Misty, rolling hills. Deep, icy lochs. Cold, stone-hewn buildings. Flecks of dust highlighted in a solitary beam of fading light in a warehouse. Barrels laying quietly, aging slowly. Silent distilleries, closed for decades. Whisky: a drink for story-tellers passing down yarns from one generation to the next. Legends and tales of families and landowners, workers who simply returned to work after passing on…

Whether it’s Buffalo Trace’s claims of 200 years of paranormal activity in their warehouses or Duncan MacCallum of Glen Scotia’s tragic suicide; John Edward Locke haunting the halls of Kilbeggan or the Wraith of Watt’s Distillery, there are enough tales to peak the curiosity of even the biggest skeptic. Don't miss the rest of the installments of the Haunted Distilleries Series on Whizzky!

Buffalo Trace

Buffalo Trace has been home to a functioning distillery since 1787, even dodging Prohibition when Bourbon was produced for medicinal purposes and the distillery had one of only four permits.

Colonel Albert Blanton is said to haunt the distillery which isn’t entirely unbelievable given that it’s a fact that he joined the distillery as an office boy in 1897 and by the early 1900s had been named president. He spent so much time at the Distillery that it's rumoured he simply couldn't leave once he's passed on.

He is has been seen at Stony Point, the president’s company quarters where he died in 1959 and in Warehouse C where phantom footsteps have been heard. He’s also behind unexplained noises and "cold spots" that distillery workers have reported. We have to admit that his eyes are pretty ghostly in this photograph and we're relieved that they're averted and not gazing directly into the camera!

All of this aside, Buffalo Trace Distillery actually offers ghost tours from Thursday – Saturday from 19h00, which leaves us wondering: genuine ghost stories or media hype to attract visitors?

By: Emily Stockden