Life with the Lynchs: Matt's Birthday Part 1: Maker's Mark

Last year at my best friend Jen's wedding in Louisville, Kentucky we began talking about the possibility of coming back for the Kentucky Derby in 2011. Often those ideas fade as the year goes on but NOT this one. When Jen told me that Derby weekend was the weekend of May 6th, 7th and 8th, I was super excited! Matt's birthday is May 6th and my brother's is May 7th. Brian has always wanted to go to the derby. So, when Jen called and said she was going to order tickets and asked if we wanted to go, I jumped at the chance. What a great bday gift for the hubby and well I had to get two tickets as I didn't want him to go a lone. :) We extended the invite to Brian and Lori and they too jumped at the chance. We have been so excited all year for this weekend and it didn't disappoint.
Friday was Matt's Bday and the group decided that a trip to the Maker's Mark distillery was in order. It is located in the beautiful Ketucky country side. It is amazing to me that this one distillery supplies all the maker's mark for the entire world. Blows my mind. It was a fascinating tour. We happened to luck up and they were also bottling that day. I felt like I stepped into an episode of Lavergne and Shhirley. :) After the tour, we all got a sample of Maker's mark and the newer Maker's 46 (named so because it took 46 tries to get the bourbon the flavor they wanted)plus a yummy bourbon ball. Then we all had the opportunity to dip our own bottle of Maker's mark and sign up to be an Ambassador. We gladly signed up for this opportunity. Our names go on a barrel and when it is ready in 2-5years we will get a certificate in the mail inviting us to come and taste test our barrel dated 5/6/2011. We have the opportunity to pour our own bottles, they will have special labels with our names on them and then we get to dip them. Another fun trip to look forward too!
As you can see from the pictures below we had a great time.

Waiting to go into the distillery

Time Capsule....would love to know what is inside.

Brian, Lori, Matt and Amy, and Jen(present but not in photo as she was the photographer)

Where the Magic Begins

The woman found out it was Matt's bday and gave him a pull from today's batch 5-6-11.

Day 1 Maker's Bourbon....Jen and Matt ready to taste

Day 3 Maker's Bourbon.....Brian and Lori ready to taste

The bottling room

Filling the bottles

Labeling the bottles

Dipping the bottles... Each dipper is allowed to dip a bottle all the way (called a slam dunk) twice an hour. These bottles are rare and worth some $$ so if you see one on the shelf of your local liquor store, buy it!