Maker's Mark 46 Kentucky Bourbon Whisky, 70cl

Product Information

I absolutely love how this smells. It’s rich and delicious with just a hint of sweetness on top. The first thing that comes to mind from the smell is a heavy helping of rich caramel and toffee, which is consistent with the original Maker’s Mark product, but the alcohol has been significantly mellowed out and there’s some additional fruit notes as well. I think I get some crisp and fruity green apple in there now, like a delicious caramel apple from the state fair.

He even sped up the experimentation process by using bread instead of fermenting wheat, which led him to choose different grains than his family originally used! That choice made his bourbon much softer than the former recipe produced. Small Batch Bourbon is a high-rye content bourbon that is priced similarly to the Maker’s Mark 46 and is oh so delicious! It’s going to give you those great oaky notes that the Maker’s Mark 46 also has. I recommend an Old Fashioned with Maker’s Mark 46 as well. It’s really fascinating to taste the two side-by-side, especially when you consider these two bourbons have the same exact mash bill. They mix as differently as they sip neat! Comparable Whiskies to Maker’s Mark While one is a lovely little treat, great for after dinner, the other is more surprising, with a lot more wood notes, and overall just completely different! Truly these two bourbons are a testament to what an aging process can do to a whiskey!In the end, I wouldn’t say either of these falls short of expectations, and I can’t say enough how much I like both of them. Let’s talk about the history of the distillery, which is intricately tied into the Maker’s Mark founding family: the Samuels, and what each of these two bourbons has to offer.

Full of vanilla, followed by sweet cherries and fresh red fruit. Cinnamon and toasted oak. A few drops of water brings butterscotch and warming nutmeg. Delicious and very easy drinking. Now we get to the distillation process! Maker’s Mark double-distills their bourbon in copper stills. Meanwhile, somewhere outdoors, their virgin American oak barrels are being aired out or “seasoned” for at least nine months to remove bitter-causing tannins that often happen in young wood. (Those bitter tannins can also make the whiskey bitter as it is aged.) The bottle does not have that signature label from Margie’s creative mind. In fact, only the original Maker’s Mark utilizes that element of her design. Instead of the paper label, Maker’s Mark 46 is a clear bottle with the color of the Maker’s Mark label used as the color of the font. The design of the Maker’s Mark 46 is more modern without veering too harshly from the tradition of the Maker’s Mark signature design or the Samuels family tradition. Maker’s Mark 46 Specs The cask-strength Maker’s Mark is then stored in the Maker’s Mark limestone cellar for nine weeks with ten seared virgin French oak staves. And those staves make all the difference! The name of Maker’s Mark 46 comes from the staves that worked best in this process: “Stave Profile No. 46”. The Maker’s Mark 46 Bottle Photo by Thea Engst

The finish of this bourbon is just as soft as the palate is and very smooth. There is no burn in this bourbon. When Bill Samuels Senior set out to make a soft bourbon, he certainly succeeded, in my opinion! One thing I appreciate about this design is that the majority of the bottle is open clear glass. The normal Maker’s Mark bottle is mostly wrapped in paper, but in this case the deep amber color of the liquid inside is on full display. And it looks great.And what’s more iconic than the wax seal of a Maker’s Mark bottle? Margie chose that too, taking her inspiration from 19th-century cognac bottles, which she also used to design the bottle shape itself! Moderate mouthfeel, sweet caramel and honey. I like how diverse the palate is - from notes of marshmallow, pepper, a touch of tobacco. Not too sweet, not too savory, not too peppery. The stave choices amount to 1,001 different combinations, making each retailer’s choice unique. The Maker’s Mark 46 Process