Bourbon Heritage Month 2020 Day 16: Maker’s Mark Private Select “Gold on Gold” NJBYC Pick

Maker’s Mark Private Select “Gold on Gold” NJBYC Pick

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

54.4% ABV/108.8 Proof

Age: NAS

Staves: 1 Baked American Pure #2, 4 Seared French Cuvee, 2 Roasted French Mocha, 3 Toasted French Spice. 

Eye: Amber. Thick rim and thick droplet legs.

Nose: Lovely vanilla and a bit of ethanol. Fresh red and black grapes. Allspice - a baking spices overlay that’s not too sweet. Baked caramel after a little air. 

Palate: Spicy at first, surprisingly so for Maker’s, but definitely feels like a wheater. Caramel and vanilla burst through. Nuttiness hangs in the background, like roasted nut shells. Sweetness builds over time as the heat fades. Dusting of cocoa powder. Mouthfeel is beautifully coating with a medium body.

Finish: Medium length, heat in the cheeks, sweet on the tongue.

Overall: Delicious. Quintessential Wheated bourbon profile if a touch hot at times. The heat dissipates during the palate and finish to a more palatable level. 

Rating: 7.4

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)