Maker’s Mark Spirits Dinner
at El Gaucho Bellevue

Guests joined us for a five-course tasting menu featuring a special selection of bourbon from Makers Mark. This rare opportunity included their Flagship, Cask Strength, No. 46 French Oaked and the star of the show, our exclusive Maker’s Mark El Gaucho blend. Chef Maggie Trujillo created an exceptional pairing menu to highlight these special pours, and the evening was led by Maker’s Mark PNW diplomat, Thomas Johnson.

~ The Menu ~

COURSE ONE
Maker’s Smoked Cocktail 
Oysters 3 ways
bbq oyster, oyster rockefeller, oyster shooter with makers mignonette 

COURSE TWO
Maker’s Mark Bourbon 
House Made Charcuterie
country pate, chicken liver mousse, pickles, olives, mustard, jam 

COURSE THREE
Maker’s 46 
Seared Jumbo Scallop in the Half Shell
winter squash, endive, sage, pepita, uni butter 

COURSE FOUR
Maker’s Mark Cask Strength 
Manhattan Cut Niman Ranch 28-Day Dry-Age New York Strip
seared foie gras, beef fat potato rosti, pomegranate peppercorn sauce 

COURSE FIVE
Marker’s Mark Gaucho Blend Cocktail
Carrot Cake
cream cheese icing, mandarin orange, pistachio ice cream, salted caramel

Tom Johnson
Diplomat PNW, Maker’s Mark

Tom Johnson has been in beverage hospitality, making friends and cocktails from coast to coast, for over a decade.

Tom’s résumé includes stints in fine dining under chefs Tom Colicchio and Jean-Georges Vongerichten and cocktail knowledge learning from the industry luminaries behind Employees Only and Death & Company, before moving out from behind the bar into the world of whiskey advocacy launching a new American whiskey for Edrington Group – Noble Oak – in 2017.

Tom is a firm believer that cocktails are supposed to be fun and that it is the stories that make spirits great.

He rode a bicycle from NYC to Seattle in 2016 and joined the team at Maker’s Mark as the Distillery Diplomat for the Pacific Northwest in Autumn 2022.