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If any two expressions were the perfect match for our drop, they’d have to be the ones you just had hand-delivered to your door. You get a chance to see how much difference staves make to our expressions, even ones that came from the same taste goal. While working on this year’s Wood Finishing Series 2021 Limited Release, we decided creating one wasn’t enough to honor our signature bourbon this time around, so we created two. You may know them as FAE-01 and FAE-02 or “the latest additions to your home bar.” If you’re new to the drop, we’re glad to have you. All of you who aren’t, welcome back. We’ve given you a couple cocktail recipes you’ll definitely want to add to your rotation and a little bit more info about the delicious liquid inside your bottles (or glass). To add even more to your drop, we’re putting together a special virtual tasting with our Master of Maturation Jane Bowie. Click here to RSVP and join her on September 22 at 6:30p.m. EST.

Cheers, The Whisky Drop Team at Maker’s Mark PG

Exploring the limits with Limited Releases These national Maker’s Mark® Wood Finishing Series Limited Releases are all about celebrating the choices our founders made and the things we still do every day at Star Hill Farm that make Maker’s Mark® what it is. This year, we leaned into some of our traditional production methods and wanted to explore fatty acid esters – highlighting their ability to impact flavor and affect the mouthfeel of our bourbon.

When creating each of the four current expressions, our goal wasn’t to play it safe. It was to explore every side of Maker’s Mark® and the fringes of where flavor takes us. As a set, there’s something any whisky drinker will truly enjoy.

Maker’s Mark® Wood Finishing Series 2021 Limited Release: FAE-01 This Limited Release was our very first expression to use a stave with only one side seared – leaving the other side completely raw – which allows us to get two separate flavors from a single stave. This expression tastes reminiscent of how the air smells inside our barrel warehouse. You’ll get a taste of rich figgy notes complemented by tobacco undertones and a pleasantly dank woodiness that gets wrapped up with a long and expressive finish. If you missed this release earlier in the year, say goodbye to your feelings of missing out. AROMA: Heavy wood, dark fruit and tobacco

TASTE: Deep and dried dark fruits, big midpalate with strong tobacco and barrel extractives

FINISH: Creamy, lingering and round

Maker’s Mark® Wood Finishing Series 2021 Limited Release: FAE-02 For FAE-02, we’ve explored an entirely different side of the tasting experience – texture. Texture is just as important as flavor when it comes to drinking bourbon, so we wanted to dial it up to highlight its impact. With this one you can expect the viscosity and mouthfeel to be everything up front. The creaminess and butteriness are off the charts when compared to our previous Limited Releases. And while we’ve typically minimized the toasty notes, for this expression, we found they work quite harmoniously with the mouthfeel. It’s a unique one, but it’s still unmistakably Maker’s®. AROMA: Lots of toasty, sweet oak with heavy emphasis on caramel and light brown sugar

TASTE: Texture-forward with heavy, round oak notes. Enough spice to give it body and balance, but the viscosity is what really stands out.

FINISH: Long, fat finish that doesn’t change in texture or tone. It’s balanced so the whisky stays the same through the whole tasting experience. PG

We’ve put together a selection of cocktails that pair perfectly with the unique taste profiles of the included expressions. Use these to impress your friends or your palate. (Or both.)

2021 Limited Release: FAE-01

TASTE PROFILE: The leather and tobacco notes work wonderfully with the light citrus and floral honey notes. The FAE creates a mouthfeel that works in harmony with the effervescence of the champagne. INGREDIENTS: 1 part Maker’s Mark® Wood Finishing Series: FAE-01 1/2 part lime juice 1/2 part honey syrup Champagne Maraschino cherry for garnish METHOD: Add FAE-01, honey syrup (2:1 honey to water) and fresh lime juice to a shaker and shake for a few seconds. Double strain into a coupette or champagne glass and top with chilled champagne. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

2021 Limited Release: FAE-02

TASTE PROFILE: The viscosity brought forward by the FAEs does well to match the smooth warmth and lift up the bittersweet elements of the drink. INGREDIENTS: 1 part Maker’s Mark® Wood Finishing Series: FAE-02 3/4 part Italian bitter vermouth 3/4 part sweet vermouth Orange zest for garnish METHOD: Combine FAE-02 and vermouths in a chilled rocks glass with cubed ice. Stir and garnish with orange zest.

A future of sustainability at Maker’s Mark If you’ve known Maker’s Mark for a while, you’ve likely heard a little bit about our philosophy around sustainability. It’s not just something we tack on – it’s central to everything we do. We’ve always challenged ourselves to think about how every facet of our distillery affects the larger environment. That has led to installing a solar panel array to offset the energy of our operations and even led to creating a protected sanctuary of the entire watershed where we source our water. But there’s always more to be done.

By 2030, we plan to be producing zero landfill waste. And there’s plenty other initiatives in the works, like developing unique varieties of wheat focused on flavor, as well as utilizing the first electric semi trucks available in the U.S. Every single initiative matters. What does the future look like for us? Well, we’ve got a lot planned.

makersmark.com PG