Rich and sweet with heaps of plump maraschino cherries, oak, vanilla and caramel. There are hints of honey and buttery cinnamon toast.

The stave choices amount to 1,001 different combinations, making each retailer’s choice unique. The Maker’s Mark 46 Process Samuels Senior achieved that goal by using red winter wheat in his mash bill rather than the popular choice of distiller’s rye. Rye can make the whiskey spicy and sharp, two things that Bill Samuels Senior was trying to avoid. On the nose, I get a lot of salty caramel notes. I’m also getting the smells of oak from the charred, virgin American barrels that this bourbon is aged in for at least three years. Maker’s Mark 46 is more wood-forward and hotter than the Maker’s Mark. It still has a lot of beautiful vanilla and tobacco notes and drinks almost like a rye.

Mixing an Old Fashioned with the Maker’s Mark

Let’s talk about the history of the distillery, which is intricately tied into the Maker’s Mark founding family: the Samuels, and what each of these two bourbons has to offer. Introduced in 2010, Maker’s Mark 46 was the first new variant produced by the distillery since it opened. It starts off life as a typical barrel of Makers Mark but then gets a little extra special sauce.

Long peppery finish. Oh this is lovely. The heavy toasting of the French oak really helps overcome any risk of cloying sweetness. Samuels started working with his family’s mash bill to make his own bourbon. It was a 170-year-old recipe, he believed himself to be the fourth-generation distiller.Excerpt: I feel that detail was missed when crafting this batch. It could make a reasonable mixer with its bold cinnamon notes and heat, but I would not recommend it as a daily or even special occasion sipper. One thing I appreciate about this design is that the majority of the bottle is open clear glass. The normal Maker’s Mark bottle is mostly wrapped in paper, but in this case the deep amber color of the liquid inside is on full display. And it looks great. Excerpt: The whole experience is a little flat and short of dazzling, but fans of the Maker’s program should find it at least an enjoyable diversion.