Marci Palatella
Marci Palatella
Marci Palatella is a force to be reckoned with. Born in Los Angeles, she attended Sonoma State University in California’s wine country, where she majored in wine-marketing and psychology. Then she wondered what to do next. In the 1980’s while in her early twenties and out of college, Marci realized the ‘bourbon depression’ was turning around and really something to invest in.
In the 1950’s, the decade after World War ll, people had disposable incomes and liked to spend it. It was the first time that women were in the bars and restaurants drinking with their husbands. “Some theories say the decline of bourbon began there; that women found bourbon harsh and preferred softer, sweeter and lighter drinks, like a Gin or Vodka tonic, or Martini.” Other theories blame Hollywood, as a character named James Bond burst onscreen that liked his Martini “shaken, not stirred”.
In any event, the bourbon industry suffered in the late 1960’s and throughout the early 80’s. Looking back, it is easy to see during during that time, the bourbon industry failed to appreciate tastes were changing. They just kept churning out the old tried-and-true recipes. Barrels in rickhouses continued to age, but sales slowed to a dribble. Many distilleries failed and either went out of business or were bought by large spirit conglomerates.
So, Marci, seeing a hole in the market she decided to try and fill, designed some of her own more rustic-looking brands and found two or three bottling partners who could source bourbon for her. They began bottling her own very unusual products. She also began buying! Barrel after barrel from high quality sources here, there and everywhere. Having exquisite taste buds herslf, Marci began blending some of these delightful spirits, leaving others to age.
A chance referral to Julian Van Winkle turned into a lifetime friendship and bottling/distribution partnership. Marci initially relied on Van Winkle for sourcing and bottling contacts, and he needed her for distributing the then-declining Van Winkle brand. It turned into a win-win situation. In addition to that, she worked closely, for over thirty years, with the Kulsveens who own Willett Distillery, and credits owner Even Kulsveen with being her bourbon life coach.
Introducing her very first product as a Holiday item she called Very Olde St. Nick, Marci found her buyers outside the U.S.A. Japan and Europe were whiskey thirsty and bourbon curious, and these new-fangled products she created, with unique tastes, were discovered and started becoming in demand. Marci took an extremely unusual step at that time keeping many of these bottles either single-barrel or cask strength, something bourbons were not back then. The Americana-crazed Japanese could not get enough of that bourbon or of St. Nick!
By the early 2000’s, Marci began to think about distilling and began hunting for a suitable place to distill, looking both in California and in the Bardstown, Kentucky area. In 2015, she discovered a forty-acre parcel that had been mostly shuttered for years. This beautiful property was a long-ago Opry for the central Kentucky region, a farm named Hillbilly Heaven.
The estate, part of the Ritchie Land Trust, is purported to have been home, as early as 1776, of one of the founding fathers of Kentucky bourbon, Wattie Boone. It had been an old tobacco farm, then much later, a music venue beloved by the community. More recently, it served as a country wedding venue. Three large barns sat on this historic site and Marci, with family friends, spent two years turning it into Preservation Distillery. In 2017, her first barrel was filled.
Preservation is Nelson County and this region’s first and only exclusively pot-distilled producer. Proudly, Preservation is Kentucky’s first sustainability focused distillery, as well as its first female founded distillery. All batches are small, consisting of only one to three barrels. Typically, ten barrels are currently filled daily at the distillery; the emphasis is on flavor, ageing and, above all, superior quality. Nothing is bottled until Marci feels it is ready. She is fond of saying, “We’re not in a hurry”. Her first introduction of the Preservation Label was a pot distilled wheated bourbon; introduced at more than seven years old in 2024 and which was “Unheard of for a first release.”
Another thing that sets Preservation products apart is that most are bottled in wine bottles. It seems appropriate, as Marci comes from Northern California’s wine country and has a wine and spirits marketing background. This creates packages that are distinctive on the retail store shelves.
Years of steady work have paid off for Marci. In October, the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition awarded Marci’s Pure Antique 20-year with the very top honor. There were 5,000 total entries. So, congratulations, Marci Palatella, for an unparalleled achievement!
Marci is married to Lou Palatella, a former San Fransico Forty-Niner. The couple have two sons and split their time between Northern California and Bardstown, Kentucky where they have a home and are very much part of the community. Marci is the quintessential example of thinking ‘outside the box’, “thinking forward, looking back”, moving slowly but steadily in the direction of her vision.
As a former Preservation employee, it is an honor to call Marci a friend.
