As we all know the 2013: Rick Pitino bottle is on its way, and just like we promised we’re keeping you up to date. As a disclaimer, this information came from collectors like you and I, and not from Maker’s Mark.

First off, 12,600 will be created, but only10,500 bottles will be available in stores retail. The rest will be announced later.

Secondly, the bottles will go on sale, Friday June 7th.

And finally, the picture shown is not the bottle, it’s what we will predict the bottle may look like.

Name That Bottle

This week’s Name That Bottle is one that some consider a myth, the Secret Service bottle.

This stealthy bottle has been discussed numerous times, but no one seems to know much about it… and it would like to keep it that way. However, we would not, and we are asking everyone out there to release the information you may have about this bottle. It’s also unknown if Maker’s even created this bottle, or if it was a secret organization in a basement.

You can let us know by email at webmaster@makersmarkbottles.com or on our facebook page Maker’s Mark Bottles

Here’s what we know:

2001: C-USA, white label

History: In 2001, the Louisville Cardinals hosted Conference USA’s Men’s Basketball Tournament in Freedom Hall, where Charlotte beat Cincinnati to take the Championship.

General Info: ??
Number Produced: ??

If anyone has can provide a clearer photo, please do so by e-mailing it to us, webmaster@makersmarkbottles.com

2003: C-USA, black label

History: In 2003, the Louisville Cardinals hosted Conference USA’s Men’s Basketball Tournament in Freedom Hall, where Louisville beat UAB to take the Championship.

General Info: ??
Number Produced: ??

Also, don’t forget your limited edition Breast Cancer Awareness print today!
Click here for more info!

Good Friday morning to everyone, first off I would like to congratulate the winner of the Breast Cancer Awareness painting, along with the winner of the I Have Wings bottle; these pieces of art are truly one of a kind! I also would like to just thank all the participants, and especially painter Shawn Voelker, artist Vivian Hilliard, collector Jeff Huck, and co-owner of makersmarkbottles.com Justin Sloan for putting everything together, this couldn’t of been done without them.

I also encourage that you check out more of Shawn’s work at www.shawnvoelker.com, and more of Vivian’s work at www.vhcrafts.com.
Secondly, for those that are signed up to our newsletter, you received a little gift from us last night for being such great fans! This of course was a link to be one of the first to pre-order your Breast Cancer Awareness bottle print! If you haven’t signed up yet we encourage you to do so, you never know what you might get.

Details about the prints:

• There are only 100 prints available, and they are on a first come first serve basis.
• Prints are approximately 17″ x 23″
• Prints cost $50 plus shipping and handling
• A portion of each print will be donated to the I Have Wings Breast Cancer Foundation

However, if you missed it, click here to pre-order yours today! And don’t forget to become friends with us on social media on the Maker’s Mark Bottles fan page, click here to like us, as well as on our Twitter account @MakersMBottles, click here to follow us.

Now for the detail that surfaced about a Rick Pitino bottle that will be released!

For those of you that don’t remember last year Maker’s release its Charlie Strong bottle and announced it was the first of three bottles that would benefit the Academic Center of Excellence. The second bottle was announced on Wednesday and it would feature UofL’s men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino.

This commertive bottle will be in honor of Pitino’s accomplishments from this past year which includes the 2013 NCAA National Championship, and getting inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.

No date has been set for the bottle just yet, but we have heard there will be a total of 12,600 bottle produced and only available to those that are over the age of 21.

The bottle pictured is NOT the 2013: Rick Pitino bottle

Original Painting	Hand Painted Bottle

Please email us with any issue you are having.

The auctions for the original Shawn Voelker Breast Cancer Bottle painting and the Vivian Hilliard/Jeff Huck Custom hand-painted Bottle will be starting right here on Sunday May 5th at 7:00pm EST! The auction will last until Thursday May 9th at 9pm!EST. The starting bid is going to be $500 for the painting and $50 for the bottle! This will be a Ebay Style auction. You must be registered on the website (not a big deal really quick registration). Prints be available soon after the auction of the painting is over. We will announce exact sale start time before ending of the auctions.

This foundation is a regional foundation based in Erlanger, KY! What stuck out to me is that 100% of the funds raised goes right back into OUR community in the regional area of Ohio-KY-IN!Here is a little more information from their website:

After talking with the director Janet Chambers it only confirmed this was a great foundation for this project! To find out more about the I Have Wings foundation check them out here IHaveWings.org

UPDATE SINCE FIRST POSTED:

Jeff Huck has had Vivian Hillard make up this bottle(full) to auction when we go about auctioning the original painting for the Breast Cancer piece. Again the details of the auction start times will be released soon(we are looking at beginning of next week). Sorry for all the post today but things keep getting better with this project! Big Kuddos to Jeff and Vivian.

We will be releasing final details on Monday May 6th about the prints. The painting is done and can be seen above! We have teamed up with Shawn Voelker to offer this one of a kind painting/print.   Here are the details:

• The orginal print will be auctioned off (approximately 24″ x 32″)
• Portion of the auction goes directly to a charity named later (finalizing details still should be next couple of days)
• There will be 100 numbered and signed prints will be available
• Prints will be issued first come basis. Earlier the order the lower the number!
• We will announce exact time of the prints going on sale later this week.

2013: Mint Julep Bottle

As we all know this week is leading up to the fastest 2 minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby. So what is the best way to celebrate the Kentucky Derby? By having a Mint Julep of course! Instead of having a “Name That Bottle” this week, we decided to show off the newest Mint Julep bottle. The newest Mint Julep bottle is the only one that we were able to track down at the moment, so we would like for everyone out there, that has an older one, to please send us some pictures of past years!

Also, send us some of your favorite Mint Julep Recipe’s and we’ll get them posted so others can show off your drink this weekend!

Here’s one that’s on the Maker’s Mark site! You can click here to view and print the recipe!

• 1-1/2 parts Maker’s Mark® Bourbon
• Fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons simple syrup* muddled with mint
• Splash of distilled water
• Powdered sugar

Mix together simple syrup* muddled with mint, Maker’s Mark® Bourbon and distilled water. Fill glass with crushed ice and pour mixture over top. Sprinkle top of ice with powdered sugar. Garnish with a mint sprig.

*Simple syrup

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup distilled water

Heat to dissolve sugar, stirring constantly so the sugar does not burn. Set aside to cool.

Remember everyone, this Empty bottle can still be yours!! The auction doesn’t end until tonight, 4/28, at 9pm eastern time! Only one bottle was created, so get your hands on it while you still can! Plus, all proceeds will benefit the Colon Cancer Prevention Project!

Place your bid on the Maker’s Mark Collectors group by clicking here, or send your private bids to Ellen White at j.ellen.white@gmail.com

The reason this bottle was created is because this year Ellen White will be participating in Walk Away From Colon Cancer 5K in August, in honor of her father who passed away from colon cancer, August 1, 2012. She has teamed up with Vivian Hilliard, who has created this bottle to commemorate this year’s walk. The bottle as you can see has blue wax and the Walks logo featuring Ellen’s team name “”Team Victor E” (after her Dad). I hope you all will consider bidding on this bottle for a wonderful cause.