Tincup Whiskey and Marketing

One thing I have learned about distilleries and whiskey companies is the complexity of their operations and sometimes confusing nature of their marketing.  Like every other industry, marketing is vital to the success of a whiskey company.

From what I’ve noticed, whiskey companies have really taken hold of marketing strategies that either rely upon a historical figure or a landmark.  For Tincup Whiskey, they have relied heavily upon a landmark, namely the state of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains.  I recently enjoyed a bottle, as you can see in the photo of Tincup, which led me to research the company.  In most of their marketing, you will find beautiful sceneries of the Rockies in the background and men sitting around a campfire with their bottle of Tincup being passed around.  It creates an idea of clean air, pure ingredients, and a perfect environment for making great whiskey.  I thought for sure, this whiskey is made in Colorado right?  Nope, the whiskey is actually distilled in Indiana.  It’s then blended and bottled in Colorado.  With it being blended in Colorado, they do get to use that fresh Rocky Mountain water, so they do have the right to market the beauty of Colorado, but it’s not quite what it seems.

Until I researched, I assumed the whole process was done right there in Colorado.  I don’t think there’s any dishonesty on the part of Tincup because a large part of the process is completed in Colorado, but it does show you the power of marketing and how they are trying to create an ideal image of their product in the consumers mind.