Whiskey Review/Tasting: Maker's Mark Red Seal

Welcome to whisky.com. My name is Luening, Horst Luening, and I'm the Master Taster of whisky.com. Today we're in Kentucky and we taste the Maker's Mark Kentucky straight bourbon whisky. You might have seen this bottle on the shelves with this wax, this sealing on the top. It's quite hard and it's put on the top by hand. Every bottle is sealed by hand. I visited the distillery and saw the ladies sitting in front of a hot pot with a melted wax in it and they put the bottle into it and put it on the conveyor belt. Then the drops go down and bring this wonderful individual appearance of each bottle. The Maker's Mark Kentucky straight bourbon is very special because the ingredients in the mash bill is different to most of the other Kentucky straight bourbons because it contains a lot of wheat and wheat develops a very smooth character in the straight bourbons. The straight bourbons are divided into the wheated and the non-wheated bourbons. The non-wheated are sold in bigger numbers than the wheated but there are a few handful or two handfuls of wheated bourbons. It's 45% ABV and a little story on the side label. Anytime you're in the neighborhood stop by and visit us at our distillery near Loretto Kentucky. I visited the distillery in 1998 or 99. I don't remember. It's a beautiful place. You see these dark wooden buildings with the red shutters on the windows. It looks really beautiful. This beautiful restored home of Maker's is a designated Kentucky and National Historic Landmark. Yes for sure. Fully matured. Maker's Mark is America's only handmade bourbon whiskey never mass-produced. When I visited the distillery they told me yes they are doubling the capacity. Then when I flew back home on the Delta Airline they had Maker's Mark in small miniatures. This is mass production for me. But this ceiling is handmade. A handmade bottle. Each individual batch is less than 19 barrels and this small quantity means we can be choosy about everything we use and everything we do to craft our whiskey. This small batch process is a good thing because you can mix the barrels which have an individual taste to the final product you want to have. 19 barrels is not much. So even in Scotland the small batches have say 50 50 casks and typical batches are in the US 200 casks and higher. That's why we use the old style sour mash method. Sour mash means you have this sour pH about three or three and a half residue from the distillation and you give it to the mash for fermentation. And this sourness helps the yeast to work better and faster. And so close to 100 percent of the Kentucky bourbon distillers use the sour mash method. We start each new batch fermentation by using a little of the last resulting in a more consistent product. We're proud of our unique and full flavored handmade bourbon and so we add our star to each bottle. This star with a four. Samuel's, the former proprietors and in the fourth generation I think this is the star. Oh it sticks to your fingers. Ah it's a screw cap no cork. There's a first aromatic note in it which a lot of bourbon whiskies carry. It's not too strong and then vanilla and honey develop. It's a sweet one. Caramel, toffee, sweet and vanilla. Very pleasant. 45 percent ABV is quite strong and carries away the lightness and brings more power into the whisky. But the honey is still there and on top is a slight fruitiness and the oak is developing. Becoming a little bit drier and it's mouth-watering and the finish is not too strong. So this is a good dram in front of your dinner. Does not take over your complete mouth so you're still able to taste the fish in the first course. Yeah I like it very much. Have a second sip. Yeah ah spiciness developing. More powerful in a second. Yeah this was the regular red seal maker's mark. Tomorrow we will have a look at the 46. Thank you for watching and please stay tuned with whisky.com