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In my 2023 review for Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged, I bemoaned the fact that the product Maker’s was giving us was something close to snake oil. Their methodology of maturation did little to set this product apart from their standard lineup, regardless of it now having a double-digit age statement. By keeping it in a climate controlled cellar (aka, a fancy refrigerator designed to look like the inside of a cave), they were essentially stopping the maturation process.
At that low temperature, the liquid cannot move in and out of the staves. The only thing happening to the liquid was a minuscule amount of oxidation inside of the barrel. And while I think that oxidation is one of the many reasons why dusty bourbon tastes awesome, I didn’t find it gave MM Cellar Age an appreciable difference from their standard bourbon. I still get hate mail to this day saying I’m wrong for thinking this way.
But people continue to buy Cellar Aged because, frankly, Maker’s Mark is too recognizable of a brand to not have at least 30,000 fans willing to lay down $175 to buy a bottle each year. I firmly believe they could have put regular Maker’s Mark into this new bottle and each one would have sold.
Comparing Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged releases with each other
I found the 2024 version of Cellar Aged to be a step up from the 2023 release. I know people have fought about which one was better for the last 12 months, but I stand by my assessment. Now that the 2025 release has dropped, I’m here to look at what’s changed and if it’s any better than its predecessors.
For starters, the bourbon inside contains some of the oldest barrels that Maker’s has put into any product, ever (at least that we know of). There are three sets of barrels aged 11, 13 and 14 years-old. For reference, the first release used barrels that were 11 and 12-years old and the second release used barrels that were 12 and 13-years-old. Funnily enough, if you do the math, the average age of the 2025 release shows that it’s the youngest of the three releases thus far. Here’s how they stack up:
2023 Cellar Aged – Average of 11.87 years-old
2024 Cellar Aged – Average of 12.85 years-old
2025 Cellar Aged – Average of 11.68 years-old
On top of being the youngest average age, the 2025 release is also the lowest-proofed version of this label coming in at 112.9 proof. That’s a full 6 proof points less than last years. It almost seems like Maker’s is following the same path as Heaven Hill did with their Elijah Craig Barrel Proof line where they keep chopping proof and age just because they think consumers will still buy it. That’s a bad look.
Maybe the blend will speak for itself and show that the final product is better than the numbers are telling us. So thanks to my good friend, Brad (who is a lifelong Maker’s lover), I’m getting to try it out to see if it can beat the previous years. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.
Tasting Notes
Nose: Fruit and oak are the two most dominant scents in this new Cellar Aged release. That’s not a surprise, though. So if you love chocolate covered cherries and seasoned oak, this is going to be right up your alley. The telltale wisp of astringency that I normally find in standard Maker’s Mark Cask Strength is hidden in the background, but there are rare moments when I find it. Overall, this noses like a Maker’s product that’s slightly richer and has a wider ranger of oak notes
Palate: Chocolate malt balls, a slight salinity, cherries and dark fruits and a mixture of robust and soft oak. Speaking of the oak, it does have a bit of varnish on top of it which has been a common link between the 2023, 2024 and 2025 versions. The spices I find bring a very mild heat and a sharp bite of flavor with cinnamon, ground pepper, allspice and oak spice. Caramel Fudge sweetness ties it all up nicely. This has very nice flavor, but isn’t particularly groundbreaking.
Finish: Lingering notes of cherry, chocolate, Nilla Wafers, oak and hazelnut about sums up the whole finish experience. The sip is pleasant and has no odd aftertastes. Just good bourbon that drinks easy and carries its proof well.
Score: 8.3/10
Maybe some of you will want me to trash this bottle and maybe some of you will want me to shower it with praises. It’s hard to do either because I’m just so indifferent to it. On one hand, I can sense that it’s a very competent sipper that is a more refined version of Maker’s Mark Cask Strength. On the other hand, it just doesn’t taste worthy of its pricetag and limited availability. I would get the same intensity of flavors with better developed oak from any Elijah Craig Barrel Proof produced up to 2020… and those were a third of the price of this Maker’s product.
The most common question enthusiasts have been peppering me (and other reviewers) with is “How does it rank among the other two releases?” I’ll give you your answer, but I’m not happy about it. 2024 is the best, 2025 is in the middle and 2023 is at the bottom. But in reality the only thing that truly separates them is how much the astringency has been hidden. Flavor-wise, there’s little variance in what you’ll experience.
Final Thoughts
The thing about wheated bourbon – especially the kind that Maker’s Mark produces – is that the wheat is so mild that it adds very little to the overall experience. Wheated bourbons shine when the barrel it matures in is allowed to impart maximum influence into the liquid. These are typically realized as tannins, spices and wood sugars and they happen when hot summer days push the liquid into the staves. But Maker’s way of maturing Cellar Age stifles what could be a world-class bourbon because they fear what would happen if too much oak is imparted. This is infuriating to me because it’s not like there aren’t any other distilleries out there that have successfully cracked the code on how to age wheated bourbon for 10, 12, 15, 20 or 23 years and get it to taste great.
I hope, in my heart of hearts, that Cellar Aged is just a stopgap for Maker’s as they fine-tune aging barrels in their warehouses for 10 years or more. I know that realistically that might require new warehouse designs or retrofitting their metal-sided warehouses with insulation. Warehouse design is something I think we need to talk more about, but I’ll save it for a future article. The bottom line is that I refuse to believe this is the pinnacle of what Maker’s can make. And until somebody in their leadership accepts that they can actually do better than this refrigerated bourbon, Cellar Aged will be a bottle I recommend you skip.