DISTILLERY · LORETTO, KENTUCKY
Maker's Mark Distillery
The bourbon that traded rye's bite for wheat's warmth — and sealed the deal in dripping red wax.
Maker's Mark is a wheated bourbon: soft red winter wheat, not rye, fills the flavouring-grain slot behind corn, yielding a rounder, softer, sweeter profile. Every bottle is finished by hand-dipping the neck in molten red wax, a branding stroke devised by Margie Samuels in the 1950s. Where most distilleries chase variety and allocation, Maker's built its name on doing one recipe consistently, at scale, for generations — a wheated house style that also underpins cult names like Pappy. It's a benchmark introduction to bourbon, now owned by Japan's Suntory Global Spirits.
THE MAKER'S MARK RANGE
One soft recipe, many finishes.
The wheated flagship, then French-oak, barrel-proof, cellar-aged and estate-wheat expressions on top.
Maker's Mark
FLAGSHIPflagship · 90 proof
The benchmark soft wheated pour, hand-dipped in red wax.
COMING SOON
Maker's Mark 46
premium · 94 proof
Finished with seared French oak staves for spice and depth.
Cask Strength
barrel proof · 108–114
The flagship recipe uncut from the barrel — richer, bolder.
COMING SOON
Maker's Mark 101
higher proof · 101
A higher-proof middle ground, now a wider US release.
COMING SOON
Wood Finishing Series
limited · cask strength
Annual stave experiments and retailer Private Selections.
COMING SOON
Cellar Aged
allocated · 56–60% ABV
Maker's oldest bourbon (11+ yrs), extended cellar maturation.
COMING SOON
MAKER'S MARK BOTTLES · RANKED
The bottles.
SCORED / 100 · CONSENSUS ESTIMATES · US PRICES JULY 2026
| Rank | Bottle | Note | Score | Price | Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Maker's Mark Cellar Aged (2025)bourbon · cellar-aged · 11–14 yr | Baking spice and baked apple; Whisky Advocate ranked the 2025 release #3. | 94SCORE | $175 | COMING SOON |
| 02 | Maker's Mark Cask Strengthbourbon · barrel proof · 108–114 | Best value-to-intensity in the lineup; SFWSC Double Gold, 2026. | 92SCORE | $45 | COMING SOON |
| 03 | Star Hill Farm Whisky (2026)wheat whisky · 58.2% · estate | Estate wheat whisky (not bourbon); a prior release was named World's Best Wheat Whisky. | 91SCORE | $100 | COMING SOON |
| 04 | Wood Finishing Series 'Keepers' (2025)bourbon · cask strength · limited | A cask-strength stave experiment; the series routinely earns Double Gold. | 90SCORE | $75 | COMING SOON |
| 05 | Maker's Mark 46usa / makers-mark / bourbon / makers-mark-46 | Seared French-oak staves add spice, tannin and structure. | —NOT SCORED | $35–50 | BOTTLE GUIDE → |
| 06 | Maker's Mark 101bourbon · 101 proof | Higher-proof flagship — more punch without a cask-strength price. | 88SCORE | $42 | COMING SOON |
| 07 | Maker's Markbourbon · 90 proof · flagship | Reliable, soft, cocktail-and-neat everyday wheater. | 85SCORE | $30 | COMING SOON |
MAKER'S MARK — THE STORY
One recipe, dipped in red.
In 1953, Bill Samuels Sr. and his wife Margie bought Star Hill Farm in Loretto for its limestone water, and by 1954 he was distilling a new wheated recipe — reportedly developed by baking test loaves of bread to judge grain flavour rather than distilling. Margie is the branding genius of the story: she named the whisky (borrowing 'maker's mark' from her pewter collection), designed the star seal, and devised the hand-dipped red wax. The first bottle sold in 1958.
For decades Maker's ran on essentially one product, and its consistency built a loyal base; Maker's 46 (2010) finally added a sibling. Today it's the wheated cornerstone of Suntory Global Spirits — the former Beam Suntory, renamed in 2024 and owned by Japan's Suntory Holdings. Under new master distiller Blake Layfield, the once single-expression house now runs an active slate — Cask Strength, Cellar Aged, the Wood Finishing Series and the estate-grown Star Hill Farm wheat whisky — while holding to the soft, wheat-forward signature.
One myth, corrected: the 'centuries-old family recipe' line is marketing. Samuels didn't inherit the Maker's mash bill — he scrapped the old family rye recipe and built a brand-new wheated formula in the early 1950s (with input from friend 'Pappy' Van Winkle). The distilling family heritage is real; the Maker's recipe is a 1950s invention.
Answered by Everett Boone · The American Seat
Who owns Maker's Mark?
Suntory Global Spirits, the New York–based spirits arm of Japan's Suntory Holdings. It was called Beam Suntory until an April 2024 rebrand; Suntory has controlled the brand since buying Beam Inc. in 2014.
Why is it 'whisky' with no 'e'?
Most American producers spell it 'whiskey,' but the Samuels family deliberately dropped the 'e' as a nod to their Scottish heritage. It's a stylistic choice, not a legal or production difference.
Which bottle should I buy first?
Start with the flagship Maker's Mark (~$30) — the truest, most affordable expression of the soft wheated style. For more intensity, step up to Cask Strength (~$45).
What is a wheated bourbon?
Any bourbon is 51%+ corn by law; the remaining flavouring grain is usually rye, but wheated bourbons use wheat instead. Maker's uses ~16% soft red winter wheat, trading rye's peppery spice for a softer, sweeter, rounder character.
Can we send you our whiskey?
Yes — and it's the only way to earn a Superior Rating. Distilleries are welcome to send bottles for the full panel: two per expression, one decanted into blind samples for the three of us, one sealed on file. All three seats taste it blind and the scores are averaged. Sending buys three honest opinions and nothing else — nobody sees a score before publication.