Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested about 15 minutes.
Distillery: Maker’s Mark Distillery.
Proof: 110,8.
Age: 5 3/4 to 7 years plus 9 weeks of finishing.
Mash bill: 70% Corn, 16% Wheat, 14% Malted Barley.
Price: $65.00 – $84.00.Local.
Appearance: Golden copper.
Nose
Toffee, brown sugar, vanilla, dark cherry, peaches, toasted oak, chocolate, wheat bread, dill, mint and allspice. There are so many flavors to love on this nose! Particularly the soft wheat bread and oak underneath that mixes so well with the chocolate and fruit. This is very well balanced, complex and amazing smelling wheated bourbon.
Palate
With a viscous mouthfeel, the palate matches the nose with toffee, vanilla, cherry, peaches, chocolate, dill, allspice and oak. The balance and flavors of this profile is fantastic. The oak tastes rich and older than its years, along with the perfect amount of sweet toffee, and very delicious stone fruit, herbs and a good bit of chocolate to top it all off. The flavor profile is complex and bold, yet manages to be a very enjoyable pour drinking below its proof.
Finish
Allspice and oak lingers for a very long time with tannins of tobacco, leather and subtle notes of stone fruit, vanilla and dill. A very long and enjoyable finish ends with just a bit of dryness.
Conclusion
I love what Maker’s Mark is doing with Private Selection. This bottle was well worth the price and has become one of my favorites. The multiple choice stave concept is a brilliant and innovative way for Maker’s Mark to offer an interactive customizable experience, all while creating a single barrel program that best suits their tried and true recipe. Since this is my first Maker’s Private Selection, I have no other Private Selection bottles to compare it to, but the “Winning Ticket” selection is outstanding. All the right pieces came together to create a pick this good. Part of it was due to this particular stave combination and the other (even more importantly) was a very good barrel Maker’s Mark chose for them as the source. This is the only caveat in the program (and it’s a big one). The buyer doesn’t get to choose the source bourbon barrel, so you don’t get to sample what the bourbon tastes like before the added finishing.
This review was updated for Mostly Bourbon since my original r/bourbon posting and sadly, this bottle is long gone. It’s become one of my all-time favorites that I’ve shared with friends who’ve enjoyed it as much as much as I did. I have more Maker’s to review and a new Private Selection that I’m looking forward to opening very soon. I highly recommend Maker’s Mark Private Selection, and if you’re already a fan of Maker’s Mark 46 and the Maker’s limited wood finishing series, picking up a Private Selection is a no brainer.
Rating: 8.5/10.
1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.
