Brian’s Maker’s 46 Cask Strength Review:
reviewed on 12-April-2022
MAKER’S 46 CASK STRENGTH BOURBON REVIEW:
Maker’s 46 Cask Strength (Maker’s 46 CS) is a fine bourbon and one I hope Maker’s Mark decides to continue marketing. Well balanced aromas and flavors of barrel tannins, fruit, spice, and woody caramel, with seasoned toasted oak and leather pass to the finish. This is good stuff.
MAKER’S 46 CASK STRENGTH VITAL STATS:
Category: Wheated Bourbon
Company: Beam Suntory
Region: Loretto, KY
Distiller: Maker’s Mark
Mashbill: 70% corn; 16% soft red winter wheat; 14% malted barley
Barrel Char: unpublished
Barrel Entry Proof: 110 (lower than most whiskies to prevent alcohol from overwhelming the taste.)
Age: nas (believed to be 5-7 years)
ABV: 54.8% (109.6 Proof)
NABCA CSC #: 19481
Price: $59.95 (2022 in Idaho, purchased in 2021)
Learn more at Maker’s Mark 46®.
ENJOYMENT METHOD FOR THE REVIEW:
Alternate pours, equaling about four ounces, were added into two Glencairns. My daughter and I enjoyed the bourbon neat for this review.
Check out her review for this bourbon here!
MAKER’S 46 CASK STRENGTH NOSE:
The first whiff of Maker’s 46 CS gives my nose an alcohol bite along with some faint barrel tannin. I sense a potpourri of herbal dried blossoms, some sweet corn, and a distinct wheatiness. Then comes apricot nectar, fresh apples, plums, and an unusual aroma of yeasty orange marmalade mixed in light cinnamon and faint crushed clove. The sweets first come in as vanilla custard, then as simple syrup, woody caramel, and pinenuts drizzled with dark honey. I also smell light seasoned dry oak, hazy toasted wood, and smoky-sweet old leather.
MAKER’S 46 CASK STRENGTH PALATE:
The first sip of Maker’s 46 CS is full of alcohol warmth and like the sensed on the nose, I experience the barrel tannins. The liquid is herbal and wheaty and I taste fresh but faint apple cider, currants, and raisins along with some bitter citrus here too. Blended in each sip, spices of black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, mix with cookie dough and rich vanilla. These warm flavors serve and enhance the sweet brown sugar, woody caramel, dark honey, and some dark chocolate covered toffee. And while there is not a lot of woodiness in each sip, I do get air-dried seasoned oak and hazy barrel char bound by faint leather.
Balance, Body, Feel and Look:
Maker’s 46 CS is creamy, viscous, and easy to hold. It does give the tongue a little tingle, but this is a well balanced bourbon as many of the flavors pass from the nose to the palate and on through the finish. As I take each sip, long clinging legs give way to fat droplets, returning the liquid back to the auburn pool leaving behind a distinct crown.
MAKER’S 46 CASK STRENGTH FINISH:
Maker’s 46 Cask Strength offers a medium long and warm finish. My mouth feels the influence of the barrel as flavors of currant, raisin and pepper fades. The cookie dough, now with chocolate nibs, and a sliver of wheat toast, peeks in then fades into burnt sugar, woody caramel, some seasoned oak, toasted wood, and barrel char. When the last drops are gone, the empty Glencairn smells of warm vanilla, moist sawdust and soft leather.
MY RATING: 89/100
Will I buy this whiskey again? YES
Click to read Brian’s scoring process.
Click 89/100 to access other whiskies with this score.
To access other whiskies from this distillery, click Maker’s Mark.
WHISKEY TRAITS, FLAVOR NOTES AND PROFILE GRAPH:
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