The Maker’s 46 is creamier and more decadent with bolder cherry and toasted oak notes, more spices with added complexity and an oilier mouthfeel. The complexity continues on the finish. A fantastic glass of bourbon.

Knob Creek 9 Year Bourbon is a wonderful whiskey that I feel is too often overlooked. If you like Maker’s Mark, I’m sure you will also enjoy Knob Creek. It usually rings in just under thirty dollars and is a fantastic, flavorful bargain. The Maker’s Mark 46 process begins where the inspiration for the new bourbon also came from, Maker’s Mark. The Maker’s Mark original is fully matured at cask-strength, which means it hasn’t been diluted with water so it’s higher proof. One thing I appreciate about this design is that the majority of the bottle is open clear glass. The normal Maker’s Mark bottle is mostly wrapped in paper, but in this case the deep amber color of the liquid inside is on full display. And it looks great.

The Maker’s Mark 46 bottle surely draws inspiration from its sister bourbon, Maker’s Mark. Margie’s design of the ‘S’ for Samuels and ‘IV’ for the fourth generation distiller that Bill Samuels Sr. believed he was is present on this bottle as well. Full of vanilla, followed by sweet cherries and fresh red fruit. Cinnamon and toasted oak. A few drops of water brings butterscotch and warming nutmeg. Delicious and very easy drinking. Let’s talk about the history of the distillery, which is intricately tied into the Maker’s Mark founding family: the Samuels, and what each of these two bourbons has to offer. While one is a lovely little treat, great for after dinner, the other is more surprising, with a lot more wood notes, and overall just completely different! Truly these two bourbons are a testament to what an aging process can do to a whiskey!In the end, I wouldn’t say either of these falls short of expectations, and I can’t say enough how much I like both of them.

His wife, Marjorie “Margie” Samuels, gave the whisky its name. She designed the now-classic label and came up with the red wax-dipping top that provides the bottle with its distinctive look. 1968 saw the first bottle of Maker’s Mark. Maker’s Mark 46 came out so well and has sold just as well, so the distillery began an annual wood-finishing series. This series highlights a new bourbon that is aged with different staves each year. He even sped up the experimentation process by using bread instead of fermenting wheat, which led him to choose different grains than his family originally used! That choice made his bourbon much softer than the former recipe produced. The stave choices amount to 1,001 different combinations, making each retailer’s choice unique. The Maker’s Mark 46 ProcessI absolutely love how this smells. It’s rich and delicious with just a hint of sweetness on top. The first thing that comes to mind from the smell is a heavy helping of rich caramel and toffee, which is consistent with the original Maker’s Mark product, but the alcohol has been significantly mellowed out and there’s some additional fruit notes as well. I think I get some crisp and fruity green apple in there now, like a delicious caramel apple from the state fair. This is how Maker's 46 release should be - I find none of the gritty, aluminum, aspartame notes from the standard 46 release, and this is a winner.

When I first reviewed Maker’s 46, I stated that everything about it seems to be more refined than the standard Maker’s. A large part of this was the sophisticated looking bottle that broke away from the iconic square influence of Maker’s brand. With the new Maker’s Mark 46 bottle design being reined in and now sharing the same design as standard Maker’s, the bourbon stands out just a little bit less on the shelf from a purely aesthetic standpoint. Thankfully the bourbon inside remains exactly the same. Samuels started working with his family’s mash bill to make his own bourbon. It was a 170-year-old recipe, he believed himself to be the fourth-generation distiller. Maker’s Mark 46 is one of the newer bourbons on the market, only appearing on shelves in 2010. Maker’s Mark 46 is the first new bourbon released by the Maker’s Mark distillery since the original Maker’s in 1953! Legend has it that Margie hand-dipped the first Maker’s Mark bottle in her home-fryer for that signature wax seal. I’d say it was worth ruining the fryer! Maker’s Mark SpecsFor over a half a century, Maker’s Mark did one thing and, darn it, they did it well. Then they introduced their 46 expression. Since the success of that line, they have continued to add other products added to their repertoire, but are any as good as the original? On the nose, this bourbon is what I call in my notes a “butter bomb”. The nose is creamy, but it’s followed by wood and hints of cigar tobacco. And speaking of yeast, every Maker’s Mark (including the Maker’s Mark 46) begins its life with the same yeast strain that’s a whopping 150 years old. That’s right, the yeast itself is older than Maker’s and so are the tanks used for fermentation! Maker’s Mark has been a household name in bourbon for decades. Starting in 1953 with the husband and wife duo of Bill Samuels Senior and Margie Samuels, this tasty brand has been delivering high-quality and consistent bourbon since its iteration. The palate is very smooth with more caramel and now vanilla. It is softer than the nose with a really nice roundness as far as texture goes.

I recommend an Old Fashioned with Maker’s Mark 46 as well. It’s really fascinating to taste the two side-by-side, especially when you consider these two bourbons have the same exact mash bill. They mix as differently as they sip neat! Comparable Whiskies to Maker’s Mark It is bottled when the tasters agree that it is ready, roughly around 6 yo. The Maker’s Mark bourbon mash bill does not include rye. Instead of rye, Maker’s Mark uses red winter wheat (16%), along with corn (70%) and malted barley (14%).

Easy drinking with cinnamon and fruity sweetness; it is lovely. However, when you put the Maker’s 46 next to it, you can immediately taste what the extra time in the wood did to the whiskey. Long peppery finish. Oh this is lovely. The heavy toasting of the French oak really helps overcome any risk of cloying sweetness.