Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/898117
november 2017 / the tasting panel / 109 I f you ask whiskey lovers what they enjoy most about Maker's Mark, you'll likely hear a wide range of answers. Some might say they appreciate the vanilla or woody oak aromas; others will mention the caramel notes on the palate; and still others will recall the smooth and subtle finish. This bourbon has been around since 1958, and it has developed a loyal following in the decades since. To reward those who love it most, the team at the distillery decided to create a program where their customers could make their own mark on the brand's legacy and product. It all began one day about four years ago, when Bill Samuels, Jr. and Rob Samuels—son and grandson of Maker Mark's founder Bill Samuels, Sr., respectively—sat with Jane Bowie, the distillery's Maturation Specialist, over coffee. Rob and Jane asked Bill to talk about the greatest moment of his long and storied career with Maker's, and he cited the production of Maker's 46, which launched in 2010 to much acclaim. Bill and his team produced this whiskey after toying around with the staves used to age Maker's Mark; it took them 46 trials to get the wood combination just right. They added finished Maker's Mark to these barrels for about ten weeks and ended up with a bolder version of the flag- ship expression. This spirit is especially close to Bill's heart because after decades of painstakingly crafting Maker's to his father's specifications, Maker's 46 allowed Bill to build a bourbon showing what he loved most about the brand. The memory alone incited the idea for the Maker's Mark Private Select barrel program, and it stuck. With the recent whiskey boom, Maker's Mark had been inundated with requests from accounts and connoisseurs to select single barrels from the distillery's rackhouses. The team didn't want to consider it, though, since it went against Maker's philosophy of quality and consistency above all else. So instead of merely choosing a barrel, a proposal began to form to let accounts create their own barrel of Maker's Mark. Using Bill's roughly 140 tests for Maker's 46 as a starting point, the distillery experimented with com- binations that brought out certain qualities in the bourbon and divided certain staves into flavor camps. "This project is exciting for us," notes Bowie, who started her career with Maker's as its Global Brand Ambassador (during which time she also met her husband, who was sell- ing Maker's in London). "I remember going into accounts to sell Maker's and being told that they already knew Maker's, and they asked what else I had. Private Select is a new way to introduce people to the liquid in a company that didn't innovate for many years." To engineer a barrel through Private Select, one must travel to Kentucky and learn about wood and the different flavors it brings out in whiskey before designing their own, customized version of Maker's Mark. They choose their own combination of ten oak finishing staves from five wood options: Baked American Pure 2, Seared French Cuvee, Maker's 46, Roasted French Mocha, and Toasted French Spice. The fully-matured Maker's Mark rests with the staves in the custom-built barrel for nine weeks before being bottled at cask strength. With 1,001 possible stave combinations, participants truly create a taste profile that is all their own. "I've learned to appreciate everything that goes into craft- ing a bottle of Maker's more during this project than anything I've done before," Bowie says. "We've loved helping our customers create their perfect expression of Maker's Mark through the Private Select program." The first establishment invited to create their own barrel was Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky; it purchased the first bourbon that Bill Samuels, Sr. produced, so it seemed only fitting it would also be the first to build its own version of Maker's. Due to the labor-intensive nature of the project, Maker's can only accommodate one account per day; before this past January, the distillery could only build the barrels five months out of the year because of facility constraints. Now the team's new whiskey cellar—the world's first made of limestone, carved out of the hillside near the distillery, keeping the whiskey at 50 degrees naturally—allows the operation to go on year-round, enabling more people to participate in the program. After the involvement of roughly 400-plus accounts, it looks like plenty of fans want to show off what they love most about Maker's Mark. Interested in making your own mark with a barrel of Private Select? Contact your local Beam Suntory Inc. sales representative. Each barrel contains a custom selection of ten oak finish- ing staves, based on a customer's preferred combination of five wood options: Baked American Pure 2, Seared French Cuvee, Maker's 46, Roasted French Mocha, and Toasted French Spice. Fully-matured Maker's Mark rests in a barrel with these staves for an additional nine weeks before being bottled at cask strength. MAKER'S MARK® BOURBON WHISKY, 45% ALC./VOL. ©2017 MAKER'S MARK DISTILLERY, INC., LORETTO, KY