Founded in 1792, the Buffalo Trace Distillery is located in Frankfort, in the state of Kentucky. Owned by the Sazerac group, it has been known under several names including George T. Stagg and Old Fire Copper (OFC), and is thought to be the oldest distillery in operation in the United States. It produces an eponymous brand of bourbon, Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon, as well as numerous other brands including William Larue Weller, Thomas H. Handy, Georges T. Stagg and the famous Pappy Van Winkle.

William Larue Weller 12 Year Old is a wheated bourbon produced at Buffalo Trace in Kentucky. William Larue Weller was born in 1825 to a family of distillers. He launched his brand W.L. Weller in 1849. At the time it was a whiskey ersatz made with neutral spirit, colouring and flavouring. The 1897 Bottled in Bond Act was a game-changer, however, and Weller died two years later, leaving the business to Julian Van Winkle. He created the Stitzel-Weller distillery in 1933 and launched the brands Old Weller and Old Fitzgerald. The Weller brand was sold to the Sazerac group in 1999, who continued its production at Buffalo Trace. The Weller range was launched in 2000 with a 19 year old but discontinued in 2003 following an agreement made between Sazerac and Old Rip Van Winkle to prioritize use of wheated whiskey stocks for the Van Winkle brand. William Larue Weller joined the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection in 2005 and also has a regular range which this 12 year old is part of.