Maker’s Mark

Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky

Parent Company: Beam Suntory, Chicago Illinois

Distillery Location: Loretto, Kentucky

Established: 1958

Master Distiller: Greg Davis

Proof: 90 Proof (45% ABV)

Fun Fact: Maker’s Mark® spells “whisky” without the ‘e’ to honor the Samuels Scottish Heritage.

History

Maker’s Mark® was found by T. William “Bill” Samuels Sr. in 1958. Bill Samuels Sr. comes from a long distillers background, and in 1954, he purchased the Burk’s Distillery, built in 1889, in Loretto Kentucky. He abandoned his family’s 170-year old bourbon recipe, and set out to create his own. This recipe would be revolutionary, by replacing traditional rye with red winter wheat, which Bill believe would create a softer and gentler flavor profile. The star logo on the label, comes from the Star Hill Farm, in Bardstown, Kentucky, where the Samuels’ family farm and distillery were located prior to the establishment of Maker’s Mark.® The SIV next to the star on the label stands for Samuel, and the roman numeral IV symbolize the Bill’s status as a 4th generation distiller, but his son Bill Jr. would eventually discover his father was actually a 6th generation distiller, but will keep the original SIV logo. On December 31, 1974, the distillery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1980 was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

Grain Recipe

70% Corn, 16% Wheat, 14% Malted Barley

The corn provides the starch, the soft red winter wheat allows the bourbon to sit on the forward palate of the tongue, and the malted barley breaks down the starches into sugars. Maker’s Mark® uses #2 Yellow Dent Corn, and both the corn and wheat are sourced within a 60 mile ratios of the distillery. All grain is inspected and tested upon arrival, and samples are kept for 90 days for quality control. The distillery gently crushes the grain at room temperature using an antique roller mill, instead of of a hammer mill, to insure there is no bitterness in the flavor.

Water

Bill Samuels Sr., choose the site for his distillery, because of the spring-fed lake on the grounds, which produces a plentiful source of limestone-purified spring water.

Yeast & Fermentation

Maker’s Mark® has been using the same proprietary yeast strain for 65 years, which is different from the yeast used at the Jim Beam distillery. This yeast strain is stored in copper buckets in a commercial refridgerator located in the distillery. There are a total of 62 fermentation vats, 8 cypress and 54 stainless steal. All vats are 12 foot by 12 foot, and hold 10,000 gallons each. The grains are mixed with the pure Kentucky limestone water and setback, also known as sour mash, from the previous batch. The fermentation process lasts 3 days.

Distillation Process

Maker’s Mark® is 2x distilled in a copper column still (30ft x 3ft) to 130 proof (65% ABV), instead of the category max of 160 proof (80% ABV). There are 3 copper column stills located at the distillery, each containing 16 plates. The low wines come off the still at 120 proof (60% ABV), and go into a copper pot doubler for a second distillation. The high wines come off at the desired 130 proof (65% ABV). Each batch is tested against the original sample for consistency. Every bottle of Maker’s Mark has been equipment tested 4x, and human tested 5x.

Maturation

All new white American oak staves are first seasoned outdoors for a minimum of 9-12 months, with at least one summer, before being crafted into a barrel. This removes the bitter tannins from the wood. All barrels receive a #3 char, and the whiskey enters the barrel at 110 proof. The Independent Stave Company produces all the barrels for the Maker’s Mark® distillery. There are 42 rackhouses, and they’re all 6 floors high, and painted black to cover the fungus (Baudoinia compniacensis), which naturally occurs around alcohol maturation facilities.

The barrels location in the rackhouse controls the speed at which the whiskey ages, because warmer barrels expand and fluctuate more. The Maker’s Mark® barrels are all hand rotated to ensure a consistent maturation. The barrels stay in their first location for 3 years, then the barrels stored at on the 7th floor, which is the hottest at 105°F in the summer, are moved to the 1st floor, the coolest at 78°F in the summer. The barrels on the 6th floor are moved to the 2nd, those on the 5th are moved to the 3rd , and those on the 4th floor remain there. Maker’s Mark® is the only major whiskey brand in the world that hand rotates their barrels throughout the rackhouse.

Maker’s Mark® is always aged to taste, but the whiskey spends around 5.5 to 7 years in the barrel. Around 378 barrels are mingled together to get the consistent flavor for each bottle. Each batch is taste tasted more than 5x before bottling, and each bottle is handmade and hand dipped in the iconic red wax. The distillery can produce around 400 barrels of whiskey a day. At any given time, there are 950,000 barrels of Maker’s Mark® aging in the rack houses. Each barrel of Maker’s Mark® weights approximately 500 pounds. After Maker’s Mark® barrels are used once, they ship them off to the Laphroaig distillery.

Maker’s Mark

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