Buying this whiskey felt like a toss of the dice, and I knew that going in. I have several sites whose reviews I read before deciding to make a purchase usually. These are Distiller, Breaking Bourbon, Whisky Advocate, and Whiskycast. I also sometimes watch videos like the Whisky Vault. The problem with Maker's 46 Cask Strength is that, although it got decent numbers, from Stephanie Moreno's 86 here ("It's not super complex, but it gets the job done. Throw a rock in there and enjoy") to a Above Average on Breaking Bourbon to a B+ (that rating qualifies by a final line: "The whole experience is a little flat and short of dazzling...") on Drinkhacker, no reviewer seemed to be particularly enthusiastic about it other than the 93/100 it garnered on Whiskycast (where they seemed to be reviewing the version only available at the distillery), those good numbers were undercut by lukewarm sentiments and there seemed no consensus. And generally when I'm spending $60+ I want consensus that I'm going to have a great time drinking a particular spirit. But still, it's Maker's Mark, and I like the regular 46 and I like the straight Cask Strength, and I like the most recent Wood Finishing FAE-02, so I figured I'd pick this up and see how I felt about it. Generally, after I've done my research, I try to forget the specifics of what I've read in other reviews to experience the glass through my own senses and come to my own conclusions. If there's one thing aggregating reviews from different sites will tell you, there's not really anything resembling objectivity when it comes to the sense of taste. One will taste prunes where the other tastes chocolate. One tastes honeysuckle where the other gets lavender. A rule of thumb I let guide me though: the more specific the flavors listed, the more subjective it is. This is why I tend to derive a more accurate picture of what to expect from broader descriptives than specific ones. This might ruffle some feathers, but I don't get a lot out of the Baskin Robbins whisky review (and if you're not catching the reference, it's where you list all the 32 flavors you're tasting and don't say anything else about the whisky). I prefer to know things like, is it darker and richer with flavors of toffee, caramel and chocolate, or is it woodier with broad oak, maybe a little leathery, touch of vanilla. Is it fruity and what kind of fruits are you tasting. Please give me three to five aromas and flavors, not ten to twelve that all taste vaguely similar. And then, if you can, tell me what other whiskies it reminds you of. (And by the way, I get it, there are probably plenty of people who encounter my reviews and wonder why I have to write five paragraphs when a Baskin Robbins review is short and sweet and straight to the point. Different strokes, right?) That said, the neck pour of my bottle of Maker's 46 Cask Strength was just short of awful. The nose was initially muddled with the alcohol coming through more than anything else, with subtle aromas of something artificial underneath that vaguely resembled plastic. It reminded of my first experience with Rebel Distiller's Edition in the summer, and if I hadn't had the experience with that bottle where, over time, with oxidation, it became much better than the initial experience, I would have felt like I'd wasted $60 here. So I shot it back (I wasn't going to waste it), poured another, and let it sit in the glass a while. Now the second glass wasn't world's better. The air wasn't going to work miracles in a matter of minutes, but aromas and flavors at least rose to the surface that somewhat resembled what I've come to expect from a cask strength wheated whisky. That said, this has a darker richer profile as far bourbons go. The nose is fudge, coffee, tobacco leaf, oak, and maybe a trace of leather and spice. On the palate it's both spicy and sweet, adding mostly nutmeg and cinnamon to the coffee/chocolate aromas with a faint touch of cherry (water accentuates the fruit and adds a hint of toffee). The finish is almost entirely cinnamon spice, so much so that I'd even describe this as a cinnamon bomb. Overall it doesn't hold much of a candle to the FAE 02, and I'd even say that I prefer their standard Cask Strength bottling to the 46. I mentioned Rebel Distiller's Edition above, and it's strikingly similar in my memory to that, but while this 46 is likely a better whisky, I'm not sure it's $20 better, as the SRP on Rebel Distiller's is only $40. In the end, I find this drinkable, and I'll certainly finish the bottle, but it's underwhelming and isn't a well I'm likely to dip into again.