A flash marketing manoeuvre by Still Austin over the weekend allowed patrons to fill empty bottles of Kentucky Bourbon for $1.

In an effort to dispel the misconception that all Bourbon has to come from Kentucky – or, as some joke, ‘all good Bourbon’  – Still Austin Whiskey Co held its first ‘Kentucky Fill Up Day’ on Saturday 23 November. Limited to 500 customers, those who arrived with an empty bottle of Kentucky Bourbon would be allowed to fill it up with a bottle of Still Austin Cask Strength for US$1.

“Great Bourbon can come from anywhere, and we specifically think that really great Bourbon comes from Texas and from Still Austin,” director of marketing Katie Crenshaw said.

The event started to come together when staff members saw that the University of Texas was playing the University of Kentucky for the first time in more than 70 years. Still Austin has partnered with the University of Texas football programme and wanted to capitalise on the opportunity to let the two states battle in other fields as well.

“We definitely wanted to make a little bit of noise,” Crenshaw said. “Kind of say: ‘Hey, we’re going to go beat Kentucky twice in a day.’”

Tickets sold out in less than a minute. Crenshaw says all 500 people showed up “with bells on” arriving in two shifts with various empty bottles, a Pappy Van Winkle included. The distillery did have to adjust its plans last minute, learning they weren’t legally allowed to fill up another brand’s bottle. Crenshaw pivoted and purchased 500 motor fuel funnels, giving attendees a fill up-kit to take home that included a bottle of Cask Strength, a funnel, and a sheet of stickers to decorate their bottles with.

“It ended up working out to our benefit, even more so than we had anticipated,” Crenshaw said, noting that giving people the means to fill their own bottles up has given the event a longer tail on social media. “The content we’ve seen of other people filling those bottles with our juice has been really, really fantastic.”

Crenshaw noted the excitement from the distillery staff and everybody in attendance. They had a number of people visiting from Kentucky for the football game, and some who were able to try Still Austin for the first time.

“Nobody’s ever done anything like this and it truly, in a lot of ways, went off without a hitch,” she said. “We were able to keep that excitement high, even though people were waiting in line for 45 minutes to come in and get their bottle decorated, and get their juice.”

A bottle of Still Austin Cask Strength Bourbon costs US$60, putting the distillery’s potential loss in revenue at US$29,500 with 500 bottles representing roughly two to three barrels of whiskey. Still, Crenshaw said the event did exactly what they hoped it would.

“To us, this wasn’t a loss at all. Even though we did put a couple of barrels into the world with that low price point, I think that the return on it has been tremendous,” she said. “It definitely accomplished the goal of making a statement, of telling a compelling story around Texas Bourbon and how good it can be.”

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