Drinkers, Be Alerted! New Maker’s Mark!

Maker's Mark 46

For a variety of reasons I’m not going to get into here, I have been drinking quite heavily over the past week. My choice of beverage in a trying time is, like many a folk out there, stone cold whiskey. Or bourbon. Whatever the right one is. (I’ve read about the difference probably 30 times now, but the information never seems to stick regarding what makes one thing a “bourbon” while the other is a “whiskey”. If someone has some kind of mnemonic device they can let me know about in the comments, that’d be great.) So it’s with kind of amazing timing that Maker’s Mark announced last week they are, for the first time, introducing their first new kind of bourbon since their original product. Take it away, Associated Press:

“This is our first creation in 52 years, and it really is a creation,” Maker’s Mark President Bill Samuels Jr. said. “It’s not like it’s Maker’s with a couple of more years age on it.”

To create the product, master distiller Kevin Smith started with Maker’s and dabbled for more than a year before hitting on the recipe.

Whiskey barrels storing Maker’s are emptied so workers can insert oak planks inside each. The barrels are refilled and aged two to three months longer than traditional Maker’s, which ages six to seven years. As Maker’s 46 mingles with the wood, it takes on stronger hints of caramel, spice and vanilla, Smith said.

Caramel, spice and vanilla? Sure! Why the hell not! I mean, it’s not like you can taste any of those “hints” of whatever in whiskey unless your mouth is trained at the art of whiskey drinking and not just using it to burn out memories of heartbreak and disappointment like, let’s estimate, 99% of all whiskey drinkers out there!? What I’m saying is, I can’t tell what kinds of “spices” or “hints of whatever” are in my whiskey. I use it to get drunk. Which means we should focus on the biggest news about this new product:

The new product is 94 proof, slightly higher than traditional Maker’s.

Booya!

The article also states that a bottle will run about $10 more than the original, which means the biggest question we all have to answer is: Is the extra proof, the extra little bit of kick to your drunkenness, worth an extra $10? We’ll find out soon enough. By which I mean, as soon as I get my ass off the couch and into the store which will perhaps be within the hour. Stay tuned!

(And yes, this entire post is a bait to get the people at Maker’s Mark to send me one of their new bottles, you know, in order to give me a chance to more fully experience the higher proof and maybe come back with a positive report.)