Zachary-Robbins
Maker's Mark 101
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
October 12, 2020 (edited May 31, 2021)
Open 1 month
Nose - Cherry bomb, mixture of cheap Maraschino cherry and cherry cough drops, sweet corn and brown sugar, cinnamon apple and red hot candy, light oak.
Palate - Candied apple covered in red hot candy syrup, artificial cherries, oak and brown sugar, corn dust. Finishes medium with sweet cherry and tannic oak flavors lingering on the tongue.
This is a really good release by Maker's Mark and should be a staple in their lineup. I don't see why this should be limited, it seemingly requires no special aging, barreling, or finishing. I was skeptical buying a 101 proof version for $42 when the cask strength was on sale for $40, but this may be the ideal proof for Maker's Mark. It is much better than 90 proof, and is equally as good or better than the two MM Cask Strength batches I've had. The Cask Strength drinks hot and needs oxygen to mellow out, this tastes like the best version of those cask strengths with more cherry and less red hot oak. If you like Maker's Mark and were skeptical of this release, my suggestion is buy it.
Two other notes: I love the gold inlay on the clear bottle. It looks really nice and I prefer that to all of these paper iterations they've been using on the cask strengths recently. I don't understand the MSRP of $42 in NC, I think it should be $40 given the 90 proof is $30 and cask strength is $50. It's only $2 more than my ideal price point, just thought it was odd.
41.95
USD
per
Bottle
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
@BDanner Yeah I know, I don't really care about the money given the quality. Logically it makes sense at $40 when you see it on the shelf beside its brethren. I'm a nitpicky scientist that can't grasp sales tactics.
I'm not terribly down on the $42 price tag. I remember just a couple years ago that MM was $36 and MM46 was $46 in NC. I'll take the new $30/$40/$42/$50 pricing. I even picked up a couple MMCS for the $40 sale price in September. I'm hoping that if the 101 becomes a permanent line extension that it may slot in at about $36. Maybe about 1/2 way between the standard and the 46.
@WhiskeyLonghorn An unfortunate trade-off. The odds of finding an allocated offering in stores are very low anyway though :(
@Zachary-Robbins being a non control state has it’s perks :). We also hardly get any allocated products here. No BT other than the bottom shelfers, and sometimes Weller SR, baby Saz, and regular BT.
@WhiskeyLonghorn Jeez that's cheap, regular Maker's is $30 here. I'd buy 2 at that price.
Good confirmation indeed! I'll have to find a bottle, because I agree - the CS runs unecessarily hot, while the 90 needs a bit more oomph.
Thanks for the confirmation. This sells for $30 here in TX and I’ve debated picking this one up after a similar experience with the CS. Great notes!