Bourbon Heritage Month 2020 Day 21: Maker’s Mark Private Select Atlantic Liquors (DE) Pick #3

ReviewsBourbonSingle Barrel PicksMakers Mark

Sep 21

Maker’s Mark Private Select Atlantic Liquors Pick #3

Maker’s Mark introduced their Private Select program just in the past few years, adding to their expanded lineup. This isn’t your standard barrel selection process, and it is a direct result of former master distiller Dave Pickerell’s influence.

Pickerell, who passed away far too early in November 2018, was fascinated with how wood could influence whiskey and how manipulating the wood before barreling could impact flavor years later. He pioneered the long-seasoning process now used by companies such as Maker’s, allowing wood destined for use as staves to season for at least 18 months and as long as several years. Among the many benefits this imparts to the wood, perhaps the biggest is allowing tannic compounds to fall out of the wood (it appears as black dust on the ground under the aging wood).

With the Private Select program, Maker’s takes Dave’s interest in wood and flips it, adding 10 staves of your choice (from 5 different choices) to the barrel for an additional aging period. Each stave type adds different characteristics to the whiskey and allowing for exponentially more variation in batches. Here’s to Dave!

Maker’s Mark Distillery

54.15% ABV/108.3 Proof

Age: NAS, 5¾ to 7 YO

Staves: 3 Baked American Pure #2, 2 Seared French Cuvee, 1 Roasted French Mocha, 1 Toasted French Spice, 3 Maker’s 46.

Eye: Caramel, medium-thin legs and rims.

Nose: Caramel and oak, light berries and vanilla backbone. Cocoa nibs on second sniff.

Palate: Vanilla and oak, bitter chocolate towards the end. Burst of vanilla up front on both nose and palate. Oak also very present. Mouthfeel is creamy and a bit spicy.

Finish: Medium-to-short, makes you want another sip. Creme brûlée, especially the charred sugar and strong vanilla notes.

Overall: Wonderful wheater - that chocolate gets me every time, especially form Maker’s but from other wheaters too. Berries are lighter here than in other MM picks I’ve had so I’m curious how the staves affect that, but still an overall very drinkable bourbon.

Rating: 6.8

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)