Bulleit explores 3D technology at showcase event

The Kentucky-based whiskey distiller worked with architecture firm FAR and design studio Machine Histories to create a new experience for enjoying their drink.

Bulleit Whiskey has blended design, performance, music and art together to produce the Bulleit 3D-Printed Frontier, an experience which includes 3D-printed cocktails served from a 3D-printed bar.

The event is currently being hosted in the historic Sixteenth Street Station in West Oakland, California. Many of the musical acts at the event are from Oakland, and Bulleit have made a conscious effort to include the spirit of Oakland into this experience.

Bulleit have employed musicians, DJs and lighting to perfectly fit the pioneering spirit of the experience and of the famous location in Oakland itself.

Bulleit teamed up with award-winning architecture firm FAR and design studio Machine Histories to produce this astonishing structure. The process took hundreds of hours but came together in just three months.

FAR studied the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey label for creative inspiration, coming up with 12 different designs for the bar.

The 3,000 components needed in the construction of the bar were all 3D-printed

The design is printed from glass-filled nylon using a process called selective laser sintering, while the bar itself is made from a copper surface, inspired by the amber of Bulleit Bourbon.

The cocktails were created through a collaboration between robotics pioneer Benjamin Grimail and mixologist Elmer Mejicanos.

They are made using a mixture of Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, Chardonnay wine, grape juice, peach juice, green tea and had small lemon oil drops injected into the drinks using a specially designed 3D-printer creating 3D images, but also giving the drink an additional lemon flavour.

Sophie Kelly, senior vice president of Diageo North American whiskeys, said: “From reimagining what a bar could be, to partnering with cutting edge mixologists and robotics pioneers to print 3D cocktails, this experience defies convention in order to redefine tradition, taking people on a journey that explores new frontiers.”

The experience will tour the country after finishing in Oakland, heading to Austin, Texas in 2019. It will eventually end up being part of the new visitor centre at the Bulleit Distilling Company in Shelbyville, Kentucky.