Maker’s Mark built its legend on a single, steadfast recipe—a balance that never wavered. Yet on a windy evening in Soho, the brand took a poetic detour. Inside chef Yann Nury’s loft at 132 Crosby Street—aglow with tapered candles and the scent of fresh poppies—eighth‑generation whisky maker Rob Samuels introduced Star Hill Farm Whisky, the distillery’s first wheat expression and its boldest pivot in seven decades.
Guests––including chef and community advocate Alexander Smalls, CULTURED columnist Samah Dada, forager and culinary tastemaker Alexis Nikole Nelson, and chef Will Coleman––drifted past trays adorned with bourbon, displays of locally sourced vegetables from Amber Waves Farm, and irresistable hors d’oeuvres, settling at an long table set with candles and sprigs of Kentucky wildflowers. (G)old Fashioned cocktails shimmered in Baccarat glasses as Samuels rose to speak of soil, patience, and the regenerative fields that birthed this new spirit. Glasses were raised; the wheat whisky—bottled uncut, honeyed yet bright—caught the candlelight like liquid amber.
Nury’s menu was a love letter to Southern flavors and bold statements: a bread course courtesy of L’Appartement 4F; sourdough ice cream with caviar; morels filled with quail in a warm consommé; wagyu beef “au poivre,” its flavor curling into soft conversation. Dessert—a Baba cake coated in a light vanilla and Maker’s bourbon syrup—had the final word.
Between courses, Samuels unveiled the Maker’s Mark Regenerative Alliance, a vow to convert one million acres to regenerative farming within three years. Around him sat a quorum of designers, growers, and stylists, each likewise uncompromising in pursuit of their own crafts.
By the final toast, Kentucky warmth mingled with downtown cool, proof that a heritage icon is best positioned to write the rules for the future of the bourbon industry.
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