Maker’s Mark® and Swift Bars Launch Limited-Edition Cocktail Kit 

London, March 2020: Maker’s Mark®, the premium handcrafted American whisky, has collaborated with Swift Bars to launch a limited-edition home cocktail kit.

Created by Maker’s Mark® UK Brand Diplomat, Nicole Sykes, and the team of female bartenders at Swift, the cocktail kit includes two 220ml cocktails: The Green Brand and The Ambassadors Reception. The cocktail kit also features the iconic hand dipped Maker’s Mark® wax seal, a nod to the handcraftsmanship first employed by founder Bill Samuels Senior and his wife, Margie Samuels.

A twist on a Southern style iced tea cocktail, The Green Branch combines Maker’s Mark®, Moscato, pineapple, ginger, and lemongrass tea to create the perfect spring serve. With notes of peach, orange blossom and ginger the refreshing cocktail is best enjoyed in a tall, chilled glass over lots of ice and lemon.

Made using Maker’s Mark®, Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur, Cream Sherry and Chocolate Bitters, The Ambassadors Reception is a rich creamy serve, best enjoyed in a short glass over ice alongside your favourite sweet treats.

As Bourbon continues to be one of the fastest growing and most dynamic drinks categories in UK, the cocktail kit demonstrates the exponential demand for American whisky across the UK. With more shoppers buying bourbon in the off-trade, this has resulted in growth of 27% in value and 21% in volume over the last 52 weeks. Maker’s Mark® even outperforms these category numbers as it sees value sales increase by 47% to just shy of £5m.

Inspired by Margie’s invaluable contributions to Maker’s Mark® and, in turn, the entire bourbon industry, the one-off cocktail kit is available for delivery across the UK and can be purchased online via Speak Easy at Home for £20. 15% of all sales will be donated to The Girls Network, a charity dedicated to inspiring and empowering girls from disadvantaged communities by connecting them with professional female role models.

Nicole Sykes, Maker’s Mark® UK Brand Diplomat commented: “The craft credentials of Maker’s Mark® have been at the very heart of the brand’s success since it was co-founded in 1958 by Bill Samuels Sr. and his wife Margie Samuels. We say that Margie Samuels is the reason most folks buy their first bottle of Maker’s Mark® and Bill Samuels is the reason they buy their second. The shape of the bottle, hand cut label, signature hand dipped red wax topper and even the name itself are all thanks to the pioneering spirit of Margie. We are therefore very excited to collaborate with Swift Bar’s co-founder Mia and their team of female bartenders from two of the most prestigious bars in London, to continue on this journey with the launch a limited-edition home cocktail kit throughout March and to raise some money for a great charity.”

For more information on the collaboration please visit: https://www.speakeasyathome.co.uk/swift

NOTES

ABV:

• The Green Brand – 12.2%
• The Ambassadors Reception – 23.8%

About Maker’s Mark® 

In 1954, in Loretto, Kentucky, Bill Samuels, Sr., fulfilled his dream of creating a handmade and delicious bourbon. He decided to make his whisky in small-batches, using soft red winter wheat, with a proprietary barrel char to enhance the softness and sweetness. Bill Samuels, Sr., transformed bourbon from a “commodity” into a premium handmade spirit, and today Maker’s Mark® continues to make its bourbon exactly the same way. In recent years, Maker’s Mark® has introduced thoughtful, super-premium innovations to its portfolio including Maker’s 46® and Maker’s Mark® Private Select™, the brand’s custom barrel program.

In 1980, the Maker’s Mark® distillery became the first distillery in America to be designated a National Historic Landmark and has also been decreed as the “world’s oldest operating bourbon whisky distillery” by Guinness World Records. It remains one of the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s most popular tourist destinations, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. For more

information, please visit www.makersmark.com.

About Margie Samuels

Bill Samuels, Sr., created the Maker’s Mark® recipe, but his wife (Margie Samuels) gave the whisky its name. Margie wasn’t a professional designer, but she alone created the distinctive font seen on the Maker’s Mark® label, which has won several awards in the advertising and graphics design industry. She also came up with the idea of hand-dipping the bottles after heating up wax in her deep fryer, resulting in one of the most iconic bottle designs in the liquor industry. It’s the red dripping wax that adorns every Maker’s Mark® bottle, and it’s still done entirely by hand today.

Based on her invaluable contributions to Maker’s Mark® and, in turn, the entire bourbon industry, Margie Samuels became the fifth woman ever inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame in September of 2014. For more information on Margie, please visit here: https://www.makersmark.com/history/family/margie-samuels

About Edrington-Beam Suntory Distribution UK

Edrington-Beam Suntory Distribution UK is one of the UK’s biggest sprits sales, marketing, and distribution companies. It is a joint-venture company jointly owned by Edrington and Beam Suntory.

Edrington-Beam Suntory UK represents leading spirit brands in categories including:

• Blended Scotch (The Famous Grouse, Naked Grouse and Teacher’s)
• Malt whisky (Highland Park, Laphroaig, The Macallan and Bowmore)
• Japanese whiskies (Yamazaki, Hibiki, Hakushu, Toki and Chita)
• Bourbon (Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark®, and Knob Creek)
• Imported whiskies (Canadian Club and Kilbeggan Irish whiskey)
• Gin (Roku and Larios)

It also handles UK sales and distribution for Courvoisier cognac, Brugal 1888 rum and a portfolio of liqueurs and specialities (including Sourz, Bols liqueurs, Galliano and After Shock)