McAfee's Benchmark

McAfee's Benchmark

Type	Bourbon whiskey
Manufacturer	Sazerac Company
Country of origin	Kentucky, United States
Alcohol by volume	40.00%
Proof	80
Related products	Buffalo Trace

McAfee's Benchmark is a brand of Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey produced by the Sazerac Company at its Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky.^[1] It is an 80 proof bourbon with no age statement.

History

The Mcafee's Benchmark brand was created by Seagram's in the late 1960s to be a luxury or premium-level bourbon. At that time, the whiskey was not called McAfee, but simply Benchmark Bourbon; and the name McAfee came much later. Originally Benchmark was sold in a decanter-style bottle with a black label. It was very good, rich and a little sweet, not complex but satisfying.^[2]

The Benchmark brand name was purchased by the Sazerac Company in 1989 from Seagram's. It is still owned by Sazerac Brands of New Orleans which also now owns Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, where Benchmark is now made. The origin of the McAfee name is that Hancock McAfee was, in 1775, one of the first European settlers at the site where Buffalo Trace stands today. The original Benchmark was made at Lawrenceburg, KY at the distillery now owned by Kirin, when Seagram owned it. This is the Four Roses Distillery and that famous brand is still made there. Buffalo Trace has packaged McAfee's Benchmark similar to Jack Daniel's and markets it as a less expensive alternative to the Tennessee Whiskey.^[3]

References

1. ^ Regan, Gary; Mardee Haidin Regan (October 15, 1995). The Book of Bourbon: And other Fine American Whiskeys. Houghton Mifflin. pp. 113, 129. ISBN 978-1881527893. 
2. ^ Jim Murray reviews two "McAfee's Benchmarks" in his Whiskey Bible 2006
3. ^ Jim Murray reviews two "McAfee's Benchmarks" in his Whiskey Bible 2006