On Monday, a ride over the bridge led me to Palette 22 in Shirlington for the Maker’s Mark event “I am Woman Hear Me Pour.” This event was held to celebrate Margie Samuels, co-founder of Maker’s Mark. Throughout the evening, Rachel Ford, a Maker’s Mark Diplomat, told us not only did Margie come up with the iconic red wax for their bottles but she also came up with the “shape of the bottle, look of the label and even the name” – that’s pretty dayum cool. I also learned that Margie was the first woman working with a distillery to be inducted into The Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame. You go Margie!
We were not only treated to a Marker’s tasting but we also enjoyed three distinctively different cocktails made with Makers (my favorite, the refreshing “Lipstick Libation” made with Makers, carrot juice, fresh pineapple, turmeric, ginger infused honey and lime juice!).
As we sipped on a cocktail, Theresa Quitto-Dickerson, Owner of Mix & Melt Studios, walked us through the various steps of making a candle in our freshly dipped Maker’s glass. Before adding the wax, we were able to blend scents of whiskey, oak, vanilla and caramel. The entire process was pretty fun! I could see doing this activity with a group of friends.
Towards the end of the night, each attendee was given a blank sheet of stationary and an empty commemorative bottle. Rachel instructed us to write down a hope, wish or a goal and place it inside the bottle. Once this was done, we lined up and took turns dipping our bottle into the iconic Maker’s Mark red wax. To later be opened once we achieved our hope, wish or goal. I don’t know which made me more nervous, the excitement of dipping my own “message in a bottle” or being that close to 400 degree wax (even though we wore sleeves, gloves, an apron and protective goggles)!
It was such a fun night! I met some wonderful people, got to hand-dip a bottle in Maker’s Mark wax, make my own whiskey scented candle and learned a lot. I wish my girls were there to make it even more fun…
