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Patrón unveils virtual reality distillery tour

Tequila house Patrón has unveiled a new augmented reality app that transports iPhone users to the Patrón distillery in Jalisco, Mexico.

The Patrón Experience allows iPhone users to visit the Patrón distillery in Jalisco through augmented reality

Patrón is thought to be one of the first brands to make full use of this advancement in augmented reality technology through Apple’s latest iOS 11 update and the A11 Bionic Neural engine.

Titled The Patrón Experience, the newly-released, augmented reality platform provides a portal to the distillery where consumers can learn about the unique characteristics and ageing process of ultra-premium Tequila.

The experience offers an in-depth look at Patrón’s range of Tequilas; including Patrón Silver, Patrón Reposado, Patrón Añejo, and the newly-released Patrón Extra Añejo – the first extension to the brand’s core Tequila range in 25 years and the longest-aged expression in the line.

Consumers can access the experience by downloading The Patrón Experience from the Apple App Store, where they’ll encounter a single weber blue agave plant.

By planting the agave in its “field” (any flat surface viewable through the phone’s camera system), they trigger a landscape of agave, greenery, and a life-like model of the the Patrón distillery.

Customers encounter life-size bottles of Patrón expressions accompanied by a bartender vignette. With a tap on the phone, the bartender provides a guided explanation of the tasting notes and barrel-aging process (where applicable) for each featured product.

“With this platform, we are once again rewriting the rules for how consumers engage with ultra-premium spirits, and providing a new, highly interactive educational tool for them to learn about what they’re drinking,” said Lee Applbaum, Patrón’s global chief marketing officer.

“Our goal with any technology we develop is to further elevate the way consumers interact with Patrón. Innovative technology for us is a means to an end as opposed to an end in and of itself, and this is philosophically very important as we are constantly evaluating a range of new ideas and technologies. With this project specifically, we wanted to break down the barriers of physical space between consumers and the Patrón Hacienda, and also offer a transparent window into our products – from the way we harvest agave to how we craft the liquid in each bottle.

“We look forward to evolving with this technology as it grows and becomes a fixture in our ever-changing, technology-driven lifestyle.”

Patrón has also developed voice-enabled technology to make its Cocktail Lab library of recipes more accessible to consumers through a custom skill in the Alexa app on Amazon Echo.

This development has since evolved to Bot-Tender, an artificial intelligence-powered cocktail recommendation chatbot available through Twitter, Facebook and online.

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