St. Louis, MO, April 06, 2024 — Marriott St. Louis Grand is thrilled to announce its ongoing partnership with Maker’s Mark® to produce the 1917 Grand Reserve Statler Edition bourbon. The name of this custom bourbon pays homage to when the hotel opened in 1917 as the Statler Hotel and the hotel’s historic landmark Statler Ballroom.
Starting April 11, the specialty bourbon will be available for purchase at the 8th Street Pantry, Great Room, and Zenia Bar & Grille at $18 a glass and $175 for a 750 ml bottle. Zenia Bar & Grille customers will also be able to enjoy the bourbon in craft cocktails. To celebrate the rollout of the Statler Edition bourbon, Zenia Bar & Grille customers can enjoy live music by popular local musician Mike Mattingly on April 11 from 5 pm to 7 pm.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with Maker’s Mark® with the release of our single-barrel 1917 Grand Reserve Statler Edition,” said Theona Simbrat, the General Manager at Marriott St. Louis Grand. “Our guests have been looking forward to our next barrel. It has a different flavor profile that was chosen by our staff, and we are excited to share it with our guests and visitors.”
Maker’s Mark® hosted Marriott St. Louis Grand Associates at their headquarters in Kentucky. The team gained a greater understanding of a flavor profile and the history of Maker’s Mark® as they crafted a bourbon that takes hotel guests and visitors back in time with a flavor profile consistent with bourbon from the history of both establishments.
As participants of the Maker’s Mark® Private Selection program, Marriott St. Louis Grand created their own version of Maker’s Mark® bourbon whiskey. Each barrel contains cask-strength Maker’s Mark® and is fitted with 10 staves, the flat wooden sticks that form the sides of the barrel. There are 5 different stave types, resulting in over 1,000 possible combinations.
With the help of a Maker’s Mark® tasting panel, Grand Associates selected the following stave profile.
· 1 part Baked American Pure 2
· 3 parts Seared French Cuvée
· 3 parts Maker’s Mark 46®
· 2 parts Roasted French Mendiant
· 1 part Toasted French Spire
The characteristics of the profile are as follows.
· Baked American Pure 2 – American oak slowly toasted adds notes of brown sugar, vanilla, caramel, and spice.
· Seared French Cuvée – ridge-cut French oak seared with infrared heat adds notes of oak and caramel.
· Maker’s Mark 46® – French oak seared adds notes of dried fruit, vanilla, and spice.
· Roasted French Mendiant – French oak cooked at low temperatures in a convection oven adds notes of milk chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit.
· Toasted French Spire – French oak toasted at first at high and then low temperatures in a convection oven adds notes of smoke, coumarin, and spice.
To complete the creation of the 1917 Grand Reserve Statler Edition bourbon, the whiskey aged at Maker’s Mark®’s limestone cellar in its custom barrel for 9 weeks. It’s 111.3 proof and has an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 55.65%.