Maker's Mark Ambassador's Series 7 Year Old

I had a friend visiting from Austin Texas last month, and one of the reason's he was in our neck of the woods, was that his Maker's Mark Ambassador barrel he signed up for a few years ago was now ready. So he stopped by Kentucky on his way to Nashville, and picked up 18 1 liter bottles of 7 year old Maker's Mark. Apparently the way it works is that you sign up for a portion of the barrel. His portion ended up being 18L of whiskey. Anyway, he couldn't put it all on a plane and bring it with him to Texas, so I ended up shipping it all via UPS after his weekend visit. He paid the shipping and gave me this bottle as a thank-you (it was quite a task, 17 bottles of whiskey via UPS, figuring out what to tell them it was.)

Other than being 7 years old, I'm not sure what else is special about it. Still bottled at the usual 45%. I'm not even sure how old "regular" Maker's is; I'd assume around 4 years on average.

Neat in a Glencairn.

Nose: Double-Bubble chewing gum, whole grain bread, a bit of chocolate covered strawberry, twizzlers, rock candy, caramel. Rather light and sweet, certainly more complex than the standard bottling.

Palate: Certainly a wheater. Strawberry twizzlers, chocolate, actually a fair hint of oak. Maintains nice strength of flavors for 90 proof. Not overly complex but more so than the standard. VERY drinkable. Could certainly down too much of this if not paying attention.

Finish: Bubble gum and chocolate much like previously.

Overall: This is refreshing, light, sweet, and super easy to drink. Still decent flavor despite the light feel. It's an upgrade from the standard bottling, not a massive jump, but a jump nonetheless and a good wheated bourbon. If this had a label from Buffalo Trace on it, you'd have to camp out for it.

Hope everyone is having a joyful holiday season thus far filled with family and whisky!

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