Maker’s 46 Cask Strength is a limited release barrel proof version of the french oak stave finished Maker’s 46. It became available at the Maker’s gift shop starting in the Fall of 2015 and as far as I know that is/was the only way to get a bottle. Like the initial release of Maker’s Cask Strength, I suspect this was a purposeful trial in order to gauge public reception of the product before making any decisions about a national launch. The comically plain label here is further evidence of that - it’s pathetically bad even for a test product and might as well just say “XXX Whiskey”.
No Age Statement; 54.45% ABV; $38 (375ml); Batch ??
Nose: Smells just like you’d expect a 5-6 year old ~110 proof bourbon. It’s a bit hot with slightly young fruity corn and sweet oak notes.
Taste: A lot of the same elements as the nose but also very sweet, earthy-wood forward, and really dry. Some new-make corn notes are there, as are some darker chocolate sweet notes on the back end. There’s almost no indication to me that this is a wheated bourbon as any typical wheat notes are buried under all that oak. The proof has given it a lot of sweetness that I would enjoy more if it weren’t so damn earthy and dry.
Thoughts: It’s not the worst but not really great either. This tastes closer to Maker’s Cask Strength than it does a cask strength Maker’s 46 which is good because I hated the standard Maker’s 46. It doesn’t have as much of that green woodiness as standard 46 which I assume is being masked by the higher proof. Regardless, I’d reach for Maker’s Cask Strength any day of the week before this and that’s probably the reason we haven’t seen this product launched nationally by now.
Rating: C-
Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.
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