Maker's Mark 101

This is my 225th review. For a long time I’ve recommended Makers 46 to wheaterheads that couldn’t find Weller on the shelves anymore. And if they wanted Weller 107 I’d recommend Makers Cask Strength. Now I have another bottle to send them to. Nose: bright fruits like cherries and hints of orange zest, floral notes, oak, butterscotch. Taste: fair bit of mint spice in the mid palate, but not too spicy. Back palate really reminds me a lot of Weller 107. Finish: medium finish and a nice balance of the fruit and spice. Overall the Makers line is the superior wheater for my palate. Weller 12 and William Larue Weller takes the prize for the older vintage but anything younger and you’re better off trying a Makers line rather than chasing overpriced Weller

Open 1 month Nose - Cherry bomb, mixture of cheap Maraschino cherry and cherry cough drops, sweet corn and brown sugar, cinnamon apple and red hot candy, light oak. Palate - Candied apple covered in red hot candy syrup, artificial cherries, oak and brown sugar, corn dust. Finishes medium with sweet cherry and tannic oak flavors lingering on the tongue. This is a really good release by Maker's Mark and should be a staple in their lineup. I don't see why this should be limited, it seemingly requires no special aging, barreling, or finishing. I was skeptical buying a 101 proof version for $42 when the cask strength was on sale for $40, but this may be the ideal proof for Maker's Mark. It is much better than 90 proof, and is equally as good or better than the two MM Cask Strength batches I've had. The Cask Strength drinks hot and needs oxygen to mellow out, this tastes like the best version of those cask strengths with more cherry and less red hot oak. If you like Maker's Mark and were skeptical of this release, my suggestion is buy it. Two other notes: I love the gold inlay on the clear bottle. It looks really nice and I prefer that to all of these paper iterations they've been using on the cask strengths recently. I don't understand the MSRP of $42 in NC, I think it should be $40 given the 90 proof is $30 and cask strength is $50. It's only $2 more than my ideal price point, just thought it was odd.

Carmel Apple and ripe fruits (pear, apple).