Whisky Producer Profile - Maker's Mark

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(73.7 pctl)

$0.96 / pctl

Maker's Mark | Est. 1959

Maker's Mark Kentucky, USA Bourbon $71 Median Price

Part of the Beam Suntory family of brands.

Maker's Mark Website

Overall, Maker's Mark is known for:

Caramel

(27)

Oak

(20)

Vanilla

(13)

Toast

(8)

Tobacco

(5)

Baking Spices

(3)

Producer Overview

Maker's Mark is a small-batch bourbon whiskey produced in Loretto, Kentucky, by Beam Suntory. It is bottled at 90 U.S. proof (45% alcohol by volume) and sold in squarish bottles sealed with red wax. The distillery offers tours, and is part of the American Whiskey Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Maker's Mark's origin began when T. William "Bill" Samuels Sr., purchased the "Burks' Distillery" in Loretto, Kentucky, for $35,000 on October 1, 1953. Production began in 1954, and the first run was bottled in 1958 under the brand's dipped red wax seal. In the 1960s and 1970s, Maker's Mark was widely marketed with the tag line, "It tastes expensive ... and is." The distillery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 1974, and designated a National Historic Landmark on December 16, 1980, listed as "Burks' Distillery", the first distillery in America to be recognized while the landmark buildings were in active production. Maker's Mark is unusual in that no rye is used as part of the mash. Instead of rye Maker's Mark uses red winter wheat (16%), along with corn (70%) and malted barley (14%) in the mash bill. During the planning phase of Maker's Mark, Samuels allegedly developed seven candidate mash bills for the new bourbon. As he did not have time to distill and age each one for tasting, he instead made a loaf of bread from each recipe and the one with no rye was judged the best tasting. Samuels also received considerable assistance and recipes from Stitzel-Weller owner Pappy Van Winkle, whose distillery produced the wheated Old Fitzgerald and W. L. Weller bourbons. Read more...