Based in Loretto, Kentucky, Maker’s Mark lineage of bourbon-making dates as far back as the 1800s; however, it was in 1953 that Bill Samuels, Sr. truly got the ball rolling. The former engineer bought the Burks’ Distillery, initially intending to distil whiskey using a 150-plus-year-old recipe. However, when he accidentally set fire to the family recipe, Samuels was forced to create his own based on experimentation with various grains; which is how we wound up with the Kentucky Straight Bourbon we all know and love.
The mash bill for Maker’s Mark is 70 per cent corn, 16 per cent red winter wheat, and 14 per cent malted barley. The corn adds the expected bourbon sweetness, the wheat adds a delicate softness, and the barley adds a bit of complexity. It’s matured in charred American oak barrels between six to seven years.