Maker’s Mark Bourbon: Proof Matters | Review

A Comparison of three Maker’s Mark Bourbons that differ only in their proofs

Three of the Maker’s Mark Bourbons – Maker’s Mark, Maker’s 101 and Maker’s Cask Strength Bourbon Whisky – differ only in their proofs. Does that really make a difference in how they taste? I will answer with a resounding “Yes!!”

All Barrels of Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky Taste The Same

Maker’s Mark prides itself on consistency. In fact, if you visit the distillery, you’ll hear them say that every barrel of bourbon tastes the same. Now, if you have ever tasted single barrel bourbon, you’ll know that every barrel is unique, and seldom tastes identical to the one aging right next to it. But, I get what they are saying; the barrels have as similar a flavor profile as can be reasonably achieved.

So, if the bourbon in all of the barrels tastes the same, how can Maker’s Mark have so many different products? It turns out that there are a number of variables that they can work with. One of those is the proof at which the bourbon is bottled. To see how that affects the flavor, we are going to look at the three unfinished Maker’s Mark bourbons that are part of their regular portfolio: “Original” Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Maker’s 101 and Maker’s Cask Strength. They range in proof from 90 up to 114, but are otherwise are very similar.

Meet Your Maker’s

Maker’s Mark Distillery was started by Bill Samuels Sr. and his wife, Margie Samuels. In fact, the Samuels family had a long history in distilling before Bill Sr. and Margie started Maker’s Mark. However, due to bad circumstances and bad luck, the original T.W. Samuels Distillery and brand were no longer in the Samuels family. Therefore, in 1953, when Bill Samuels, Sr. wanted to get back into distilling, he purchased Burks’ Distillery, which itself had quite the long history.

Time For A Better Bourbon

As the story goes, Bill Sr. was not at all a fan of his family’s bourbon. Therefore, he wanted to make something different; something softer, that he enjoyed drinking. Recall that a bourbon mash bill has to contain at least 51% corn. However, the remainder can be any other cereal grains, so there really is quite a bit of room for experimentation. Interestingly, Bill Sr. created his mash bill by baking bread with the different recipe candidates. Eventually, he arrived upon using red winter wheat as his flavoring (secondary) grain. The majority of bourbons at the time, and still to this day, use rye, rather than wheat, as their secondary grain. So, Bill Sr. was being a bit rebellious, if you will.

Ultimately, Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky’s mash bill was, and still is, 70% corn, 16% red winter wheat and 14% malted barley. That is the same mash bill used for all of Maker’s Mark’s different bourbons. However, for quite some time, Bill Sr., and later Bill Jr., were quite content with producing only a single product. In fact, the original 90 proof version of Maker’s Mark Bourbon was the only whisky released by the distillery until Maker’s Mark 46 was introduced in 2010.

Barrel Rotation

There’s also something else that makes Maker’s Mark different from many of the other large bourbon brands out there: they rotate their barrels during aging. Now, “rotating” does not mean that they physically spin the barrels around. Barrels stored on their sides always have their bungs (the wooden plug sealing the hole used to fill the barrels) pointing upwards, to prevent leakage. Therefore, actually spinning them would not be a great idea. Rather, rotating means that they change each barrel’s location in the warehouse during aging. Those that start on the lower floors are moved to the upper floors, and those on the upper floors are moved to the lower floors. Those on the middle floors stay where they are.

The purpose of this barrel rotation is to attempt to keep the bourbon’s flavor as uniform as possible from barrel to barrel. Similarly, Maker’s Mark does not age their bourbon for a set amount of time. They age it “to taste”. This is another method they use to try to maintain as consistent a flavor as possible between barrels. As it turns out, the length of aging for the majority of their releases is generally in the neighborhood of 6 to 6 1/2 years.

What About Margie?

While Bill Sr. was in charge of developing Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky, it was his wife, Margie, who was in charge of pretty much everything else. It was she who came up with the bottle and label design, the name for the brand and the iconic dripping red wax. She was also integral in making bourbon tourism what it is today, However, we’ll have to save that discussion for another day.

If you would like to learn even more about the history of the Maker’s Mark Distillery, then you’ll want to read our Maker’s Mark Distillery Tour Review.

Shouldn’t it be Maker’s Mark Whiskey not Maker’s Mark Whisky?

Well, actually, yes. The spelling of whiskey usually varies based on the country of origin. In the United States, it is generally spelled with the “e”, whereas in Scotland, and our neighbors to the north, it is spelled without the “e”. So, why does Maker’s Mark Distillery use the spelling “whisky”? Well, I have been told it is in honor of the family’s heritage. In fact, there is an oft-quoted Maker’s Mark tweet from December 14, 2012 which states “So why do we spell whisky without the “e” at Maker’s Mark? The Samuels decided to pay homage to their Scottish-Irish heritage.”

Well, in Scotland they spell whisky without the “e” and in Ireland they spell whiskey with the “e”, so that still leaves me a bit confused…

Maker’s 46, Cellar Aged, Private Selections and The Wood Finishing Series

Some of you might be wondering why I am not including many of Maker’s Mark’s other bourbons in this article. The answer is simple. While those other bourbons all start out the same way as the original Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky, they differ in important ways. After they are fully matured, all the other bourbons, except Cellar Aged, are then finished using various oak staves. The additional time spent with the oak staves immersed in the bourbon significantly changes its flavor profile. Likewise, Cellar Aged is matured almost twice as long as the other Maker’s bourbons. That has a major effect on the flavor, as well. Therefore, since the goal of this article is to evaluate how a change of proof affects the flavors of Maker’s Mark Bourbon, these other whiskies could not be included.

Let’s Meet The Contestants

The three Maker’s Mark Bourbons that we are going to compare are the original 90 proof Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky, Maker’s 101 and Maker’s Cask Strength. As we already discussed, they are all very similar to each other, aside from their bottling proof. First, they all use Maker’s Mark’s bourbon mash bill of 70% corn, 16% red winter wheat and 14% malted barley. Second, they are all matured to similar ages, generally in the ballpark of 6 to 6 1/2 years. However, “Original” Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky is bottled at 90 proof, Maker’s 101 is bottled at 101 proof and Maker’s Cask Strength is bottled at 108-114 proof, depending on the batch.

One last thing is chill filtering. Maker’s Cask Strength says specifically on its label that it is non-chill filtered. However, it turns out that Maker’s Mark does not chill filter any their products. So that is a variable that we will not have to consider in our comparison.

Let’s Taste Them

🛏 Rested for 15 minutes in Glencairns

Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky (90 Proof)

Maker’s Mark Bourbon at 90 proof is a fairly light bodied and easy drinking bourbon. The nose leads off with sweet apples and pears, which are soon joined by sweet cherries. Light orange citrus adds a bit of a contrast to the sweeter flavors, but there’s sweet caramel and light brown sugar, too. The taste brings pears, light caramel and brown sugar, with a touch of cherries. The finish becomes increasingly dry, with black pepper, tannins and some barrel char. It is fairly light and of medium length. (read the full review)

Maker’s Mark 101

The nose leads with sweet pears and sweet cherries as the dominant flavors, with dark caramel, brown sugar, vanilla and tart orange citrus towards the back. In the taste, Maker’s Mark 101 has dark cherries, light toffee and brown sugar, but some tart orange peel and tannins appear fairly quickly as well. The long finish is somewhat dry, with dry wood, rising black pepper and tannins, with lingering tart orange citrus. Finally, dryness and a hint of barrel char are left at the end in the fairly long finish. (read the full review)

Maker’s Cask Strength

There are many of the same flavors in Cask Strength as there are in the other Maker’s Mark Bourbons. However, the intensity and proportions of each are different. In the nose, toffee, brown sugar and dark cherries are up front, with vanilla and tart orange peel in the background. The alcohol is noticeable, not unsurprisingly, given the higher proof.

Toffee and brown sugar dominate the taste of Maker’s Cask Strength. However, there is also a bit of dry oak, tannins, orange peel and dark cherries as well. The finish has lingering sweetness, but as that fades, there’s black pepper, tannins and dry oak as well. Given how rich this bourbon started out, the finish is surprisingly dry. (read the full review)

Comparison

The three bourbons all share some common flavors, but they differ in their balance and magnitude between the different versions. Unsurprisingly, sampling the bourbons side by side makes the differences most noticeable. Maker’s Mark 90 proof is the lightest bodied, with the softest flavors. The small bump up in proof to Maker’s 101 makes a noticeable difference. Nonetheless, the level of alcohol is not at all overpowering. Therefore, 101 would likely still be enjoyable for those fairly new to bourbon. Even in the Cask Strength, the higher proof is fairly tame, yet the flavors and body are significantly elevated over the other two.

Nose, Taste & Finish Differences

All three Maker’s Mark Bourbons start out sweeter and finish on the dry side. They all share some combination of sweet pears, apples and dark cherries, as well as caramel and/or toffee, brown sugar, vanilla and orange peel in the nose and taste. The sweet apples and pears are most noticeable in the nose in the 90 proof, although the cherries are there, as well. Sweet pears and cherries are dominant in the 101, whereas toffee, brown sugar and dark cherries lead the way in the Cask Strength.

The taste and body of the 90 proof is lighter than the others, with pears, light caramel and brown sugar standing out. The cherries, light toffee and brown sugar are most evident in the 101, whereas the cask strength is richer still, with toffee and brown sugar most pronounced. In the finish, they all have varying degrees of tannins, black pepper, barrel char and dry wood. However, as with the other flavors, they become more pronounced with increasing proof, with the dry oak not particularly evident at the lower proof, at all.

Summary

All three of the unfinished Maker’s Mark Bourbons share the flavors that fans of the brand enjoy. Nonetheless, the differing proofs definitely affect the flavor, balance and body of the whiskies. While I have provided some guidance on the differences between them, the only way to truly find out which is your favorite, is to compare them yourself. When you do, please let me know what you think! Cheers!🥃

If you would like to learn more about the Maker’s Mark Distillery, then check out our Maker’s Mark Distillery Tour Review. Or, read about one of my favorite bourbons from Maker’s Wood Finishing Series in our Maker’s 46 Cask Strength Bourbon Review (2023).

Would you like to learn more about distilleries and bourbon? Are you planning a trip to Kentucky Distilleries? Maybe you would like to live the bourbon life vicariously through us? If any of these are true, then check out BourbonObsessed.com today!