The Maker’s Mark Distillery offers a look into more than just the process of making bourbon. Visitors can explore back into the history of American whiskey and how it shaped the modern Maker’s Mark product.
The Loretto, Kentucky facility sits less than an hour’s drive outside Lexington. While the Maker’s Mark operation set up shop in the mid-1950s, there’s been a distiller of one sort or another on the site since the early 1800s. It’s the only whiskey facility marked in the National Registry of Historic Places.
Also: Marriott Teams with Maker’s Mark for Bourbon Battles in Lexington
Kentucky’s special climate (mixing hot, humid summers with winters cold enough for snow, but less harsh than more northern states) makes for perfect whiskey aging as temperature changes cause barrels to expand and contract — squeezing natural wood flavoring into the alcohol. So, bourbon has been a big deal in Maker’s Mark parts since the days of the Whiskey Rebellion.
A visit to Maker’s Mark offers a tour that explores the history of the Samuels Family and its establishment of the brand. As a small batch distillery, Maker’s Mark produces a set amount of its bourbon per year and then stops — allowing the distillers to monitor quality control more precisely. Throughout that process, today’s bourbon comes out of much the same process as it did in the 1950s and clear back 200 years.
For your own virtual tour of Maker’s Mark, enjoy the gallery below.
Photos by John Scott Lewinski
Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
The only American distillery registered as historic, the home of Maker's Mark Bourbon offers a look into the making of small batch whiskey.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
Some sort of a distillery existed on the Maker's Mark site since the early 1800s.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
The current Maker's Mark distillery uses the same buildings that stood on the site when the company went into business in the 1950s.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
The Maker's Mark Distillery is the only whiskey facility in American recorded in the U.S. Registry of Historic Places.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
The distinct red of the Maker's Mark bottle wax remains as a theme throughout the distillery.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
These simple grains and Kentucky's naturally filtered mineral water are the only Maker's Mark ingredients.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
Maker's Mark is the only distillery on record as allowing visitors to taste the mash as it cooks in the vats. It should remind you of Cream of Wheat.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
Maker's Mark still uses the same brass cooker stills today as when the company was founded.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
The Maker's Mark Distillery still prints its labels on the same machine used at the facility since the 1950s.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
Individuals, groups and businesses can invest in their own bespoke barrels of Maker's Mark – choosing the wood staves for barrel aging.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
Full barrels age as long as five years before bottling at Maker's Mark.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
The Maker's Mark Distillery keeps relics of its past onsite to remind the current generation of its history.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
A tour of the Maker's Mark Distillery ends in an essential bourbon tasting.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
Visitors to Maker's Mark can dip their own sample bottle into the company's signature red sealing wax.
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Maker's Mark Bourbon Distillery
The trick to dipping a bottle of Maker's Mark into the signature sealing wax is turning the bottle after the dip so the wax dries evenly.
