Maker's Mark 'Heart Release' Bourbon Review

BOTTLE DETAILS

• DISTILLER: Maker's Mark
• MASH BILL: 70% Corn | 16% Wheat | 14% Malted Barley
• AGE: Approximately 6 years plus 5-9 weeks of secondary aging
• YEAR: 2024
• PROOF: 111.7 (55.85% ABV)
• MSRP: $74.99
• BUY ONLINE: Maker's Mark Online Store

STEVE'S NOTES

SHARE WITH: Any whiskey fan, especially those wedded to Maker's Mark's flagship 90 proof. Use this to introduce them to the fullest of MM flavors.

WORTH THE PRICE: Yes.

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Bottle

OVERALL: This latest in Maker's ongoing Wood Finishing Series shows its innovation team taking a new tack with The Heart Release. Instead of working first with specific woods to create flavor accents, it asked its distillery team to describe what they taste, smell and experience on the job. Not surprisingly, their feedback was larded with descriptions of classic Maker's aromas and flavors such as caramel, pastry, maple, caramel, chocolate and more. According to Beth Buckner, senior manager of innovation and blending, they were told that "the maple notes come from steaming out our wooden fermenters–something we'd never have known without asking them." Getting those crews' feedback, she added, was essential to the taste vision for The Heart Release, named as a nod to the distillery team at the heart of the operation.

In creating those new flavors, the innovation team used two French oak staves and hung 10 of each in an equal number of barrels. Half the barrels were aged for an additional five weeks, and the other half for an additional nine. Both lots were then blended equally.

"We created what we thought would be the final blend and took it to the team to ask, 'Does this reflect your taste vision?'" Buckner said. "They were the first beside the innovation team to taste the whiskey, and we got their sign-off on it."

Like every wood-finished Maker's release, The Heart Series offers up a rich and complex nose featuring oak, chocolate, cinnamon and clove. Pastries, pie crust and fruit tarts made from all three doughs emerge laced with caramel and mocha.

On the palate, its 111.7 proof speaks loudly with heat and loads of baking spices. (I believe it's at this proof where wheated bourbons really shine, really flex their flavor muscles. Below 100 proof, wheat's spice and nutty characters always seem subdued by corn.) Reflective of the nose, undercurrents of mocha, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove ride herd across the mouth before easing into gentler tastes of baked pie crust.

BRAND NOTES

The Heart Release celebrates the team that distills our whisky, our people who sit at the heart of Maker's, guiding and setting the tone for so much of what we do.  Fruit forward, with caramel, maple, and chocolate notes, this expression features a rich, creamy mouthfeel that is a pure delight.

Aroma: Toasted sweetness, stone fruit, cocoa

Taste: Brown sugar, maple, spice

Finish: Creamy, dark chocolate, long, silky finish

Disclaimer: Bourbon & Banter received a sample of this product from the brand for review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.