Taken: Neat in a Glencairn glass, rested for about 15 minutes.
Distillery: Maker’s Mark.
Proof: 112. Cask strength.
Age: NAS (6 to 7 years). Bottled 2024.
Mash bill: 70% Corn/16% Red Winter Wheat /14% Malted Barley.
Finishing: 10 French oak staves.
Price: $74.99.
Appearance: Golden caramel.
Nose
Dark chocolate, caramelized brown sugar, toffee, wheat cereal, vanilla beans, cloves, green tea, toasted hazelnuts, coffee, dates, peaches, and mild cinnamon spice. Time passes with sweeter butterscotch coming through with more hazelnuts. The upfront cloves and green tea add a noticeable complexity with a layer of stone fruit, wheat, and vanilla to balance the dark and sweet oak flavors with little to no proof heat. I love this nose.
Palate
The nose mimics the palate with caramelized brown sugar, dark chocolate, toffee, apricots, dates, vanilla, cloves, wheat bread, and hazelnuts. There’s a very good creamy mouthfeel with a very moderate amount of cinnamon spice that ramps up slowly mid-sip. This is a very enjoyable sipper that drinks below its proof. Like the nose, the herbaceous notes add complexity and keep the sweeter flavors in check.
Finish
Cinnamon spice fades with chocolate, leather, coffee, and pipe tobacco. Stone fruit comes back with chocolate and a hint of root beer. The sip closes out with mild cinnamon spice and pipe tobacco for a long, excellent oak-driven finish.
Conclusion
I compared The Heart Release with two other Maker’s Mark releases that used French oak staves, BRT-02 and 46 CS (batch 23-01, 110.3 proof). In the first round, BRT-02 was the stand-out chocolate bomb winner. Some folks thought BRT-02 was too sweet, but it’s right up my alley. The second round was a blind tasting between Heart and 46 CS. Heart and 46 CS share a similar flavor profile, but Heart noticeably dials it up with more intensity and complexity. Heart has richer chocolate, more fruit, and herbal flavors, whereas the chocolate in 46 CS is more like a tootsie roll, with less stone fruit but the same type of herbaceous notes and more spice on the palate with a long spice-forward finish. The Heart finish is long but more oak-driven. Don’t get me wrong, 46 CS is great and much more available, but The Heart Release is worth the small difference in price ($15 for me) if you can find it.
The second chapter of Maker’s Wood Finish Series is off to a good start. The Heart Release might be the “Goldilocks” of recent releases, with just the right amount of chocolate to satisfy the sweet tooth crowd, with a great mix of fruit, herbal, and spice. In the next Wood Finishing Series release, I hope Maker’s Mark chooses more creative wood options beyond French or American oak. Maybe they can use a finishing stave from the Maker’s Private Selection that has never been used in this series? Or, I know this sounds crazy Maker’s Mark, but hear me out. How about a finishing stave that you’ve never used before? The Heart Release was as good as I expected, but if the next release in this series features another American or French oak stave, I think I’ll skip it and keep working on the ones I already own.
Rating: 7.8/10.
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.
