{"id":2784,"slug":"makers-mark-loretto-kentucky","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Maker's Mark is the bourbon that burned the recipe — the 1953 distillery where Bill Samuels Sr. torched the family formula and made a wheat bourbon instead of rye, the red-wax bottle that Margie designed and named. It's the original premium bourbon.","The distillery was the reinvention — the 'godawful whisky' the family had made for generations, the oven-tested recipe that chose wheat for smoothness, the bottle that Margie designed from her pewter collection. They hand-dip every bottle; they spell it 'whisky' without the e.","The distillery is still there — the Loretto site that's a National Historic Landmark, the tours that Margie invented, the bourbon that's still the family's. The file keeps Maker's Mark: the 1953 purchase, the burned recipe, and the distillery that made premium bourbon.","Maker's Mark is the archive's bourbon file — the wheat recipe, the red wax, and the distillery that invented the category."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Maker's Mark is the archive's bourbon file — the 1953 reinvention, the wax-dipped bottle, and the distillery that's still the Samuels'.","A distillery that burned its recipe keeps its wax — the file's suggestion being that Maker's Mark's hold is the reinvention: the wheat instead of rye, the Margie-designed bottle, and the bourbon that's still hand-dipped."]}],"name":"Maker’s Mark","aliases":[],"type":"SITE","type_label":"Site","cats":["LOCAL_FOLKLORE","INDUSTRIAL"],"groups":["legends"],"desc":"The 1805 distillery where the red wax seals the bourbon.","full_desc":"Maker’s Mark is a site in Loretto, Kentucky. The 1805 distillery where the red wax seals the bourbon. The archive files it under industry and local folklore. The dossier holds 1 reported claim and 1 documented fact — documented record and retelling kept side by side. The site is open to visitors. For HauntHunt it is exactly the kind of file the archive exists for: a real place, a real record, and a story still being told.","address":null,"city":"Loretto","county":null,"state":"Kentucky","postal":null,"region":"South","lat":37.642039,"lon":-85.393147,"coord_kind":"CITY","status":"ACTIVE","access":"PUBLIC","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":"Historic site / park","research_notes":"KY batch; VERIFY task auto-queued.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":59.4,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.65,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":0.3999999999999999,"paranormal_claim_provenance":0.8,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0.7,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[{"id":2423,"type":"APPARITION","description":"Reported a presence in the warehouses. The reports at Maker’s Mark are the site's second history — unofficial, unverified, and stubbornly retold. It's anecdotal evidence in the strictest sense — stories, repeated, unresolved. Whatever walks there, it walks often enough to keep the reports coming. The file stays open on it.","evidence":"ANECDOTAL","evidence_label":"Anecdotal","entity":null,"where":null,"first_report":null,"approx_date":null,"confidence":0.8,"conflict_notes":null,"source":{"name":"Maker’s Mark","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker%27s_Mark","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4},"conflicting_source":null,"variants":[]}],"history":[{"description":"The 1805 site and the 1953 brand are documented. A documented history gives the file real substance; this entry is part of that spine. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. Sources including 'Maker’s Mark' carry the record. Documented ground is what separates this file from pure legend — this is part of it.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Maker’s Mark","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker%27s_Mark","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}}],"legends":[],"entities":[],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Site access varies; verify before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Maker’s Mark","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker%27s_Mark","publisher":"Wikipedia","type":"ENCYCLOPEDIA","authority":4}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":{"title":"Maker's Mark","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker%27s_Mark","desc":"Brand of bourbon whisky","extract":"Maker's Mark  is a small-batch bourbon whisky produced in Loretto, Kentucky, by Suntory Global Spirits. It is bottled at 90 U.S. proof (45% alcohol by volume) and sold in squarish bottles sealed with red wax. The distillery offers tours and is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.","img":null,"score":77,"lat":37.64777778,"lon":-85.34888889},"counts":{"claims":1,"history":1,"legends":0,"entities":0,"sources":1}}