In the winter of 1881, Albert Bacon Blanton was born in the winter of 1881 into one of the first families of bourbon history. At the age of sixteen, he started work in the Distillery as an office boy and fast became a leading pioneer in the development of bourbon. He was made company president in 1921. During this time, the Distillery expanded from 44 to 144 buildings to become the largest Distillery of its day. In 1984, Blanton’s namesake bourbon was the first ever Single Barrel Bourbon sold commercially.