AVB
Jesus of Cool, I'm bad, I'm nationwide
Maker's Mark 46 Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey, Barrel Finished with oak staves, 750 ml, ~ $33-37, 94 proof, soon to be available nationwide.
Named for the 46th experimental version that Maker's Mark and Independent Stave came up with, 46 is the first new style Maker's in over 50 years. While the juice and the way it is initially made is exactly the same as the original Maker's it is later dumped into barrels that have a dozen (lightly toasted?) European oak staves mounted in them for an unspecified amount of time. The extra wood adds more vanillans, brown sugar flavors and spice. Usually rye is used to spice things up but this is another, albeit, more expensive way to achieve it.
The nose certainly has more brown sugar and caramel then the original along with a touch of cinnamon and cloves. First tasting is fairly smooth (considering it's 94 proof) with a good amount of oak and vanilla coming through. The finish is longer then the original and no longer has the citrus tones that the original did but is still sweet with a tang that could be a touch bitter or what you get when you bite a green apple. Not the apple flavor just the tang.
Overall, I feel this is a newer better Maker's that I do prefer over the original but at a mid thirties price point it won't become a regular pour at Casa AVB..
Named for the 46th experimental version that Maker's Mark and Independent Stave came up with, 46 is the first new style Maker's in over 50 years. While the juice and the way it is initially made is exactly the same as the original Maker's it is later dumped into barrels that have a dozen (lightly toasted?) European oak staves mounted in them for an unspecified amount of time. The extra wood adds more vanillans, brown sugar flavors and spice. Usually rye is used to spice things up but this is another, albeit, more expensive way to achieve it.
The nose certainly has more brown sugar and caramel then the original along with a touch of cinnamon and cloves. First tasting is fairly smooth (considering it's 94 proof) with a good amount of oak and vanilla coming through. The finish is longer then the original and no longer has the citrus tones that the original did but is still sweet with a tang that could be a touch bitter or what you get when you bite a green apple. Not the apple flavor just the tang.
Overall, I feel this is a newer better Maker's that I do prefer over the original but at a mid thirties price point it won't become a regular pour at Casa AVB..
