The History Of Bourbon Whiskey!

Click the link for more: What Is Bourbon Whiskey

Where does your Bourbon really come from?

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Click the link for more info: Bourbon Whiskey Family Tree

Kentuckians like to tell you that 95 percent of the world's bourbon comes from their state. What they won't tell you is that pretty much every last drop of that bourbon comes from a handful of conglomerate distilleries. In this chart—excerpted from The Kings County Distillery Guide to Urban Moonshining, on shelves now—the guys behind Brooklyn's oldest craft distillery parse out, once and for all, the complicated kissing cousins of the bluegrass state's bourbon industry.

BY COLIN SPOELMAN AND DAVID HASKELL

Seen today on one of our Interstate highways.

You have to give credit to Maker's Mark for clever advertising!

Maker's Mark (Red Seal)

Whisky Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky, American Whiskey

Bottle Size: 750ml

Alcohol by Volume: 45%

Notes: Maker's Mark distillery is less than a hour drive south of Louisville Kentucky. Of the distilleries on the "Kentucky Bourbon Trail", it is a little out of the way, but well worth a visit. The distillery is listed as a National Historic Landmark, and it's park like grounds and Victorian era buildings make quite a positive impression on first time visitors! Taking the tour, you will find the guides are friendly, knowledgeable and humorous, making for a fun and informative time. One of the highlights of the tour is towards the end, where you get to hand dip a bottle of whisky into that now famous red wax!

Maker's Mark is one of the few distilleries to rotate their barrels to maintain consistency, which is understandable for a distillery that only makes two products. This review is on the standard bottling, also known as "Maker's Mark Red Seal". Maker's Mark is a Bourbon that uses wheat in place of the usual rye in it's mash bill, using a recipe developed by Pappy Van Winkle (of Buffalo Trace fame), of 70% corn, 16% wheat and 14% malted barley!

Nose: Vanilla, citrus, and some light floral notes..

Taste: Caramel, vanilla, and hints of cracked pepper and smoke.

Finish: Medium length, where the smoke and citrus linger.

My Personal Ranking 1-100: 83/100

Special Note: It's been asked more than once, do Bourbon Whisk(e)y reviews belong in a Malt-centric blog like this? My answer is Yes! Why? A small part of the mash bills of these classic American whiskeys, includes malted barley! That being said, this blog will primarily focus on whiskies with a higher malt content. This review, and another planned review on Buffalo Trace, the result of a recent trip through Kentucky's Bourbon Country, are exceptions to the rule, not a trend away from Malt Whisky reviews. 

Maker's Mark Distillery Tour pictures

The Maker's Mark Distillery, a National Historic Landmark.

Maker's Mark Distillery's park like grounds.

Maker's Mark Distillery's oldest warehouse.

Maker's Mark Distillery's creek (or "crik" as they say in Kentucky).

Maker's Mark Still House.

Stunning brass and copper Still Safes.

Beautiful craftsmanship.

Mash Tub #2.

One of several wooden fermentation tanks.

Maker's Mark Fermentation Room.

Exiting the Still House.

Victorian style architectural details.

The Labeling Room.

Pedestrian bridge across creek.

Old delivery wagon.

Malt Research Institute staff member (me) during the tour. 

Maker's Mark Tasting Room

A flight of Maker's Mark. Unaged, Red Wax Seal, and Maker's Mark 46.

Some of the Maker's Mark barrels, with Ambassador's plates. 

You can have your own name put on a barrel, by clicking the link to the Maker's Mark site and joining their "Embassy" for free, and becoming a Distillery Ambassador; makersmark.com

The Author's barrel plate. Scheduled to be bottled in 2018.

My daughter Caitlin, dipping her own 1/2 size bottle of Maker's Mark.