The Horse and Jockey Stopper

Eight poses. One race.

The horse and jockey has topped Blanton’s bottles since 1984. Eight poses follow the stages of a horse race.

The sequence is a tribute to Kentucky’s racing heritage. The poses show stages including a trot, canter, and gallop, ending with the jockey celebrating victory with a fist raised in the air.

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A Kentucky inspiration

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As Blanton’s took shape ahead of its 1984 launch, co-owner Ferdie Falk turned to Thomas D’Addario, founder of New York’s D’Addario Design Associates, to develop the packaging. Falk had worked with the design firm during his time at Fleischmann’s.

The firm selected an existing bottle design from Glenshaw Glass Company. Because that bottle was not designed for a screw top, it needed a stopper. Thomas D’Addario’s wife suggested a horse and jockey to give the package flair and a connection to Kentucky’s racing heritage.

Her inspiration was an antique wine stopper she owned, shown here. The original was kept by the D’Addario family.

The changing casting

Around 1993, the casting became more detailed, with less material connecting horse and base. Early 50 ml miniatures also used jockey poses absent from later bottlings.

Collecting the letters

Letters were added in 1999, around the time the Ancient Age Distillery was renamed Buffalo Trace. Arranged in order, the eight stoppers spell B-L-A-N-T-O-N-S.

The two N stoppers are different poses. The second is marked N: with a colon. All eight letters were produced in equal quantities and placed on bottles at random, rather than assigned deliberately different rarities.

There is no apostrophe stopper and no left-facing horse in the standard set. Both are familiar jokes aimed at people trying to complete a collection.

Cork, casting, and assembly

Jelinek Cork Group in Savannah, Georgia, supplies the stoppers. The natural cork comes from Quercus suber trees—commonly called cork oaks—grown in Portugal.

Over the years, nonprofit organizations employing people with disabilities have assembled the natural cork and metal horse components.

Sizes and finishes

Full-size stoppers are used on 375, 700, and 750 ml bottles; miniatures have smaller, unlettered stoppers.

Gold finishes appear on Gold, Takara Gold, and some French and European special editions. Silver finishes accompanied the discontinued Silver Edition and have also appeared in the gift shop.

Display your set

Complete sets are often displayed on hollowed barrel staves, with all eight poses arranged in race order.

Buffalo Trace has offered a free barrel-stave display program for complete sets. New stoppers bought from the gift shop or its website were not eligible. Confirm the current arrangements with the gift shop before mailing a set.

Individual stoppers have also been available from the distillery gift shop. Secondary marketplaces offer another way to fill a missing letter.