Maker's Mark Private Select Bourbon

Really solid bottle. Better than regular Makers, which is always a great pour. The cherry notes are very present in this expression. I paired it with a pomegranate after dinner, and that combo was mind-bending.

So with the Private Select, Maker's allows the customer to decide on their own combination of staves. My local liquor store did this one, and here's how it looks. 3 Baked American Pure 2 4 Seared French Cuvee 1 Maker's 46 2 Roasted French Mocha 0 Toasted French Spice; bottle at 54.9% Nose: Brown sugar, maple, caramel pop out of the glass. Behind that are leather and cherry. Some mocha and tobacco notes. After some time in the glass I get toffee. Big oak and some cinnamon from the high ABV. No ethanol. Very good. Palate: Still brown sugar and caramel heavy. Vanilla and what I'll call a carrot cake note. Mocha and roasted nut. The mid palate manifests as major oak and baking spices. Clove, nutmeg, and a massive cinnamon kick. Once again, awesome. Finish: A bit of the carrot cake and black cherry persists from the palate until they are ultimately swept away by a tide of baking spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. The oak note is a bit more bitter and astringent at this point but it's still a damn fine finish. Moderate to long. Damn fine pour right here. My local store, as always, has done me well with this one. I imagine that one might have a wildly different experience with this, depending on the stave selection. I'm a huge fan of the 46, and I'm surprised to see that I enjoyed this as much as I did considering the low percentage of 46 staves. At $70, it's far from cheap. Yet, considering this is a high-quality, heavy-hitting experimental product, it's worth the money. I'll give it a 4.5. Fine job here, Maker's.

Fine wine and good spirits stave finished

Lukas Liquor, Kansas City, MO 109.9 Proof 4 Seared French Cuvee 2 Makers 46 2 Roasted French Mocha 2 Toasted French Spice Nose is strong, filling the nostrils with smoke and apple fruit with baking spices in the background. Smoky BBQ leads the way on the tongue and lingers. Silky chocolate follows and black pepper finishes. A good amount of heat, not mild at all.