Maker's Mark Bourbon

[beans]

Buisness Wire article here.

The Maker's Mark anniversary celebration, which will include both past and present distillery employees, as well as a few special friends, will feature reenactments of actual events associated with the product's creation, from the recipe formulation process using bread-baking to the burning of the old family recipe (an act that nearly torched the distillery and Mr. Samuels' daughter's hair!). Convinced that his family's old recipe was not the answer, Bill Samuels Sr. experimented with different grain formulas by baking hundreds of loaves of bread until he found the right balance and the gentle taste he was looking for. Samuels Sr. burned the recipe after deciding he had struck gold by using soft red winter wheat, instead of spicier, bitter tasting rye, as was the age-old custom. The rest is history.

Cheers!

[eatrustic]

I haven't seen the Maker's Mark Black Label in my market area for awhile.

Although I prefer their classic version for every day sipping it's nice for a change every now and then. Is it still in production?

[ScottNYC]

Its made for Japan only but you can usually find it for sale on ebay.

[elfin]

What is the difference between MM and the black label? How much $ more is it?

[slkinsey]

afaik, the main difference is that it is 95 proof -- which almost always equals "better" in my book. Whiskey is just better at proof, I think.

[slkinsey]

Update: I've been informed by the good folks at Maker's Mark that they are no longer producing the Black Label bottling. They used to produce it for sale in Japan and duty-free stores but currently just produce the regular Red Wax bottling.

[mbanu]

Went into a little hole in the wall liquor store and found some unusual stuff gathering dust in the corners. Something in particular was several bottles of Maker's Mark VIP:

Maker's Mark VIP, Click For Link

Is this actually a special bottling, or is it just the same stuff in a more decorative bottle for the holidays?

And on an unrelated note, does anyone speak German? Found this website on what appear to be various Maker's Mark special releases, including what appears to be vintage bottled Maker's Mark, and would be keen on elaboration. :)

Many thanks in advance!

Admin: Edited by a moderator to conform with copyright and image linking policies.

[BTR]

I can read German enough to tell that it's a special bottling, aged longer and I think a higher proof, but not well enough to actually post a translation. Maybe after some time with dict.leo.org.

[Joe Blowe]

From a website I've been spending way too much time at:

"The VIP bottlings are the same old regular Makers Mark bourbon, just in a different bottle with a post card you fill out and mail in. They then mail you a sticker with whatever you write on the postcard to affix to the front of the bottle.

"The only Makers Mark that you can get that is actually different contents-wise is available overseas like the black label/black wax sold in Japan for example." -- posted by "Paradox"

This link will only work if you're a (free) registered user. Otherwise, go to the Distillery Trips section, scroll back to a thread titled Maker's Mark (Tue Jul 29 2003).

[slkinsey]

Again, as the people from Maker's Mark told me, they are currently producing only one kind of bourbon -- the same stuff that goes in the red wax bottles.

[BTR]

Again, as the people from Maker's Mark told me, they are currently producing only one kind of bourbon -- the same stuff that goes in the red wax bottles.

←

Someone should tell the people at thewhiskystore.de, because that description states that they're different pretty clearly.

[slkinsey]

I think there was a time when they produced a few different bottlings (notably Black Label and a few "vintages"), but this is no longer the case. Note that almost everything described on thewhiskystore.de is at 45% abv. This says to me: same whiskey/different bottle.