefore concern the site that became Buffalo Trace, rather than a separate acquisition.[7]
Sazerac is not a listed company. The producer describes it as privately held. Its collection of brands and distilleries should not be mistaken for evidence of a stock exchange listing.[1]
Where to go next
- How Distillery Ownership Changes: distinguish announcements, completed purchases and production agreements.
- Whisky Brands That Do Not Own a Distillery: separate the name on a bottle from the production site.
- Diageo: explore another owner connected to Sazerac's acquisition history.
Sources
[1] Sazerac. Our Story. Undated company history, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, checked November 2026. https://www.sazerac.com/our-company/our-story/
[6] Liquorverse. The Buffalo Trace Story. Undated trade account, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, checked November 2026. https://liquorverse.com/blogs/resources/buffalo-trace-history
[7] East Texas Bourbon Society. History of Sazerac. Undated trade history, version recorded in the supplied fact sheet, checked November 2026. https://www.easttexasbourbonsociety.com/history-of-sazerac
This desk-researched article uses the site's supplied fact sheet, distinguishing producer accounts from trade reporting and retaining its disputed verdict.
Last checked: November 2026.