I’ve been on a huge beer kick lately (Beer is booming in Oklahoma if you haven’t noticed), so this is a great Bourbon to get me back in the Bourbon review game. I’ve actually never owned or opened a bottle of Maker’s until this point. And, we actually went to the distillery a few years ago! Ha.  Who knew is was a twist top?!? Not me! (Not gonna lie…Slightly disappointed by that.) Kris did review the Cask Strength, but honestly I’ve never opened it. ?? You can find his review here.

It’s not that I meant to ignore Maker’s for so long, but it’s the normal go-to Bourbon for a lot of people AND there are so many other things to try. Sorry, Maker’s! Let’s see what you have to offer.

Company: Beam Suntory

Distillery: Maker’s Mark Distillery

Location: Loretto, KY

Mash bill: 70% corn/16% wheat/ 14% malted barley

Age: NAS (5 to 6 years per the distillery)

ABV: 45% (90 proof)

Released: Ongoing

Price: $28

Color: Honey Blonde

Nose: Apples in your face, slight caramel, light nose, you can sniff it all day with no burn. Little floral cherry as it opens up.

Taste: Slighty bitter as first but easy to sip and mellows out sweetly. We’ve got some caramel, a bit of earthiness, some slight spice, and a bit of lemon to round everything out. The balance is fairly decent.

Finish: Bitter lemon finish with a little bit of heat on your tongue. Overall, light finish.

Overall:  I see why this is such a popular Bourbon, it’s easy to drink, it comes at a decent price, plus you can’t beat that lovely red wax top.

Maker’s goes for a certain flavor profile, so they blend their bottles to create the flavor they’re looking for, hello! I can get on board with that, though it bothers some people. A higher alcohol content would help this a lot in my opinion. Which they’ve started to do by offering some other Bourbons in their family. FYI: Kris has talked about the Cask Strength and will talk about some other’s later. Spoiler alert!

Side note: Since, I wrote this review at 10 in the morning, I totally poured the rest of my Maker’s in my coffee. Mmmmm, better than artificial caramel creamer. But, tastes similar. ?

Rating: 3/5