Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series 2020 SE4 x PR5

Neat. Neck pour. Big fan of Makers Private Selection and last year’s RC6. Happy to see Makers continue to branch out. Let’s see how the 2020 LR lives up to last year. This is meaty, first impression. How strange. Yeah, it just sits in this dark, savory range right now. I’m going to swirl this for a bit, this is changing the more it opens up... Okay starting to get this delicious caramel and vanilla beans. I can’t believe how much this is lightening and sweetening with air and a little swirling. Royal icing, very strong royal icing. Nice apple. Toasted coconut. The vanilla is taking over the longer I sit with it. Such a strange morphing nose, but it’s good. Oily texture, but first impression was off. Tongue got hit with a strong bitterness. Oaky bitterness. Cinnamon sugar is starting to shine through. Gosh, the palate is odd too. The bitter oak really amps up but does give way to a caramel wave. Then again the vanilla takes over. Toasted coconut on the finish. The vanilla and toasted coconut linger for ages. Man, this bitterness is killing me. I stopped, got some water, gave it a clean shot. The bitterness is not as intense, so maybe there was something with me there or it builds over time. With that said, still hits me wrong. One thing I will say about this, longest finish on a Makers. The vanilla and the toasted coconut at the end are strong but I don’t like the Journey getting there. I really hope this opens up....

Vanilla and intense big red baking spices. I added a bit of water to open this up, and it toned down the spiciness and amped up some of the vanilla. I thought this was well worth $65+ tax, but also really liked last year if that is any indicator of you’ll enjoy it. Pretty viscous and oily, it’s great for the price and about what I expected with this series.

Probably one of the best Maker’s Mark I have so far. This one ranks much higher than Maker’s Cask Strength. Has more complex flavors than regular Maker’s. I get toasted grains, dryness, and some tannic notes.

Rich, cinnamon, vanilla. Filling.

Smooth... but sort of land to me.

I prefer this one over the 2019 RC6. Definitely one of, if not the best Maker’s product I’ve had.