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Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon (2024) Review

Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged Bourbon (2024) Review

I love new things. Gizmos, gadgets, recipes, cars, movies, equipment, you name it. If it’s new and hasn’t been done before, even better. That’s what may have lured me into the whole whiskey scene in the first place. Before I knew about whiskey, I assumed that every bottle I saw on a liquor store shelf was a bottle that had always been there. The idea that whiskey brands made new and limited bottles had never occurred to me until I started paying attention. As I began to learn about them, I wanted to experience as many as I could.

When I eventually got around to the Maker’s Mark lineup, I found there wasn’t much new to explore. Sure, I bought the standard 90 proof, 101 proof, Cask Strength and both “46” bottlings, but that was about all they had to offer. I purchased a couple Private Selections and a Wood Finished Series along the way, but they were mostly the same to me. A lack of age statements and an over-reliance on making everything taste the same made me bored with the brand. In fact, I wrote an article explaining just that.

But when Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged came out last year, I felt as if Maker’s was finally turning the corner. Double-digit age statements at cask strength? Sign me up! In fact, that’s exactly what I did. I signed up for one of the first tours that came with a bottle of MMCA at the end. I wrote about my experience here.

When I got home with my bottle, I finally had the chance to take my time and study it. I had a couple sessions with it expecting a wholly different experience, but I wasn’t finding it. Instead what I found was similar to Maker’s Mark Cask Strength Bourbon. I kept re-tasting and even sampled my bottle out to half a dozen of my most trusted friends. A couple of them said that they liked it better than any other Maker’s product, but most couldn’t tell me if it was better than a bottle of their standard Cask Strength.

My review ended up being lackluster and if you read it, you’d feel my disappointment dripping off of every word. Maker’s wasn’t turning a corner. In fact, it seemed like they were intent on driving straight on through and keeping the status quo. They were just finding new ways to disguise what they were doing as something new. The purpose of aging in a cellar was to freeze the process of maturation almost completely. So many people took the bait that this was a fine way to mature a bourbon.

Maker’s continues its Cellar Aged program

My review from last year probably didn’t tip the scales of overall sales; although 12 months later I still get sent pictures from people in Duty Free or random liquor stores where they find bottles of the 2023 Cellar Aged collecting dust. That gives me a sort of smug satisfaction that I hope Maker’s product development team can feel coming through their screen. Enthusiasts have demanded a bourbon that was aged only in a proper rickhouse for at least 12 years. No tricks, no gimmicks. and we haven’t got it.

Instead, we get another Cellar Aged release for 2024.

Pop off, King

I refuse to buy this bottle. I refuse to support a front office of “indecision Maker’s” (see what I did there?) who won’t allow new ideas to upset the boring brand they’ve fostered. But Brad doesn’t mind.

Who’s Brad? My good friend and neighbor for the past 7 years. We’ve shared many pours together over those years. He’s been drinking bourbon since before I have and loves the Maker’s brand. He’s even a Maker’s Ambassador and a subscriber to The Whisky Drop (Maker’s Mark shipped to your door). He loves this brand and he’s always willing to share with me. Brad knows how I feel about Maker’s but still puts up with my shit. The bottle I’m reviewing isn’t mine, it’s his.

With that being said, I’m going to give the 2024 release a go even though I know in my mind it’s half as good as they could’ve made it simply because it spent half of its life in a refrigerator. Cheers to you, Brad. I hope everyone has their own Brad that they can share a drink with. Now, on to the review. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: More cherry than I’d normally find in a typical Maker’s release. The opening notes also warm my nostrils up with melted chocolate, rum raisin bread pudding and Flan. It’s also surprisingly oaky. The tannins surprise me in a way because it actually smells older than every other modern Maker’s product. Sweet scents also conjure up thoughts of brown sugar, but turn into more of a honey note the longer I nose it.

Palate: Hello oak! This is quite a change from last year’s Cellar Aged. I’m detecting much more oak spice, wood varnish and shoe polish. By the way, when I talk about the varnish note, it’s not like the dusty bourbons of yesteryear, it’s more of a modern take on it. It’s hard to explain but it has a very slight chemical nature about it. I’m not implying it’s a bad chemical taste, it just can’t put my finger on why it’s different. Examining deeper, I find other tannic flavors like bakers chocolate and a bit of leather. Fruit notes (figs and cherries) taste like they’ve been spiced with cinnamon, allspice and clove. I’m also finding a bit of fennel, ground pepper, and a minty tingle that reminds me of Girl Scouts Thin Mint Cookies.

Finish: Those tannic notes I mentioned earlier are doing their thing during the finish. They hang around for a moderately long time and include leatherbound books, lots of oak and plenty of chocolate. Fruit notes like dried cherries and apricots keep it interesting while spices like cinnamon stick, ground pepper and more fennel remain. I even get some sweet notes like crème brûlée.

Score: 8.5/10

Well damn, this is a much better version than last year’s. In fact, during one of my sessions with it (with a few other friends) we poured the 2023 along side it and found the 2024 version to be substantially better. The first things that immediately stood out is how much more oaky, rich and flavorful it was. It tasted like it was allowed to age in a rickhouse for 2-3 years longer than the barrels used in the 2023 release before being shoved into the cellar.

Every note I tasted or smelled is better. However, it still suffers from an oak taste that feels like a kind of artificial note. I can’t help but wonder is that note because its maturation was suddenly kneecapped by being put in that cold cellar? Typically wood notes become softer and sweeter with age (until they turn bitter), but that’s not what it tastes like here. It’s like a Freaky Friday where the younger soul gets stuck in the older body. It’s weird.

Final Thoughts

I will admit, this year’s Cellar Aged bourbon is an excellent bourbon. I won’t take that away from it. But for the stats it has, this could easily be on the level of William Larue Weller if it wasn’t due to Corporate’s insistence on keeping with tradition.

So should you buy this if you see it? I feel like if you have the means, do it. I wouldn’t pay secondary prices because we saw how last year’s version cratered in value very shortly after its release, but retail is okay (and now $175, yeesh) This would make for a great holiday gift to the person in your life that loves bourbon or wheated bourbon. It does have an interesting story (just don’t let the recipient read my reviews) and the presentation is superb. So go ahead, all you Maker’s fiends, and find a bottle. This is obviously the best thing Maker’s has released this year and if you’ve been patiently waiting for it to come back out, then you should know the wait was worth it.

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