I've taken my taxable distributions in cash for the last 15 years or so. This doesn't make any difference in the taxable event. What it does is allows me to take the money from all my taxable distributions and rebalance in to future investments. It helps me to steady my stocks/bonds asset allocation.
Now that I am closer to the end, I also take my IRA and Roth distributions in cash, but leave them in the IRA or Roth and invest these proceeds to also help balance my portfolio.
All this helps me to do a slow rebalance in to less risky funds as I age. It also keeps the paper work way down when I want to sell one of my taxable funds. No little yearly bits and pieces. Just the main purchases need to be accounted for.
Dave