International Women’s Day is celebrated with a wee dram once again
By Vincenza Di Maggio

Each year International Women’s Day is celebrated globally in various ways. In Italy and Russia men traditionally give women sprigs of bright yellow Mimosa blossoms to commemorate the holiday, and in China women are given the day off. Well, leave it up to New Yorkers to chicly celebrate the occasion by raising their glasses and toasting to the infinite past, present, and future accomplishments of women!

This year, at Julie Reiner’s Lani Kai cocktail lounge in SoHo, Compass Box Whisky Co, and Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails joined together for the third annual “Whisky and Women Unite” cocktail party. Women gathered at this spirited celebration to only to honor the occasion and raise money for Bottomless Closet, a non-profit organization that helps disadvantaged New York City women transform their lives by helping them to become self-sufficient and thus allowing them to succeed in the work place.

Abigail Gullo, a founding member of LUPEC shares, “The LUPEC Compass Box event for International Women’s Day has always been a favorite of mine because it’s an opportunity to work with such amazing and accomplished women. It inspires me to see women in this industry come together and celebrate not only our craft, but our desire to make a difference and make the world a better place for women everywhere. I am always honored to be a part of this event and look forward to it every year.”

The fact that it is even possible for this event to exist speaks volumes about how far women have come since 1911 when the holiday was first observed. John Glaser, renowned whiskey maker and founder of Compass Box Whisky Co, comments on the event, “I love this event and I am so proud that we sponsor it. It’s something that never would have happened even ten years ago in this industry: a Scotch whisky brand sponsoring a women’s event.”

In honor of the occasion New York City’s most talented female mixologists blended together six different deliciously refreshing cocktails using Compass Box Whisky’s newly produced Great King Street, a craft blended scotch whisky.

Among the group of skilled bar tenders who participated in the event was Meaghan Dorman, of Raines Law Room and Lantern’s Keep, who shares her thoughts on “Whisky and Women Unite” and says, “I am always a part of International Women’s Day because it’s a trifecta of amazing: delicious whiskey, a community of talented women, and the opportunity to help women better themselves with Bottomless Closet.”

The event was a great success, raising almost $2,000 for the charitable cause! Kendall Farrell, Executive Director of Bottomless Closet says, “Bottomless Closet is thrilled to be in partnership with Compass Box Whiskey and LUPEC! The funds raised will help support our mission providing assistance to NYC women in their transition to work.”

“Whisky and Women Unite” was the perfect blend of LUPEC’s commitment to honor women’s achievements and promote charitable giving, and Compass Box Whiskey Co.’s mission to present whisky drinkers with a boldly innovative brand. Glaser concludes, “Scotch whisky brands have for too long been associated solely with men and their endeavors. There is no reason why this should be. I am so happy that Compass Box is showing the world that Scotch whisky brands can be more than simply emblems of masculine progress. That a thinking person’s Scotch whisky brand such as ours represents the idea of progress and doing things on one’s own terms, regardless of gender. It’s unexpected that a Scotch whisky brand would do something such as ‘Whisky and Women Unite,’ but the way we at Compass Box look at the world, it makes perfect sense.”