Maker's Mark Cask Strength

Great dark color. Nose has vanilla and a subtle nutty flavor, like almond or cashew. Taste has plenty of vanilla (more like a more adult vanilla, like custard as opposed to soft serve). The high proof actually isn’t as harsh as I expected. Little orange/citrus early on. This is followed by some chocolate and burnt sugar. Finish is moderate.

Batch 21-08: Nose: Very strong alcohol, as is expected. Sweet harvest fruits, like apple are present, as well as some mild pepper. Taste: Very sweet, less fruity than the nose. Mild peanutty taste. Very, very thick feel; it coats the inside of your mouth. Finish: Vanilla kicks in on the back end, and follows down your throat. The heaviness of the alcohol stays, however. Overall, a very good example of what cask strength can do. I do recommend, however, drinking with an ice cube to thin out the drink, the heaviness can be overwhelming.

Batch 21-08, bottled at 56.25%. Bought this after reading the extensive malt-review.com vertical tasting. Only $35 and this was considered one of the better batches. I can’t attest to the extreme variation alleged in the article, as this is the only one I’ve tried, but this one is pretty good. It’s about on the level of Weller Antique 107. The 107 may be a hair better, but it’s near impossible to find, and if you do find it not marked up significantly, the SRP is still $15 more than this, and I don’t think it’s $15 better than this, let alone the gross markups or secondary prices that it fetches. If the alleged variation is to be believed, maybe it’s only the good batches that are on the W107 level. The nose is heavy caramel corn, a smidge of fruit, apple, cherry, banana, and a little oak. The palate follows closely with much the same. It doesn’t need water for me, and I’d recommend not adding any as it thins it out quickly and the flavors get washed out. So, maybe only for those who like me prefer whiskey neat and at cask strength. In a whiskey world that’s gone mad, this seems to be a great value, but maybe check the batch reviews before buying if you can. 3.5-3.75 range.