Maker's Mark is releasing not one but three commemorative bottles with Keeneland for 2021. In a release, the bourbon distillery says sales from the bottles will benefit the LexArts organization and its work on behalf of the Isaac Murphy Memorial Art Garden in Lexington. It's the first park in the U.S. to honor Black jockeys. Murphy won the Derby three times and was in the first group of jockeys inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame.
The bottles go on sale at retail outlets around Kentucky this Friday. Each bottle features a different artwork produced by Sandra Oppegard, Andre Pater, or Tyler Robertson. Most stores carrying the bottles will receive all three of them.
Traditionally, there is a bottle signing at Keeneland to coincide with the Maker's Mark Mile race during the spring meet. But this year, bottle labels are all pre-signed by one of the artists along with signatures from Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin, Maker’s Mark Managing Director Rob Samuels, and one of three active Hall of Fame jockeys who have won the Maker’s Mark Mile multiple times: Javier Castellano, Edgar Prado, and John Velazquez.
The release of the Keeneland-Maker's Mark bottles begins a three-year series benefiting LexArts initiatives, with the same three artists creating new labels each year for the commemorative release.
