Overview Fine Spirits Classic is Minnesota Monthly's evening of premium spirits tastings in the lobby of Orchestra Hall on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. A ticket buys unlimited pours from Minnesota craft distillers and national brands, served in a commemorative tasting glass. Minnesota Monthly has written about the region's food and drink for decades. It promotes the night in print and online for months beforehand. On site Distillers and brand teams pour at tables that line the glass-walled lobby. Guests carry a ballot for the Crafted Cocktail Contest, where restaurants and spirit brands each enter one signature drink and the crowd picks a winner. Between pours there are mixology demos, a photo booth and a Makers' Market of handmade goods. Twin Cities restaurants sell food inside and out on the plaza. Once the tasting ends, the crowd walks across the street to the official after party at Brit's Pub. Audience Every guest is 21 or older. Most are Twin Cities professionals with money to spend who come to taste before they buy. Minnesota Monthly readers report an average household income of $215,000. Ninety-one percent of them dine out or entertain regularly, and 73% often buy products they first saw at an event. Women make up close to two thirds of guests. Talent and Influencers The people who make the spirits do most of the pouring. Founders and distillers staff their own tables, so guests hear how a bourbon was aged from the person who aged it. J. Henry and Sons has run live mixology demos on the floor. Bartenders from Boketto and Nico's Taco and Agave Bar have gone head to head in the Crafted Cocktail Contest, and Minnesota Monthly writes up the winning drink afterward. Track record The event has run for more than a decade and moved to Orchestra Hall after earlier stops in Northeast Minneapolis and Eagan. Heaven Hill Brands, Sazerac and Proximo Spirits pour next to regional craft producers such as O'Shaughnessy Distilling, Brother Justus, Lost Woods Whiskey and KOVAL. Polestar has served as the Official Vehicle Partner. Cedar Ridge Distillery has supplied the tasting glass that every guest takes home. Brand presence Sponsors reach guests long before the doors open. Minnesota Monthly runs partner logos in its own event ads and emails, and higher tiers add magazine ads, run-of-site display and e-newsletter sponsorships. On site, partners get a tasting footprint in the lobby, logos on signage and an ad in Tasting Notes, the program handed to every guest. Product sponsorships put a brand on something guests hold, like the tasting glass, the napkins or the hand stamp at the door.