Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series: The Heart Release Review

Maker’s Mark Wood Finished Series had a strong run from 2019 to 2023. But towards the end, many enthusiasts were starting to feel the line was getting a little long in the tooth. My own opinions on them were that they were a terrific value for what you were getting and they weren’t unreasonably hard to find. But Maker’s Mark ended the program regardless and left a hole that many wondered if it would ever get filled again.

The second coming of Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series

Much like a beloved character that gets killed off mid-season, Maker’s has resurrected the Wood Finishing Series about a year later. The “new” line now gets put into the same bottle that we originally saw the Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged release use in 2023. This appears to be the standard bottle they’re going to use for any limited time offering or single barrel Private Selection going forward.

Where this new release deviates is the name. Whereas the old Wood Finishing Series used codes or acronyms for the finishing staves or entry proof, the new-and-improved version will have actual titles for the batch. This first one is called “The Heart Release.” Rob Samuels is saying this name was chosen because it “celebrates the entire distillery team, who share our vision and have contributed their perspective to the craft of the final expression.”

Apparently it’s the distillery team (that run the stillhouse) that were responsible for creating the final product you see today. Later on I’m sure we’ll see releases created by the blending team, the maturation team and maybe even the bottling team. Who knows?

I don’t know about anyone else, but this story about why it was named this does nothing for me. It’s a nice story and all, but it doesn’t give me any information about the bourbon inside. There is a code on the bottom left of the front label (this one says BR-22A) and an info label on the side that lists the stave profile, but that’s about it. For The Heart Release, it was finished with 10 Virgin Toasted French Oak Staves. That sounds pretty close to Maker’s 46 to me, so is this just a fancier bottle of Maker’s 46 Cask Strength? *note: Maker’s 46 uses seared French Oak staves, not toasted

How is “The Heart Release” made?

Maker’s has typically used a batching process to gather up barrels aged between 4 and 7 years to create a sort of “mother blend” prior to being divvied up into barrels that have been prepared with the additional wood staves added inside. Once the barrels are topped off, they’re rolled into Maker’s manmade “cellar” that’s built into the side of a hill on their property and kept at a consistent temperature of around 54 degrees year-round.

For The Heart Release, one batch of barrels were finished for 5 weeks while another was finished for 9 weeks. They were sampled intermittently until the tasting team found the right combo. Then the final blend was created and bottled up at cask strength – 112 proof. Just a reminder that Maker’s has a barrel entry proof of 110 proof, so this actually did go up in proof throughout the aging process.

So how does it taste? Thanks to my good friend Brad, I’m going to find out. I sampled this neat in a glencairn.

Tasting Notes

Nose: I think one of the more impactful notes is that of chocolate – which is something I typically get with French Oak. Other than oak, I can also find some scents of cedar wood if I hunt around long enough. Less robust notes like notes of vanilla and light honey can also be found. I detect the aroma of cherries, candied nuts and brown sugar. All of this seems very close to Maker’s 46 CS, but I’m not upset about that.

Palate: Sweet flavors of caramel dates and dark chocolate jump out on my tongue. Each sip is also moderately full of tannins like oak and a cacao nibs. Spices revolve around cinnamon, allspice and some light fennel. Aside from the dates, cherries and orange extract are the only other fruit flavors I find.

Finish: The finish sees more oak and leather come to the forefront while baking spices also begin to make themselves known – cinnamon, allspice and white peppercorn. The caramel sweetness is toned down a smidge, but overall keeps its balance.

Score: 7.9/10

Shortly after finishing my session with The Heart Release, I went back and looked at my review and rating of Maker’s Mark 46 Cask Strength and found them to be very similar. There’s a lot to love about both, but not so much that you should feel the need to have both in your cabinet at the same time.

I think that stave finishing is a perfect fit for a company like Maker’s, but I can’t help but think that maybe they need to step outside of their comfort zone and find a way to be a bit more creative. How about inserting staves of maple, cherry or Mizunara wood into the barrels? Something that changes it up from the typical “chocolate, caramel, cherries and oak” formula that has been at the base of their products for years now. Just give us something “new new.”

Final Thoughts

I’m really not sure who Maker’s thought they were fooling by canceling – and then reviving – one of their more popular flagship labels. Just like rumors about how Wild Turkey is going to eventually end their Master’s Keep line, my question is always “why?” These are profitable LTO’s that don’t need to be terminated. And if you’re going to fool the consumer base into thinking its going away forever only to bring it back a year later, then we’re going to catch on and realize that we can’t trust any of your press releases. Just keep the Wood Finishing Program running and give us a little more variety. That’s all we ask.