Maker’s Mark 2021 Wood Finishing Series: FAE-01 Bourbon
Photos via Maker's Mark
Limited release whiskeys are still something of a novelty for Maker’s Mark, a company that got by for many years on a smaller than usual product lineup, focused entirely on their unique brand of wheated bourbon. It seems certain at this point, though, that limited release Maker’s Mark bourbons are here to stay, and the company has seen a good response so far to the first few releases of its “LEs,” dubbed the “Wood Finishing Series.” As with other Maker’s products such as Maker’s 46 or Maker’s Private Select, these whiskeys are created by giving them a secondary aging on proprietary oak staves created uniquely for each release, which is then put out at cask strength.
To date, this has resulted in two previous Wood Finishing Series batches in 2019 and 2020, each intended to highlight a different aspect of the classic Maker’s profile. The first, 2019’s RC6, was intended to highlight “notes of baking spice and fruit,” while the dual staves used in 2020, PR5 and SE4 were meant to amplify notes of caramel and vanilla, which we concluded was a rousing success. The 2021 release, however, is taking things in a decidedly new direction.
For the first time in this still-young series, the 2021 release will be split into two separate batches rather than one, with the first (FAE-01) in the spring and the second (FAE-02) in the autumn. This first batch, hitting shelves now, created a new virgin American oak stave that is “seared on one side and left raw on teh other, to amplify some of the signature dried fruit and oak flavors that Maker’s Mark is known for.” The distillery goes on to say the following:
The classic Maker’s Mark® Bourbon derives these tasting notes from naturally retained elements of barrel char and organic compounds called fatty acid esters (FAEs), which are responsible for both fruity tones and texture variations. Each side of the FAE-01 stave draws out different characteristics of these two flavor components – the charred side offers dark leathery tobacco notes, and the raw side yields fresh fruit, the two of which come together to create intense barrel-aged fruitiness. While 2021 Limited Release: FAE-01 focuses on drawing out specific flavors, 2021 Limited Release: FAE-02, arriving later this year, will be defined by its rich, weighty texture.
This sounds like an interesting departure to me, particularly in the sense that “dried fruit and oak” isn’t exactly how I’d typically describe the Maker’s Mark profile—rather, I think it tends to typically read as more dominated by caramelized sugars, vanilla and doughy wheat. What it sounds like to me is that this Wood Finishing Series is starting to zero in on some of the more subtle aspects of the Maker’s profile, which will likely yield whiskeys a bit further off the beaten path for this brand.