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Maker's Mark

The other original wheated bourbon

2 881

@casualtortureReview by @casualtorture

8th Aug 2018

1

Maker's Mark
  • Nose
    21
  • Taste
    22
  • Finish
    19
  • Balance
    19
  • Overall
    81

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

Maker's Mark is interesting to me. No rye is used in the mash bill. "Red Winter Wheat" is used along with the corn and malted barley. Im not sure what makes red winter wheat different from other wheat. Any botanists or farmers in the house? They say it is small batch and actually advertise 19 barrels or less per batch. I enjoy the disclosure on that. Also, it's whisky in this case, not whiskey like most of American spellings.

Mashbill: 70% Corn, 16% Wheat, 14% Malted Barley (source: breakingbourbon).

Apparently, they had several mash bill contenders, and they baked bread with the grains from each mash bill and the one without rye was the winner. Cool story, valid or not. MM was making wheated bourbon for the masses before it was trendy. This 1L bottle I found on sale for $29.99 which is what the 75CL usually sells for. Couldn't resist. Bottle is 3/4 full and opened for a week or two. Neat in a glencairn and hand warmed thanks to some advice from @paddockjudge. And let me say this bottle has opened up from when it was first opened. At first I was really worried but air is doing favors.

Nose: Fruity on the nose. Strawberry, peaches, baked cinnamon apples, toffee and vanilla. Light but pleasant enough. If you search enough there is an earthiness to be found like walking into an old barn with dirt floors and hay everywhere.

Palate: Very sweet fruit jams. Peaches and berries smothered in sweet vanilla cream sauce. A bit one dimensional though. Hard to find much outside fruit and vanilla but what is there is very likeable and definitely makes for a quaffable dram.

Finish: More sweet vanilla and fruit. Peach cobbler a la mode. Medium length. Nothing to write home about and sticks with the theme.

Overall: This is comparable to Weller SR. Don't tell the rest of the internet, but it's also a tad better than Weller SR in my opinion. Good one to have around for summer.

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8 comments

@cricklewood
cricklewood commented

Heretic! How dare you speak against the church of Weller. stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye I used the enjoy the standard MM quite a bit in the first leg of my whisky journey. I liked the soft creaminess of it's profile, I stopped buying it after getting a couple of rough batches though.

I should buy a bottle of this or 46 to revisit how it tastes.

6 years ago 2Who liked this?

@casualtorture
casualtorture commented

@cricklewood they have the MM cask strength and it's very tempting at ~$50usd.

6 years ago 0

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge commented

@casualtorture, thanks for the nice review. I like this wheater, a lot.

The other iterations are all better than the standard version. Each is unique. A flight of Maker's is a fun experience: Maker's Mark, Maker's 46 finished in the original original barrel with 10 additional French Oak staves, MM Cask Strength, and Maker's Private Select (barrel proof) finished in the original barrel with 10 additional staves, a custom selection of oak finishing staves different from Maker's 46....throw in some Maker's White if you can find it.

I agree, it is better than Weller Special Reserve.

6 years ago 1Who liked this?

@cricklewood
cricklewood commented

@casualtorture, now that's what I'm talking about...that's a steal. No matter how much people bitch and moan about the lack of availability of premium whisky on the shelves in the US. I think many of them don't realize just how much good stuff is available nonetheless and at a decent price. I love that you guys can just walk into a store any day of the week and pick up something like MM cask strength, OGD 114 or any number of those great store picks and often not have broken the 60$ barrier.

6 years ago 1Who liked this?

@casualtorture
casualtorture commented

@cricklewood my favorite deal right now, Knob Creek SB 9yo is $49.99+tax. That's a steal all day.

6 years ago 0

@casualtorture
casualtorture commented

@cricklewood I would agree as far as bourbon goes obviously. But scotch is a different story. Even if you want to spend the ridiculous extra amounts of money compared to the UK and even China, the availability of anything out of the ordinary is lacking. I really wanted to get the Arran McTaggart 10yr anniversary edition but can't track it down anywhere in my regional vicinity. Other limited releases as well. I got my Arran 18 limited edition in China and flew it back. Got my Talisker 57N there as well cuz good luck finding that in the Southern US...

6 years ago 0

@cricklewood
cricklewood commented

@casualtorture, I hear you, my comment was mainly vis-à-vis American whisky, I can see how getting Scotch or International whisky might be trickier. Although I have to say a lot of online retailers have decent selections, if Binny's would ship again they seem to have both good prices and a pretty good selection.

I too have been coveting the Arran McTaggart edition, I have never had a full bourbon matured Arran so was curious especially since I think it's cask strength or near it.

6 years ago 1Who liked this?

@casualtorture
casualtorture commented

@cricklewood yes I want to say 55% but not sure.

6 years ago 0