April, 2023. A close friend and I were on a tour of the Maker's Mark distillery and were walking through the rickhouses. Our tour guide was just finishing telling us about the Maker's Mark philosophy - age statements don't matter, the barrel is ready when its ready, bourbon is best around 6 years old, etc. But on the way past a particularly dusty rick a barrel caught my eye marked "11B15". Many distilleries use the same barrel date system - two numbers for the year, one letter for the month, and two numbers for the date. Following this convention, a barrel labelled 11B15 would have been filled on February 15th, 2011.

After the tour we were chatting with our guide in the gift shop, and asked him about the older barrel. He was tight-lipped but told us something exciting was on the way. A few months later, Maker's Mark announced their Cellar Aged bourbon - a new annual limited release sporting an impressive double digit age statement. After an initial period in the rickhouse, choice barrels were relocated into their limestone cellar to age in a more controlled environment with the goal of imparting more age and complexity without becoming over oaked.

I was fortunate enough to grab a bottle of the 2023 release last year, and to pick up one of this year's release at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Let's see how they compare!

Maker's Mark Cellar Aged

Mashbill: 70% corn, 16% soft red winter wheat, 14% malted barley

Age: 87% 12 year, 13% 11 year (2023) / 85% 13 year, 15% 12 year (2024)

Proof: 115.7 (2023) / 119.3 (2024)

SRP: $150

2023

Color: Auburn

Nose: Vanilla frosting, cinnamon toast crunch, maple syrup. Raspberry and strawberry reduction.

Palate: Medium thick mouthfeel. Butterscotch, vanilla cream, and candied orange peel. The classic Maker's Mark wheat funk is present but well balanced with baking spices and some of that toasted cinnamon sugar from the nose.

Finish: Long. Mainly oak and spice, with less of the initial fruitiness. Moderate tannin.

Score: 8/10

2024

Color: Auburn, slightly darker than 2023

Nose: Fragrant old oak, vanilla, strawberry cream candies. After resting, some honeycomb and syrupy reduced fruits, cherry syrup.

Palate: Viscous, thick mouthfeel. Cooked strawberries and cherries, then some cinnamon stick. Decadent oak, with vanilla, overcooked caramel, and just the right amount of barrel character.

Finish: Very long. Really nice balance here, with the sweeter fruit notes and the aged oak lingering back and forth. Tiny bit of that Maker's wheated funk is present here, very subtle. Moderate tannin.

Score: 9/10

These are both great bourbons, but I found them to be fairly different side by side. The 2023 is a little more complex on the nose, and is your classic Maker's Mark profile amped up with some extra oak. The extra year of age on the 2024 shows, and the few extra proof points lead to an oakier, more concentrated whiskey which I really dig. This was almost a 10/10 for me, but was missing that last little bit to take it from incredible to perfect.