A heritage month is usually a calendar: a launch dinner, some bar nights, a party, and nothing that carries from one to the next. I tied September together with one collectible passport, gave each brand its own role, and used “Perfectly Unreasonable” as the thread through every pairing.
01 / The brief
The brief was a September programme for Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam Black. The trap with a month of activity is that every event lives alone: its own guest list, its own night, forgotten by the next. Guests come to one and miss the rest, and anyone not on a list never meets the campaign at all.
So the job had two halves. Give people a reason to come back across the month, and open it up beyond the invited few.
02 / The insight
Bourbon has always challenged expectations. That tension became the creative thread, Perfectly Unreasonable: pairings that shouldn’t work, and do. It gives every touchpoint, from a chef’s dinner to a bartender’s cocktail, the same brief to answer.
03 / The idea
Everyone already knows how a passport works: you carry it, you collect, you want the next stamp. Handed out at the launch, it turns separate events, menus and bars into one journey, and gives every venue a shared reason to belong.
Maker’s Mark × Jim Beam Black
Perfectly unreasonable
The Bourbon
Passport
A marquee event, starting with the launch where the passport is handed out.
A signature dish and bourbon cocktail at a participating restaurant.
For a local bartender’s Perfectly Unreasonable cocktail.
Every stamp unlocks a reward. The full passport is redeemed at the finale.
04 / The journey
The month starts with an invited room and ends with an open festival. Every stage hands people on to the next.
The passport is handed out at the launch, with the first stamp.
InvitedMarquee events led by Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam Black and Chef Radhika.
InvitedSignature pairings across restaurants and bars in six cities.
Open to allChef pairings, bartender cocktails and lessons, carried online between events.
OnlineA bourbon culture festival where passports are redeemed.
Open to all05 / Two brands, two roles
Two brands in one month can easily blur. Each one got its own occasion, so they set each other off instead of competing for the same night.
September launchMaker’s Mark × Chef Radhika. One impossibly long communal table, inspired by Thanksgiving. Guests start with tastings, then sit down to a dinner where every course is an unexpected bourbon pairing, told through stories from the chef and the Maker’s Mark advocacy team.
Why it leads: crafted, seated and hosted, it suits a premium bourbon, and it’s where the passport and first stamp are handed out.
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Mid-SeptemberJim Beam Black × KONA, Chef Radhika’s American diner. A backyard barbecue with live grills, a highball bar, cornhole, Beam Pong, giant Jenga and live bands.
Why it works: loud, social and easy to join, it changes the pace mid-month and gives the more approachable brand its own world.
View slideTwo more formats on the table
Guests move through rooms of an American home, from the kitchen and pantry to the backyard, bar and dining room, each with its own pairing, activity and stamp.
View slideChef Radhika brings an unexpected ingredient; the advocacy team answers with a bourbon pairing. Blind tastings, blend-your-own, workshops and live voting.
View slideEach format reads “Perfectly Unreasonable” through a different side of American culture, so the client can pick the scale and tone without losing the idea.
06 / Beyond the guest list
Marquee events reach a room. The rest of the month runs through places people already go, so anyone can pick up a stamp.
Explore · RestaurantsParticipating restaurants in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Hyderabad and Kolkata serve one unreasonable dish by Chef Radhika, a bourbon cocktail menu and passport redemption, with tastings, workshops and sandwich pop-ups.
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Participate · BartendersLeading bartenders in each city create one cocktail for the brief. Guests vote all month, winners become Bourbon Month signatures, and the top five are filmed for the campaign video.
“Which one gets your vote?”View slide
Share · DigitalA series with Radhika and Rohan on unreasonable pairings, lessons from the advocacy team, the winning cocktails, and an open call for people to make their own.
View slideEvery vote is a reason to visit another bar.
07 / The finale
Every touchpoint comes together at the end: passports redeemed, favourite cocktails revisited, and the restaurants, bartenders and creators who shaped the month in one place. I gave the client two ways to host it.
A standalone American bourbon festival at a destination venue: bourbon bars, a KONA pop-up, restaurant stalls, live music and games.
The trade-off: more cost and effort, but full control, and an IP that can return every September.
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Option two · Join oneA Maker’s Mark destination inside an established cultural festival, with signature cocktails, food collaborations, games and passport redemption.
The trade-off: less control over the setting, but a ready audience far bigger than a standalone event would draw.
View slidePhotographs on this page are reference imagery from the proposal, not the finished event.
08 / What success would look like
The concept hasn’t run yet, so these are the signals I’d track, not results.
How many guests collect three stamps or more, not just the launch stamp.
Passport holders who visit a restaurant or bar they first heard of through the programme.
Bartender votes across the month, and how many voters come back for a second cocktail.
Passports brought to the finale, and how many are full.
The complete proposal
The full 20-slide proposal.
