Whiskey Of The Month – September 2023 – Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon

Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon is their latest release. It is 85% 12 year old Bourbon and 15% 11 year old Bourbon. They have taken barrels of regular Maker’s Mark Bourbon after it was aged in the warehouses for five or six years, and moved those barrels to their cave where they age the Maker’s 46 barrels, and kept them there for an additional six years. This extra aging is a slow maturation process similar to aging the whiskey on the ground floor of the warehouse. It gave the whiskey a very nice sweetness from the wood without the bitter tannins that the upper levels of an aging warehouse gives the whiskey. I was given one of the first 100 bottles of this whiskey and I opened it and tasted it with Matt. We decided that it is definitely our whiskey of the month for September 2023.

Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon

Proof: 115.7

Age: No Age Statement – 85% 12 year old and 15% 11 year old Bourbons.

Nose:

Mike: Caramel, apples, a hint of dark chocolate, pepper and oak wood.
Matt: Caramel, apples, cinnamon, oak wood.

Taste:

Mike: Caramel, apples white pepper and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and the chocolate from the nose comes out and the white pepper becomes cinnamon and nutmeg. Tasted with a pecan and it becomes rich in caramel, chocolate, white pepper and oak.
Matt: Caramel, apple, cinnamon and oak. The dried cranberry brought out notes of brown sugar. The pecan brought flavors of brown sugar, chocolate and lingering apple sweetness.

Finish:

Mike: Long with oak and white pepper. The dried cranberry changed the pepper to cinnamon. The pecan made the finish long and pleasant with oak, white pepper and lingering chocolate.
Matt: Long with oak, cinnamon, apples and chocolate brownies. The dried cranberry made the finish long with oak and cinnamon and lingering brown sugar. The pecan made the finish long with oak, cinnamon and lingering chocolate.

I would pair this fine Bourbon with a fine cigar. I would reach for a Padron 1964 Anniversary series cigar. The rich vanilla and cedar spice of these cigars would pair well with the rich caramel and spices of the Bourbon.