Blind Sample #6: Maker's 46

Maker's 46 is the "other" product produced by Maker's Mark. It is slightly higher in proof than the regular offering and Maker's inserts French oak staves into the barrel for several months before bottling. The addition of the French oak gives the bourbon a little more depth of flavor.

I famously rated this whiskey 96 in a blind tasting in 2012, so I was interested to see how it came out this time.

Average: 85

Jason:

Color and nose: Golden with depth and bit of murkiness. The nose is quite sweet dominated by both candy and yellow corn. There are some hints of florals (rose?) among others lurking, but the sweetness drowns anything that attempts to surface.

Taste and finish: The candy and yellow corns continue into the tasting. Some grains bubble up, but I just can’t get a firm grip on them to determine what they are, they, too, being sunk by the sweetness. Not particularly boozy (on the contrary), this whiskey hits the tongue on the forward flanks. The finish is strongly of corn which dissipates into a gentle oakiness.

Overall: After a promising color, I was a quite disappointed with the lack of depth in this whiskey. The corny sweetness tyrannizes any and all potential competing flavors into submission no matter how much they might add to this pour. This one sits at the low end of average: it’s not unpleasant, there’s just not much to it. 80/100.

Brett:

nose: bright with a little bit of an alcohol punch; almost tropical - berry and coconut

taste: velvety mouth feel that is richer than I would have expected from the aroma; some corn sweetness but not cloying

finish: warm and smooth finish; the sweetness lingers while chocolate cherry and tobacco emerge as well

overall: 92

Keith:

Nose: Corn stalk and popcorn, peanuts, copper and a whiff of vanilla

Taste: Some barrel flavors, vanilla, cinnamon and some chewiness. There's a thickness to this bourbon.

Finish: Mild heat and spice. Short.

Overall: 83. This is what a bourbon made by committee would taste like. It hits all the notes, but doesn't do any one of them very well. There's some barrel, some sweet, some spice, an interesting nose, and a half-decent mouth feel. It just didn't work very well for me.

Gulliver, Kyle, Jon

MIA