Veterans Create Custom Bourbon at Makers Mark Private Selection Program

Welcome to Loretto, Kentucky. My name is Matt. I served 21 years in the United States Army as an infantryman. And my name is Scott. I served 23 years in the Army as a paratrooper and a green beretta. Today we're here to learn about a very special first-of-its-kind barrel program, the Makers Mark Private Selection. We're very excited about this year's release, Echo, 5-Bets, 4-Bets, and that's the story that we want to share with you here today. So let's go join the group as they make this year's selection. In the heart of Kentucky, Makers Mark honors veterans with a unique program, the Makers Mark Veterans Private Select. This program allows veterans to create a customized bourbon expression. Starting with Cask Strength Makers Mark, veterans select from five different types of wood finishing staves to craft their barrel. Each stave imparts a unique flavor to the bourbon. The chosen staves are inserted into the barrel, which is then aged for an additional nine weeks in the Makers Mark Limestone Cellar. During this time, the bourbon absorbs the flavors and characteristics of the chosen staves. After the nine-week finishing period, the bourbon is bottled at cask strength. Each bottle is hand-labeled with the specific stave combination used in the finishing process. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Makers Mark Veterans Private Select bottles is donated to support veteran organizations and initiatives. This program not only creates a unique bourbon expression, but also supports the men and women who have served in the military. The Makers Mark Veterans Private Select, honoring veterans one barrel at a time. I think from a liquid quality, it's pretty special. What I saw, you know, is you had a group of the veterans and allies there, but everyone was from a different process in the distillation, right? You had distillers, you had barrel matures in the warehouse, you had bottling, you had everything in between. Everyone with their own like specialty on like crafting that perfect liquid that's not going to really go into every single bottle of bourbon that's out there in the world. So that was great. And take it a step further, everyone sat at a table and said, what is, what's the feeling we want the consumer to get when they drink this? Yeah. Sitting around a campfire, telling a good story, right? And we kind of came up with that feeling. I didn't know a lot about it, but I was like very intrigued. And I grabbed the bottle and then did a little research on it and was super drawn to it. And then who would have thought two, three years later, I was being a part of that process. Yeah. Yeah. It's really interesting how things really come together like that. I'm Scott. And I'm Matt. And we approve this bourbon.