Rabbit Hole Distillery, located in Louisville, KY, produces their own recipes of one-of-a-kind super premium American whiskey. Creating their extraordinary shipping cases with outstanding shelf appeal that helps sell this unique brand, is a fantastic collaboration with their partner Independent 2, a privately-owned and operated corrugated manufacturer.

Independent 2’s capabilities include designing, manufacturing, warehousing, and delivering corrugated and packaging that protect their customers’ products in-transit and sells them on store shelves.

We caught up with Dac Austin, Creative Director of Rabbit Hole Distillery, to learn more about the business, the partnership with Independent 2, and the benefits of digital printing delivered by the Domino X630i digital aqueous inkjet corrugated press.

Highlights of our visit were captured in this quick 2-minute VIDEO: Dac Austin of Rabbit Hole Distillery

One-of-a-Kind Partnership
Austin begins, “We make one-of-a-kind original works of bourbon. Each one of our whiskeys has its own grain recipe that’s not like anything else on the market. One of the things that’s necessary for what I do, is having a partner that has the ability to do modifications quickly, efficiently, and in real time. One of the relationships that we’ve built is one with Independent 2, who is our ship case provider. Their responsivity that we receive from their team is excellent, and that really resonates with what we do with our ship cases, and what we’re able to produce.”

The Dynamic of Digital
Proudly holding a corrugated shipping case produced at Independent 2 for Rabbit Hole’s Dareringer Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Austin continues. “This is an example of some of the work that we’ve done. As you can see the clarity, the color, and the product is outstanding. You think about the digital application on a corrugated product. We are able to make edits with color, with typography… and see it within minutes. If we were to do this in a conventional manner, we would have had to shut down the press, take the plates off, remake the plates, reapply the ink, and wait for hours for this to happen.”

The Merger of Digital and Corrugated
Austin further explains benefits of digital printing. “All I had to do for this was create a new file, run it through the machine (Domino X630i digital aqueous inkjet corrugated press) and it’s instantaneous. There’s no mixing of inks, there’s no wipe-up or clean-up for the machinery. It’s just moving the board through, and it works effectively and efficiently. That is something that is magnificent in what we’re able to do. And it shows the merger of the digital and corrugated world.”