Not long ago, Maker’s Mark hardly had enough bourbon to satisfy demand which led to the Maker’s Mark proof reduction controversy. Ironically, Maker’s has now found enough whiskey to release their bourbon at cask strength at approximately 113.2 proof, or 56.6 ABV (uncut and unfiltered).
This cask strength expression won’t be cheap…
$40 for a 375 ml bottle (or nearly $80 for the same quantity as the standard 750 ml bottle).
Is it worth the price?
Compare this price to Booker’s Bourbon, which like Maker’s Mark, is also owned by Beam Suntory. Booker’s currently sells for nearly 40% less than Maker’s Mark Cask Strength at $50 for a 750 ml bottle and is bottled at an even higher proof, normally around 125 depending on the barrel.
Will you be buying a bottle or have you tasted it? Tell us below on this under comments on this link as we’d like to hear.
Maker’s Mark tells BourbonBlog.com they will sell their Maker’s Cask Strength (only 375 ml bottles) at the Maker’s Mark Distillery gift shop starting September 1 and at select liquor stores in the region.
In February of 2013, Maker’s Mark COO Rob Samuels told BourbonBlog.com that people were having a difficult time finding Maker’s Mark, so a 3% ABV permanent reduction in proof was necessary to keep up with demand. A week after the proof reduction announcement, Maker’s added that 3% ABV back to the whiskey due to public outcry.
Unnamed sources tell us Maker’s Mark had been contemplating a cask release for a while but may have needed a gap of time in between the proof reduction and cask strength release to avoid the obvious questions that follow the two extremes.
Suspicion always surrounded the proof reduction as some industry professionals and consumers both believe the Maker’s Mark proof reduction was a marketing ploy. However, both Rob Samuels and Bill Samuels, Jr. maintained in our exclusive podcast interview (linked here) on the day of the decision reversal, that this was never a marketing ploy.
While Maker’s Mark Cask Strength is apparently limited in availability, a total number of initial bottles has not been stated.
Until their release of Maker’s 46 in 2008 (which we were the first to review ), the brand had only sold two expressions of Maker’s Mark in the U.S. including Maker’s Mark Original and their seasonal pre-bottled Maker’s Mark Mint Julep. Subsequently, Maker’s also launched an un-aged expression of their bourbon called Maker’s Mark White.
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BourbonBlog.com brings you the first known published photo of the bottle, special thanks to The Bourbon Mafia.
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