Maker's Mark 46

I've always had a soft spot for Maker's Mark - the bottle looks cool, it's hand-dipped in wax, and there aren't many other standard bourbons that are wheated (a style I quite like). The distillery was established in 1805 in Marion County, Kentucky, and is the oldest working distillery in the US that is still on its original site. Back then, it was known as Happy Hollow; the Maker's Mark brand wasn't established until 1953 when Taylor William Samuels Sr. bought it, with the goal of creating a mellower whiskey than usual, by replacing rye with winter wheat (mashbill: 70% corn, 16% winter wheat, 14% malted barley). It is one of the few American whiskies to spell it "whisky" on its label. It remained in the Samuels family until 1981, and is now owned by Fortune Brands.

It is probably the only distillery that offers just two products (and for a very long time, only offered one). One day, they decided they wanted to produce a bourbon with more toasted oak on the nose, and yet without adding wood astringency. Wisely, they consulted their cask supplier, the Independent Stave Company, to help craft the new bourbon. After attempting many different profiles (all failures), they settled on "Profile 46": mature Maker's Mark as per normal; empty the whiskey into a holding tank; put seared French oak staves into those empty casks (searing is gentler than toasting or charring); put the whiskey back into those casks and mature for another nine weeks. Voila.

The colour is a deep copper with orange highlights. On the nose, lots of soft spices like cinnamon, cumin and ground coriander. Tannic oak, liquorice, and in the background I feel like I'm getting some barley sugar (?) along with the vanilla. Very nice - soft for a premium bourbon. With water comes dark fruits and cloves.

On the palate, more oak, Indian corn, black liquorice (the kind from those old All-Sorts tins) and dark honey. Maraschino cherry? No wonder this makes such a great Manhattan! Deliciously thick mouth-feel, which is accentuated with water - and more cherry notes.

The finish again features those soft spices and lots of mouth-drying oak. Very well balanced bourbon, with the softness of the wheat, and the tannins of the oak, working together in harmony. Jim Murray gives this an over-enthusiastic 95 but I wouldn't quite agree. While the bourbon breaks new ground in method of production, it doesn't in flavour profile. Regardless, better than the standard Maker's Mark and well worth the higher price.

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