·:[ Jason On A Shtick ]:·
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After a not so pleasant visit to some other distillery recently, Jenny talked me into returning “home” and seeing the Maker’s Mark distillery this weekend. On the first two Saturday evenings in December, they dress the place up with lights and wreaths, serve bourbon balls and apple cider and even have Santa on hand to make it a kid-friendly event.

We got to roam about on our own and talk to some of the Maker’s folks. They have employees at several stops to show you around and tell you all about how they make their bourbon. Imagine that! A self-guided tour at a historic landmark – outrageous! The place looked very pretty and we had a wonderful time. Lindsay especially loved seeing the lights and running around to look at them.

A friend commented on my other post that distilleries are “very slick branding and advertising opportunities”. Maker’s does so many interesting things like these special December weekends that it is no wonder so many of us are fiercely loyal to them. Indeed, their Ambassador program is one of the coolest “clubs” I’ve ever been in. Woodford and others should takes notes. It surely costs Maker’s money to put these events on, but I am guessing they more than make up for it by getting the best type of advertising of all: word of mouth. And I’m sure the sales of all those special bottles don’t hurt, either. They could dip the things in mud and sell them, if they wanted.