The last few years have been a bit tumultuous for Maker's Mark. In 2010, they released their first new product in many years, Maker's 46. Then, in 2013 they famously announced that they would lower the bourbon's proof from 45% to 42% abv, then reversed course after a public outcry. Earlier this year, Maker's parent company, Beam Global, was purchased by Suntory. Now, Maker's seems to be going in a different direction and has announced the release of a 113 proof cask strength expression, though for now, it's only available at their gift shop and only in 375 ml bottles.
Maker's Mark Cask Strength, Batch 14-01, 56.6% abv ($40 for 375 ml)
The nose is much less sweet than the regular Maker's, with more wood notes. The palate starts sweet but with plenty of wood balance. It grows in complexity as it goes down, showing some strong oak notes, wood spice, light medicinal notes and even some old red wine type tannins. The finish is sweet on the nose but oaky on the palate. This is a wonderfully balanced bourbon with a lot of complexity. It's hard to believe it's Maker's Mark.
This is something they should have done long ago. Hopefully, they will release it in larger quantity because it's far better than anything I've had from Maker's. UPDATE: Apparently this will be in general release soon.
Having tried the newest Maker's, I'll try some classic Maker's later this week.
Many thanks to Kevin A. for the photo and sample.
11 comments:
You're the second person whose palate I really trust to say this. Now I'm going to have to get a bottle.
Sounds good. Not excited by the price though. 375 ml for twice the price of 750 ml of the regular.
Actually, this just hit CA distribution so it should be available at retailers this week. Us by tomorrow if I'm lucky.
Nice writeup and glad to hear you liked it too. I fell in love with this the second I tried it. It's now the only Maker's I want to drink (and will definitely be buying a another bottle if David D gets them in).
Chuck Cowdery has said that Maker's is the closest thing to old SW bourbon. The red wind tannins and medicinal notes seem like notes I have read about old SW bourbon. Looking forward to this!
This is exciting. Price is pretty steep though for it, which is still NAS.
Anywhere near $80 for 750ml, they can keep it.
Really happy to see this release...like a lot of bourbon drinkers, I've been sad to see Maker's slide from iconic status to a ubiquitous but only sort of OK whisky...this new release is a very good sign that even the most staid distilleries are upping their game, and it's also great to see good wheater's beyond the Weller-Pappy juggernaut. These distillery-only bottlings are increasingly a bright spot in what has recently been an often frustrating market.
-A
Question: I usually find standard Maker's Mark to have an abnormally big alcohol greeting for a 90 proof bourbon. I am not alcohol averse by any stretch of the imagination, but it has often put me off. What's your alcohol experience with this cask strength version?
Anon, I didn't find this to be too alcohol forward, but then again, I don't find the regular Maker's to be either.
Snagged 2 bottles, had a pour last night. Let it sit for about 15 minutes before sipping. I would never have guessed this was Maker's (which was my gateway bourbon decades ago and I thoroughly enjoy at bars that don't have much else to chose from). It has a spiciness I don't associate with MM, and that was a great surprise; there was at first some medicinal notes on the finish; but after I let it sit in the glass another half hour, the last sips seemed to do away with the medicinal and gave way to an almost minty, slightly mocha thing. The finish was relatively long and definitely pleasant. I will say the oak was fairly present from beginning to end but not overly so. I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity (compared to MM). Will be drinking more all weekend—I think this is pretty special stuff for something that's not exactly limited/super hard to obtain.
I'm going to have a pour where I add a touch of water, see how that opens up the juice. One thing is for sure—MM have a huge winner with this stuff.
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