Maker’s 46 Bourbon Review

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

Maker’s 46
(Credit: Richard Thomas)

Few individual expressions have the kind of production story about them that Maker’s 46 has built up. The expression was Maker’s Mark first major brand extension, using a finish based on seared French Oak staves inserted into the middle of the barrel. This was an idea first employed by the independent Scotch blender-bottler Compass Box in their expression The Spice Tree , who were subsequently told to cease and desist by the Scotch Whisky Association, and forced to find a work-around.

Maker’s Mark had no such obstacle, so they set about dumping mature barrels, placing the inserts, refilling them and giving their wheated bourbon a short finish. In experimenting with Maker’s 46, the distillery learned that the finish achieved its best results during the cooler winter months, and for years only being able to make the new expression on a seasonal basis put a major crimp in production. They adapted to this requirement by tunneling an aging cellar into the limestone of an adjacent hillside, and that cellar opened in December 2016.

If the Maker’s folks were going to build a new set of infrastructure to make Maker’s46 year around, it only made sense to do something more with it. Until recently, Maker’s Mark was the only major Kentucky bourbon distillery without a private barrel program of some kind. The reason for that was straightforward: Maker’s invests substantial labor into rotating their barrels in the warehouse so as to achieve consistent maturation. If every barrel of bourbon they mature is very nearly the same as every other barrel, there is no basis for either a single barrel or private barrel version.

Expanding Maker’s 46 production allowed them to create that private barrel program on the basis of letting customers customize stave inserts for their own barrel finish. Many bourbon enthusiasts are familiar with the results by now, since their favorite liquor store or bar probably has a private barrel of Maker’s Mark finished to their own specifications. All of that came from Maker’s 46.

The Bourbon
The look here is what you can see in the bottle: light, coppered amber. I’ve always thought Maker’s coloring was a bit lighter than many bourbons of similar age (approximately six years) and bottled at the same proof (94 in this case), and this is no exception. The coating of the glass was quite viscous, though, dropping just a few moderate tears.

The nose is classic Maker’s, but with a solid twist on it. The deep vanilla, sweetness, and toasty white bread are there, with the expected floral softness, but now with a note of toffee, a little extra spicy cinnamon and a certain dry quality to it.

The tasting keeps on in that Maker’s plus something else vein. It’s a creamy bourbon with a soft profile, predominately sweet and caramel in the main. But that current of cookie spices is there too, like someone put a bit too much cinnamon into the spice mix: “A dash of nutmeg, a dash of allspice, ooops! Too much cinnamon, but I guess I’ll run with it.” The flavor is a bit oakier than the nose suggested, and the touch of dryness comes on at the end.

From there the finish is light and soft, a bit oaky and a bit dry and spicy. As that fades away, I was left with a little dried grassiness. Overall, this stage is modest and wraps up quickly.

Maker’s 46 is one of those items that any fan of what Maker’s does has to pick up every now and again. It’s also such a lovely sipper that a bourbon fan should at least try it. Moreover, if spicier, high rye bourbons turn you off, give this one a try. It’s got some spice to it, but retains that expected softness of a wheated bourbon, and that might just make for a nice change of pace.

The Price
Expect to pay $40 to $48 for it in the US. Over in Europe, about £33 or €38 is pretty normal.