Review #160: Maker’s Mark – The Keepers Release

MASH BILL: 70% corn, 16% soft red winter wheat, 14% malted barley

PROOF: 109.2

AGE: NAS (but MM is generally ~6 years old, plus the finishing time)

COST: $90 for 750mL bottle

The Keepers Release is the second release of the second chapter of The Wood Finishing Series by Maker’s Mark. The Heart Release was one of my top favorites of MM’s Wood Finishing Series, so let’s see how this follow up compares!

Reviewed neat in a Glencairn.

APPEARANCE: A bright, reddish mahogany (1.6); thin legs, but relatively slow with a nice ring of tear drop legs.

NOSE: Tannic oak jumps out at you right away. After pushing it aside (a couple of sips can help with this), it’s rich and sweet with big caramel sweetness, toasted coconut, sweet kettle corn, and stewed red fruit. Dipping my nose a bit deeper below the rim of the glass I get buttery pie crust stuffed with cherries and milk chocolate.

PALATE: This has a wonderful sweetness to start off. Borderline burnt caramel, toasted vanilla beans, ripe cherries, and caramelized sugar. All the while a nice backdrop of spicy oak. At mid-palate, the oak becomes more dominant and becomes a bit tannic and drying on the palate. A decent amount of baking spice starts to weave in, but the label really nails it by describing it as a “bold oak, toasted sweetness.” A touch of bitter dark chocolate shows up before heading into the finish. With a bit of chewing I get a slight tanginess that makes me think of cherry limeade. The mouthfeel of this is transformative with a soft, pillowy landing and fairly viscous and syrupy as I continue to sip on.

FINISH: The finish is long and semi-dry with that tannic oak from the palate carrying over along with a lot of toasted notes such as barrel char, a toasted marshmallow that’s just crossed over from that optimal golden brown to slightly black in areas, and toasted bread with a light spread of cherry jam. A nice mix of chocolate and baking spice lingers around the longest with a touch of brown sugar to bring this to a close.

RATING: 8.5/10

OVERALL: Maker’s Mark consistently makes great limited release bourbons, and The Keepers Release is no exception. Just based on the finishing profile of The Keepers Release versus The Heart Release, I would have undoubtedly said I would enjoy The Heart Release more as I’ve found French oak finishes generally resonate well with my palate. But between the two, The Keepers Release hits with me a bit more and it has just a little more uniqueness from the traditional Maker’s Mark profile. The Keepers Release has a lot more toasted notes and rich sweetness. Side by side with The Heart Release, it actually makes The Heart Release seem bright. I was really impressed with how sweet this starts off on the nose and transitions so seamlessly to a tannic and toasty finish with generous amounts of baking spice and sweetness along the way. This never once felt like it was 109+ proof bourbon drinking way below it’s proof with all the robust flavor.

Behind the Bottle

The first chapter of the Wood Finishing Series focused on using different wood finishes to create various flavor profiles to mimic different points or elements of Maker’s Mark production. For this new chapter of the Wood Finishing Series, Maker’s Mark is focusing on creating expressions that highlight different teams within the company. The Keepers Release was inspired by the folks of the Warehouse Team that oversee the Maker’s Mark maturation process. 

Maker’s Mark still rotates all their barrels by hand, swapping barrels on higher floors with barrels on lower floors in an effort to make an extremely consistent and balanced flavor profile. The Warehouse Team gets an extremely unique sensory experience day in and day out that primarily involves a complex array of wood aromas as they work in various areas of the rickhouses. The Keepers Release was designed to provide us a taste of what the Warehouse Team experiences by finishing fully matured Maker’s Mark using 10 virgin toasted American oak staves. With The Heart Release featuring 10 virgin French oak staves, trying The Keepers Release and The Heart Release side by side is a fantastic way to see the difference French oak and American (white) oak has on aging whiskey.

1 | Disgusting | ...I've not subjected myself to this level

2 | Poor | Balcones Lineage

3 | Bad | High West Double Rye, Jefferson's Ocean 28

4 | Sub-par | Weller's SR, Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select

5 | Good | Buffalo Trace, Sazerac Rye, Green River Wheated

6 | Very Good | Blanton's, Holladay Bourbons, Eagle Rare

7 | Great | Baker's 7yr SiB, BBCo Origin High Wheat, 1792 BiB

8 | Excellent | Most ECBP batches, Maker's Mark Wood Finishing releases, High West MWND Act 11

9 | Incredible | Woodford Reserve Batch Proof 121.2, BBC DS #7, Four Roses OESQ

10 | Perfect | Found North Batch 08