Maker's Mark 46 French Oaked

Nose: sweet, candied. fruity, maybe dried fruits? toasted oak. Taste: woody(oak), sweet, bit of spice. full flavored. Finish: medium finish, some spice, some heat, no bite. very smooth. easy.

It's like a 4.5 if you get it cheap. How did I never try this until now??! OH, because I always picked up bernheims in the past instead of this and was more than A LITTLE familiar with regular makers... ..MISTAKE. This is a Kentucky straight bourbon whisky barrel finished with the barrel containing 10 french oak staves. '46' refers to the designation this profile was given among barrel experimentation. The makers wheat bill is there but tastes mildly more balanced, if only a touch. Nose: PAST the cherry syrup and AMAZINGLY tantalizing oaky wood*, you nose fudge, old glasses formerly containing burgundy, marzipan/gingerbread cookie *its up-front and unapologetic but is so well placed I truly believe this took 45, then 46 attempts at strategic wood placement to get ultimately balanced against the best of the Kentucky notes. Stand-out enjoyable if you like well-done wood Palate: Somewhere between the olfactory and tongue is this great saltwater taffy, butterscotch, fig, allspice/clove statement that makes the whole thing work like a well-polished work. The details and nuance here are just as much the N/P themselves (standout) as it is the interaction... ...again, fantastic. On the end of a only-as-oily-as-it-should-be-and-not-an-inch-more tasting, you get brought back to the hints of the delicious KY regulars you didnt get in the open--whispers of cinnamon and leather fade into a silky wheater mouth Mouth: Short but on par with the big boys. The 'justtttt oily enough' thing is really killer when you get a glass of it just right. This one takes neat, water, and ice fantastically. I recommend neat or ice sphere after destroying the bottl--i mean 'testing' for the ideal sip.

Brown sugar, cinnamon, oak. Others say vanilla on the nose, but I get it on the finish. Spicy, but doesn’t burn