Maker's Mark

Maker's Mark is the world's best-selling wheated bourbon and sits within the Top 30 of total brand whisky sales. It sells over 30 million bottles each year. The iconic square bottles with red wax seal - each is dipped individually by hand - are instantly recognisable. Maker's Mark has a rich heritage and is popular with both drinkers and bartenders the world over.      

Maker's Mark is a smooth, sweet and expressive bourbon. Notes of vanilla, caramel and baking spices (such as cinnamon and mace) dominate. They sit alongside woody oak spices and hints of coconut, charcoal and orange oil.

The core range is small consisting of just four bottlings - the Original bottled at 45% ABV/ 90 Proof, the higher strength Maker's 46 (bottled at 47% ABV/ 94 Proof), Cask Strength (each batch has a different natural ABV) and Private Selection - a series exploring different wood finishes.     

Maker's Mark is unusual for an American whiskey in that it has no rye in the mash bill. Traditionally, bourbons contain four kinds of cereal - barley, corn, rye and wheat. Maker's Mark uses a mash bill of 70% corn, 16% red winter wheat and 14% malted barley. For each batch, the mash bill totals just over 50 tonnes. The high percentage of wheat as the secondary grain designates it as a wheated bourbon.

Fermentation uses a yeast strain dating back before Maker's Mark. The strain was first used at the Burks distillery 150 years ago. The spirit is double-distilled and then matured in charred (Maker's Mark uses #3 char level) virgin American white oak barrels. These are rotated around the warehouse to maintain consistent maturation. Temperatures are greater in the upper levels compared to the lower, and this accelerates the interaction between whisky and wood. The whisky is then bottled as Maker's Mark between five and six years of age.         

Maker's Mark was launched as a brand in the late-1950s. Founder T. William Samuels Sr. (known as Bill to friends and family) purchased the Burks distillery in Loretto, Kentucky in 1953. Production of his wheated bourbon began in 1954 with the first bottling appearing in 1959. Samuels' wife, Margie, is attributed with creating the name, designing the label and instigating the wax seal. All remain today.     

Rumour has it that Samuels Sr. developed his unique mash bill by making loaves of bread with different mixes of grain. He then selected his favourite loaf and proceeded with distillation trials. Maker's Mark is one of the few American brands to use the Scotch spelling of whisky, rather than whiskey.

Maker's Mark and Burks distillery were sold to Hiram Walker & Sons in 1981. Samuels Sr. remained as head of production and was later succeeded by his son, Bill Samuels. Jr. Hiram Walker was subsequently acquired by Allied Domecq in 1987, who in turn was purchased by Pernod Ricard in 2005. They immediately sold Maker's Mark to Fortune Brands.

Fortune Brands' alcohol brands and distilleries split from the main company and became Beam Inc. in 2011. This was also the year that Samuels Jr. retired and production control switched to his son, Rob Samuels. The current owners are Beam Suntory, who took control in 2014 when Beam Inc. was purchased by Japanese company Suntory. The Burks distillery is a designated National Historic Landmark and forms part of both the American Whiskey Trail and Kentucky Bourbon Trail.