On the nose, I get a lot of salty caramel notes. I’m also getting the smells of oak from the charred, virgin American barrels that this bourbon is aged in for at least three years. There are few bottles that are more recognizable than Margie’s design for Maker’s Mark. Everything on Margie’s bottle has a reason for being there.

His wife, Marjorie “Margie” Samuels, gave the whisky its name. She designed the now-classic label and came up with the red wax-dipping top that provides the bottle with its distinctive look. 1968 saw the first bottle of Maker’s Mark. Thirty-One Whiskey is a blog devoted to the appreciation of good whiskey, fine cigars, and the value of a hard day’s work in the wood shop. The Maker’s Mark 46 bottle surely draws inspiration from its sister bourbon, Maker’s Mark. Margie’s design of the ‘S’ for Samuels and ‘IV’ for the fourth generation distiller that Bill Samuels Sr. believed he was is present on this bottle as well. This is just right. There’s a good bit of caramel and vanilla to balance out the bitterness of the ginger beer, and there’s a touch of oak-y flavor that comes through to add some extra special something to the mix.

Mixing an Old Fashioned with the Maker’s Mark 46

Easy drinking with cinnamon and fruity sweetness; it is lovely. However, when you put the Maker’s 46 next to it, you can immediately taste what the extra time in the wood did to the whiskey. This is the epitome of what most people think of when they think of what a bourbon tastes like, which makes sense because bourbon is a trendsetter and has been since its creation. When we think of bourbon, we think of this nose, this taste on the palate, and this finish. Do other profiles exist?

Let’s talk about the history of the distillery, which is intricately tied into the Maker’s Mark founding family: the Samuels, and what each of these two bourbons has to offer. One thing I appreciate about this design is that the majority of the bottle is open clear glass. The normal Maker’s Mark bottle is mostly wrapped in paper, but in this case the deep amber color of the liquid inside is on full display. And it looks great.Introduced in 2010, Maker’s Mark 46 was the first new variant produced by the distillery since it opened. It starts off life as a typical barrel of Makers Mark but then gets a little extra special sauce. When I first reviewed Maker’s 46, I stated that everything about it seems to be more refined than the standard Maker’s. A large part of this was the sophisticated looking bottle that broke away from the iconic square influence of Maker’s brand. With the new Maker’s Mark 46 bottle design being reined in and now sharing the same design as standard Maker’s, the bourbon stands out just a little bit less on the shelf from a purely aesthetic standpoint. Thankfully the bourbon inside remains exactly the same.

Legend has it that Margie hand-dipped the first Maker’s Mark bottle in her home-fryer for that signature wax seal. I’d say it was worth ruining the fryer! Maker’s Mark Specs Rich and creamy. There are notes of oak, vanilla cinnamon, all perfectly balanced. The Maker's 46 has a big mouthfeel. It is smooth like creamed honey. After the second sip, butter toffee, toast and hints of pepper show up. Water softens the heat a bit, but it is easy enough to drink without water. Whitesmiths are people who work with tin and metal to create tools, pewter simply indicates the specific metal these craftsmen use.) For this reason, she also chose to name her husband’s new bourbon Maker’s Mark. The design of the Maker’s Mark 46 is more modern without veering too harshly from the tradition of the Maker’s Mark signature design or the Samuels family tradition. Maker’s Mark 46 Specs Excerpt: The more water I added the more I enjoyed it, but I was basically working my way towards the standard release drop by drop.

Mixing an Old Fashioned with the Maker’s Mark

Even that paper label was by Margie’s design, and her vision is still used today. Originally cut by a 1935 Chandler and Price printing press, Maker’s had a replica made when the original eventually broke. The cask-strength Maker’s Mark is then stored in the Maker’s Mark limestone cellar for nine weeks with ten seared virgin French oak staves. And those staves make all the difference! The name of Maker’s Mark 46 comes from the staves that worked best in this process: “Stave Profile No. 46”. The Maker’s Mark 46 Bottle Photo by Thea Engst Maker’s 46 Cask Strength is the barrel proof version of the standard Maker’s 46. Maker’s 46 starts off as standard Maker’s Mark, which is a wheated bourbon made in batches of less than 1,000 gallons.