Maker's Mark

Kentucky is known for it's bourbon, and there are actually 8 distilleries that are part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.  While I was in Kentucky for Kate's wedding, we had Saturday morning free so decided to check out the Maker's Mark distillery, which was the closest distillery to us.

Although I'd never had bourbon, and was pretty sure I would not like it, I was excited to check out the distillery. It was really interesting to learn about the distillery process. It fascinates me that someone even figured out how to do it in the first place!

 After the tour, there was a taste test of the three Maker's Mark products. The clear product is one that they don't sale anywhere but at the distillery which was pretty cool.



I tried all three of them, but not to my surprise, I did not like any of them. The clear one actually was so strong that even many people who typically like bourbon did not care for it. My glasses pretty much looked the same after the tasting as it did before. One small sip gone does not leave for much noticeable change.

Although I did not care for the bourbon itself, I did get a kick out of some of their former marketing materials that they had displayed.

One thing that makes Maker's Mark unique is everyone of their bottles is hand dipped into red wax. Because we were there on a Saturday, we did not get to see this process actually happen. We did see where it occurs and were informed of how quickly each of the bottles must be dipped to keep up with the continuous conveyor belt. They are dipped at such a fast rate that the people dipping them work in 30 minute shifts to prevent any hand injuries. It was pretty impressive.

The tour conveniently ended up at the gift shop- as any good tour does, of course. At the gift shop you could purchase a bottle of Maker's to dip yourself. Here I am with my bottle ready to dip.

I know you ask, "If you did not like it, why did you buy it?" The answer, JP. I was informed by him that since he could not go on the trip, I needed to bring him the biggest bottle of Maker's they sold. I did just that.

They required us to put on an apron, sleeve protectors, and glasses to dip- which I thought was pretty funny. Here I am dipping my bottle!

Even though I'm not a fan of bourbon, I really enjoyed the tour.