Maker's Mark Private Select Gift Shop 2017 Review

I recently took a trip from Nashville up to Louisville and decided to slightly detour over to Loretto because they currently have a Dale Chihuly exhibit on the grounds. Maker's Mark is my favorite tour in Kentucky, mainly because the grounds are so well catered to visitors and I picked the perfect time of year because the Fall colors were peaking (pictures). As part of the tour you get to taste a private select chosen by the Maker's Mark staff. I personally hate Maker's 46 (review) and didn't much care for the very first gift shop only cask strength version they released (review) but I was surprised by the one I tasted on the tour. I liked it enough that my vacation mode wallet was okay with forking over the somewhat steep asking price. For reference, the staves on this are 2x Baked American Pure 2, 2x Seared French Cuvée, 2x Maker's 46, and 4x Roasted French Mocha.

No Age Statement; 55.1% ABV; $80

Nose: Cinnamon red hot candies, dark cocoa, some corn funk, and quite a bit of ethanol. It has the wood influence you'd expect from a ~6 year old bourbon.

Taste: More corn than the nose but the odd funk is gone. The mid and back palate are a wave of spicy cinnamon red hot candies. The wood depth is pretty nice with the different stave chars adding some nice complexity. There are hints of the green wood / pine note that make me completely hate the regular Maker's 46 but it seems to be getting masked by chocolate cocoa notes rather well. The ethanol influence is a lot more settled than the nose and though it might be amplifying the spice notes, the increased proof seems to be ramping up all the nice flavors rather than just cranking up the heat. 

Thoughts: Given my previous experience with Maker's 46 and the original Maker's 46 cask strength, I was really surprised how much I like this. Granted, it's a low bar but I think this is the best Maker's product I've ever had. It tastes more full than the standard Maker's thanks to the proof and more mature than the cask strength version which I think is good but is slanted towards a younger profile. It's a nice blend of cinnamon, corn, and dark chocolate notes with a good amount of proof to back it up. The only real downside here is the asking price is kinda high but what isn't in the world of bourbon these days.

Rating: B

For reference, on my current scale, Maker's CS would be about a B-, standard Maker's a C, and most modern single barrel Old Weller Antiques would be in the B- to B range.

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.