For a low to mid-priced off-the-shelf Bourbon, this stuff is worth buying again and again. (I can't figure out why it gets a 90, when Bowmore 15-year Darkest Islay gets 86/100 here--WTF!!?? The Darkest is one of my favorite whiskeys EVER! About $75 in Michigan and very well worth it!) Maker's doesn't accentuate the overly woody, harsh, strong alcohol/medicinal/furniture stain taste, steeped in burnt barrel char ( I honestly believe a small, obviously derangedly drunken few barrel-tenders have thrown raggedy old chair legs in some barrels for "character"), that so many bourbons highlight. NASTY! That is not to say there isn't *some* furniture polish, wood stain, turpentine ... after all it's not a top-shelf whiskey. What the hell do you want for affordable whiskey! One can't reasonably expect perfection out of a whiskey aged only four years, when many whiskeys I favor are aged 10 years or more-- and a few in my collection are well over $75, and one is a Laphroaig 25 year! It's the red winter wheat replacing the rye that does it for me, I think. Sweetens it up over most bourbons. (But... check out my review on Koval bourbon! Now that's a great bourbon!) Though I can barely taste a smidgen of what's listed in the review (sadly, I'm equipped since birth with a coarse palate), there is an overall sweetness, fullness and fruitiness to this whiskey that makes it one of my favorite, off-the-shelf, almost daily choices. When I really can't decide what I want to drink, Maker's Mark is an old standby for American whiskey (usually bourbon, the most common American whiskey) bourbon along with Tullamore Dew and Jameson for Irish whiskey (both $25-28/750 ml.) and Ardbeg 10 year for mid-priced (about $53/750 ml.) Scotch peated whiskey. Solid 87/100, and that's a *great* value for a whiskey costing only $28 or so for a fifth, $17.50 for 375 ml.